In a press conference Monday on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the expectation is the Protect College Sports Act will get a vote in the next 10 days. Senators returned Monday from a recess, which began in the early morning hours Aug. 8.
Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) co-authored the bipartisan legislation, introduced in late May. The hope was it would get a vote before the recess began following a Senate Commerce Committee vote, but it did not reach the floor. However, Cruz and bill co-sponsor Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said it was “guaranteed” to get a vote after the break.
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Lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C. on Monday and the session will continue through Oct. 2. Speaking with reporters, Cruz said the hope is the Protect College Sports Act will be second in line for a floor vote behind the Clarity Act, aimed at regulating cryptocurrency.
“We’re now going to see a vote on the floor of the Senate,” Cruz said with a group of athletes and coaches behind him. “That vote will either be this week or next week, depending on how the votes go in the next day.
“But either way, in the next 10 days, the Senate is voting on the Protect College Sports Act. We are slated to be in second as soon as the crypto bill is completed. I think we’re going to get this done.”
Ted Cruz: Protect College Sports Act ‘on 1-yard line’
Monday’s press conference also included comments from coaches such as Arkansas’ John Calipari, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Gonzaga’s Mark Few. AFCA director Craig Bohl and NABC director Craig Robinson were also in attendance and delivered brief remarks.
The media session was another part of Cruz’s push for support for the Protect College Sports Act. Over the weekend, he appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay about the bill ahead of the showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Texas.
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Monday’s remarks also came after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said while he hopes there are 60 votes, he didn’t know for sure if that was the case. But Ted Cruz said the hope from the start was to surpass that total and give the Protect College Sports Act momentum to get it to the House of Representatives and, ultimately, President Donald Trump’s desk.
“Our objective from Day 1 was not to eke by with just 60 votes, to barely get it out of the Senate,” Cruz said. “Our objective is to get a big bipartisan vote on the floor of the Senate, and with that momentum, to go to the House and have it go to the President’s desk.
“The President is eager to sign it. And I think we’re very close. To use a football analogy, I think we’re on the 1-yard line. I think we have four downs in front of us to move into the end zone.”
In her closing remarks, Maria Cantwell cited the need to control spending in college sports. Specifically, she pointed to the impact on Olympic sports. The ranking member argued the Protect College Sports Act will help with it as she urged lawmakers to support the bill’s passage.
“It’s great to have billions of dollars or millions of dollars and say that you’re going to fund it,” Cantwell said. “But these are real rules in place that say that you have your NIL rights, but if you’re part of the institution and revenue-sharing, it has to be through these rules of this bill. That will stop a lot of what has been this outrageous escalation of college sports costs.”
What would lie ahead in the House of Representatives
If the Protect College Sports Act gets through the Senate, though, there’d another potential hurdle looming. The House of Representatives voted to cut two weeks from its September session and will now break Sept. 17.
Depending on what happens with the Clarity Act and whether there’s a filibuster, Cruz said the Protect College Sports Act could get to the floor as soon as Tuesday. He added he’s also confident the House would pas the bill, which would put it on track for President Donald Trump’s desk to sign it into law.
“If we pass it, it will go over to the House, and I expect that the House will take it up and vote on it quickly,” Cruz said. “My objective is to get it to the President for signature as quickly as possible.
“Obviously, the school year just started. You’ve got a half million college athletes that would like the certainty of having having college sports protected. And I would expect the impact to be immediate.”
