II 

Calendar No. 593 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2333 

To amend chapter 2205 of title 36, United States Code, to ensure equal 

treatment of athletes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2021 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. LUMMIS, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 2205 of title 36, United States Code, 

to ensure equal treatment of athletes, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Pay for Team 

5 USA Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EQUAL TREATMENT OF ATHLETES. 

2 (a) MODIFICATION OF PURPOSES OF UNITED

3 STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE.—Section 220503 of title 

4 36, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (2) in paragraph (16), by striking the period at 

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(17) with respect to a sport for which separate 

11 programs for female and male athletes are con12 ducted on a national basis, to ensure that female 

13 and male athletes who represent the United States 

14 in international amateur athletic competitions re15 ceive equal and nondiscriminatory compensation, 

16 wages, benefits, medical care, travel arrangements, 

17 and payment or reimbursement for expenses.’’. 

18 (b) DUTY OF NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES.—Sec19 tion 220524(a) of title 36, United States Code, is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

22 (14) as paragraphs (8) through (15), respectively; 

23 and 

24 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(7) with respect to a sport for which separate 

2 programs for female and male athletes are con3 ducted on a national basis, provide to female and 

4 male athletes representing the United States in 

5 international amateur athletic competitions equal 

6 and nondiscriminatory compensation, wages, bene7 fits, medical care, travel arrangements, and payment 

8 or reimbursement for expenses;’’. 

9 (c) ANNUAL REPORT ON EQUAL TREATMENT OF

10 ATHLETES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 

12 2205 of title 36, United States Code, is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 220530A. Annual report on equal treatment of ath15 letes 

16 ‘‘Not less frequently than annually, each national 

17 governing body shall submit to the corporation and Con18 gress a report on the compliance of the national governing 

19 body with section 220524(a)(7).’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

21 sections for subchapter II of chapter 2205 of title 

22 36, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following: 

‘‘220530A. Annual report on equal treatment of athletes.’’. 

24 (d) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD AND REPORTS TO

25 CONGRESS.—Not later than January 31, 2022— 


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1 (1) the corporation shall— 

2 (A) attain full compliance, and ensure that 

3 each national governing body attains full com4 pliance, with the applicable provisions of law 

5 amended by this Act; and 

6 (B) submit to Congress a report describing 

7 such compliance of the corporation and each 

8 national governing body; and 

9 (2) each national governing body shall— 

10 (A) attain full compliance with the applica11 ble provisions of law amended by this Act; and 

12 (B) submit to Congress a report describing 

13 such compliance of the national governing body. 

14 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Pay for Team 

16 USA Act of 2022’’. 

17 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO UNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND 

18 PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE AND NATIONAL 

19 GOVERNING BODIES. 

20 (a) UNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COM21 MITTEE.— 

22 (1) DUTIES.—Section 220505(d) of title 36, 

23 United States Code, is amended— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by strik2 ing ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

5 and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(D) with respect to a sport for which the 

9 corporation conducts separate programs for fe10 male and male athletes, to ensure that female 

11 and male athletes who represent the United 

12 States in international amateur athletic events 

13 receive, from funds directly provided by the cor14 poration to the athlete (excluding any prize or 

15 award based on the athlete’s performance in an 

16 international amateur athletic competition), 

17 equivalent and nondiscriminatory compensation, 

18 wages, benefits, medical care, travel arrange19 ments, and payment or reimbursement for ex20 penses, all insofar as these are implemented in 

21 connection with such amateur athletic events, 

22 where ‘equivalent’ means ‘equal’ except that it 

23 shall be permissible— 

24 ‘‘(i) to consider merit, performance, se25 niority, or quantity of play in determining 


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1 contract or other terms of participation; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) to provide more beneficial terms 

4 of participation to athletes representing the 

5 United States in international events to ad6 dress disparities in outside income, includ7 ing in compensation made available by 

8 international sports federations and other 

9 event organizers, or the need to foster under10 developed programs or address documented 

11 and justifiable personal need on the part of 

12 specific athletes or teams.’’; 

13 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

14 paragraph (3); and 

15 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(2) ADVOCACY.—The corporation shall take all 

18 reasonable steps, in collaboration with affected ath19 letes, to advocate to international sports federations 

20 and other event organizers to equalize prizes, com21 pensation, funding, and other support provided to 

22 athletes by such federations and organizers.’’. 

23 (2) ANNUAL REPORT ON EQUAL TREATMENT OF

24 ATHLETES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of title 36, 

2 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 220514. Annual report on equal treatment of ath5 letes 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than annually, 

7 the corporation shall submit to Congress a report on the 

8 compliance of the corporation with paragraphs (1)(D) and 

9 (2) of section 220505(d). 

