IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 735 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the ‘‘Additional 
Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy: Three-Part Test—part 
Three’’, issued by the United States Department of Education without 
notice or opportunity for public comment on March 17, 2005, is incon-
sistent with longstanding Department policies and fundamental principles 
of equality, is a disservice to our Nation’s young women, and should 
be withdrawn by the Department of Education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 16, 2006 
Ms. WOOLSEY (for herself, Mr. SHAYS, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. JOHNSON of Con-
necticut, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SIMMONS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Ms. 
BALDWIN, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. FARR, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. MATSUI, 
Ms. WATSON, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. NADLER, Ms. SLAUGH-
TER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. OLVER, Mr. 
LEWIS
of Georgia, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. HERSETH, Ms. BEAN, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DEGETTE, 
Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. CASE, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE 
of Texas, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. SABO, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. 
OWENS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the ‘‘Additional Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics 
Policy: Three-Part Test—part Three’’, issued by the 
United States Department of Education without notice 
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•HRES 735 IH 
or opportunity for public comment on March 17, 2005, 
is inconsistent with longstanding Department policies 
and fundamental principles of equality, is a disservice 
to our Nation’s young women, and should be withdrawn 
by the Department of Education. 
Whereas title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 pro-
hibits educational institutions that receive Federal fund-
ing from discriminating on the basis of sex, including in 
their athletics programs and activities; 
Whereas prior to 1972 and the enactment of title IX, vir-
tually no college or university offered athletic scholar-
ships to women, fewer than 32,000 women participated 
in collegiate sports, and women’s sports received only 2 
percent of funds spent on college athletics programs; 
Whereas as a result of title IX, women’s opportunities to par-
ticipate in and benefit from collegiate athletics programs 
have grown dramatically, such that there are now nearly 
160,000 women competing on intercollegiate teams; 
Whereas despite the gains engendered by title IX, discrimina-
tory barriers to women’s participation in sports remain, 
and women receive only about 43 percent of the opportu-
nities to play intercollegiate sports, 38 percent of athletic 
operating budgets, and 33 percent of the funds spent to 
recruit new athletes; 
Whereas the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 
issued ‘‘Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; 
a Policy Interpretation; Title IX and Intercollegiate Ath-
letics’’ in 1979 (later adopted by the Department of Edu-
cation) (‘‘1979 Policy Interpretation’’) that allows edu-
cational institutions to comply with title IX’s requirement 
that they provide equal sports participation opportunities 
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•HRES 735 IH 
for their male and female students in one of three inde-
pendent ways: by providing participation opportunities 
for male and female students in numbers substantially 
proportionate to their respective full-time enrollments, by 
showing a history and continuing practice of program ex-
pansion responsive to the interests and abilities of the 
under-represented sex, or by fully and effectively accom-
modating the interests and abilities of members of the 
under-represented sex; 
Whereas the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of 
Education in 1996 issued a ‘‘Clarification of Intercolle-
giate Athletics Policy Guidance’’ (‘‘1996 Clarification’’) 
that set out specific examples and additional advice to 
guide educational institutions in meeting the standards of 
this ‘‘three-part test;’’ 
Whereas the 1979 Policy Interpretation and the 1996 Clari-
fication provide educational institutions with ample and 
fair guidance on compliance with title IX and provide 
flexibility to the institutions so that they may determine 
for themselves how best to comply with the law; 
Whereas two out of three educational institutions have com-
plied with the three-part test under the second or third 
part of the test; 
Whereas the three-part test has been deferred to by every 
Federal appellate court—nine of nine—that has consid-
ered it; 
Whereas the three-part test has been supported by every De-
partment of Education since its adoption in 1979; 
Whereas the most recent affirmation of the three-part test 
came on July 11, 2003, when the Office for Civil Rights 
of the Department of Education issued the ‘‘Further 
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