Mark Messmer

Mr. MESSMER

Mr. MESSMER. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the DETERRENT Act. This important legislation will bring vital transparency and accountability to gift reporting requirements for colleges and universities. For decades, the Chinese Communist Party, Iran, and Russia have targeted America's college systems by pushing dangerous propaganda aimed at influencing impressionable students. As my colleagues have pointed out, many American universities have been far too cozy with our international adversaries. They accept generous investments masked as research projects and infrastructure opportunities, which turn out to be funded by regimes that wish to do us harm. Not only did those corrupt arrangements create dangerous environments for our students and faculty, they also put America's national security at risk. I am pleased that my bill, the INSTRUCT Act, is included as one of the DETERRENT Act's main provisions. My legislation requires that colleges and universities disclose to American intelligence agencies any and all financial investment data so we can ensure they remain free of the exploitation of hostile foreign influences. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, not just because it makes sense, but because it will put our adversaries on notice that we are watching them. Most importantly, it will protect our Nation's students from foreign manipulation and provide them with the transparent and safe learning environment that they deserve. Again, I wish to thank Chairman Walberg for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. MESSMER

Mr. MESSMER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Walberg for yielding the time, and I thank Congressman Steube for introducing this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act and would like to clarify a comment from the gentleman on the other side of the aisle that as majority leader of the Indiana Senate, we easily overrode the Governor's veto of our State law protecting women in sports. Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, female participation at the high school and collegiate level has risen dramatically. Competitive sports are very important to the students and families in Indiana's Eighth District and all athletes around this great country. The Biden administration's recent attempt to rewrite and reimagine Title IX is threatening to erase more than 50 years of progress and women's rights and equal opportunities for all female athletes. It is a simple fact of life that men and women are biologically different and that men and boys have levels of strength that women and girls do not have. Allowing men to compete in women's sports is unfair to the women and girls, and it takes away their chances to receive scholarships and be recognized and rewarded for their hard work, skills, and accomplishments. Over the last couple of years, we have all watched in disbelief as top female athletes are losing their hard-earned titles to biological males who are competing as females. Americans are also horrified to learn about the injuries women and girls are facing when in competition with a biological male. As a father and a grandfather, I am entirely against forcing anybody's daughter or granddaughter to have to share a women's locker room with anyone other than women and girls. The results of the November election have made it clear that Americans agree with me and my colleagues. It is time for a change back to the way things were intended to be. Title IX was created to protect equality and opportunity for women and girls in sports. Thanks to this legislation, we will go back to doing just that.