10 ‘‘(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re11 quired by subsection (a) shall include detailed information 

12 on the median, minimum, and maximum stipends and bo13 nuses provided to athletes, disaggregated by gender, race, 

14 and, as applicable, status of participation on a professional 

15 sports team.’’. 

16 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table 

17 of sections for subchapter I of chapter 2205 of 

18 title 36, United States Code, is amended by add19 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘220514. Annual report on equal treatment of athletes.’’. 

20 (b) NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES.— 

21 (1) DUTIES.—Section 220524(a) of title 36, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (7) 

24 through (14) as paragraphs (9) through (16), re25 spectively; and 


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1 (B) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(7) with respect to a sport for which a national 

4 governing body conducts separate programs for female 

5 and male athletes, ensure that female and male ath6 letes who represent the United States in international 

7 amateur athletic events receive, from funds directly 

8 provided by the national governing body to the athlete 

9 (excluding any prize or award based on the athlete’s 

10 performance in an international amateur athletic 

11 competition), equivalent and nondiscriminatory com12 pensation, wages, benefits, medical care, travel ar13 rangements, and payment or reimbursement for ex14 penses, all insofar as these are implemented in con15 nection with such amateur athletic events, where 

16 ‘equivalent’ means ‘equal’ except that it shall be per17 missible— 

18 ‘‘(A) to consider merit, performance, senior19 ity, or quantity of play in determining contract 

20 or other terms of participation; and 

21 ‘‘(B) to provide more beneficial terms of 

22 participation to athletes representing the United 

23 States in international events to address dispari24 ties in outside income, including in compensa25 tion made available by international sports fedVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Dec 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2333.RS S2333

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1 erations and other event organizers, or the need 

2 to foster underdeveloped programs or address 

3 documented and justifiable personal need on the 

4 part of specific athletes or teams; 

5 ‘‘(8) take all reasonable steps, in collaboration 

6 with affected athletes, to advocate to international 

7 sports federations and other event organizers to equal8 ize prizes, compensation, funding, and other support 

9 provided to athletes by such federations and orga10 nizers;’’. 

11 (2) ANNUAL REPORT ON EQUAL TREATMENT OF

12 ATHLETES.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 

14 2205 of title 36, United States Code, is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘§ 220530A. Annual report on equal treatment of ath17 letes 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than annually, 

19 each national governing body shall submit to the corpora20 tion and Congress a report on the compliance of the na21 tional governing body with paragraphs (7) and (8) of sec22 tion 220524(a). 

23 ‘‘(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re24 quired by subsection (a) shall include detailed information 

25 on the median, minimum, and maximum stipends and boVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Dec 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2333.RS S2333

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1 nuses provided to athletes, disaggregated by gender, race, 

2 and, as applicable, status of participation on a professional 

3 sports team.’’. 

4 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table 

5 of sections for subchapter II of chapter 2205 of 

6 title 36, United States Code, is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘220530A. Annual report on equal treatment of athletes.’’. 

8 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD AND REPORTS TO CON9 GRESS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act— 

11 (1) the corporation shall— 

12 (A) attain full compliance, and require as 

13 a condition of continued certification that each 

14 national governing body attains and maintains 

15 full compliance, with the applicable amendments 

16 made by this Act; and 

17 (B) submit to Congress a report describing 

18 such compliance of the corporation and each na19 tional governing body; and 

20 (2) each national governing body shall— 

21 (A) attain full compliance with the applica22 ble amendments made by this Act; and 

23 (B) submit to Congress a report describing 

24 such compliance. 


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1 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

2 shall be construed— 

3 (1) to supersede, nullify, or diminish the rights 

4 of any individual under any Federal law or the law 

5 of any State or political subdivision of any State or 

6 jurisdiction; 

7 (2) to prohibit an individual athlete or a group 

8 of athletes from receiving compensation from an indi9 vidual or entity other than a national governing body 

10 or the corporation for the use of, as applicable, the 

11 name, image, or likeness of the individual athlete or 

12 the names, images, or likenesses of the group of ath13 letes; or 

14 (3) to prohibit a team or group of athletes from 

15 accepting outside sponsorships or endorsements, or 

16 from participating in outside promotional events or 

17 marketing campaigns, even if a team or group of ath18 letes of another gender are not offered equivalent 

19 sponsorships, endorsements, or participation in out20 side promotional events or marketing campaigns. 


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Calendar No. 593 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2333 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 2205 of title 36, United States 

for other purposes. Code, to ensure equal treatment of athletes, and 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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