U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) is condemning her colleagues on the other side of the aisle for refusing to participate in a Senate hearing on protecting women in sports.
Britt joined her Senate Judiciary Committee Republican colleagues in a hearing entitled: “Standing Up for Women in Sports: Ensuring Opportunity, Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes.” During the hearing she questioned several witnesses, including Kim Jones, the Co-Founder of The Independent Council on Women’s Sport, Carly Smolak, former professional soccer player, and William Bock III, Partner at Kroger, Gardis, & Regas, LLP.
“It can’t go unspoken that not one member on the other side of the aisle has had the respect for women to come in here and ask questions to figure out how we get this right,” Britt said. “How we stand up for fairness, for safety, for an opportunity for young women across the country. It’s absolutely absurd. Absolutely absurd.”
Not ONE Democrat showed up to today's Senate Judiciary hearing to ask questions about how we can keep our female athletes safe.
Absolutely absurd. pic.twitter.com/mltnTtZlCE
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) September 23, 2026
The senator explained how this issue is one that affects many families across the country, including her own.
“As a mom of a volleyball player who is really quite good if I do say so myself, the opportunity that’s created for young women to learn, to lead, to grow, to institute discipline each and every day of their life, to build a team, and to compete as part of one,” Britt continued. “It can’t be understated. We continue to allow that to be taken away from young women from junior high, high school, college, professional sports. It must end.”
Britt also criticized the NCAA for not addressing this problem in any serious way.
“I think the NCAA is feckless. I think that it is alarming, disturbing, and it is beyond reproach that they will not stand up for women. Can you tell us the issues at hand with regards to how the rules are written with the NCAA, or what’s not written that needs to be written down?”
Britt continued, “… (your) [biological sex] is an immutable characteristic. This is not a state of mind, much like your age is not, as much as we would like for it to be some days. We don’t let 16 and 17-year-olds … decide that they’re 21. We don’t let them go vote … Why in the world are we allowing these untruths to occur?”
Following the hearing, Senator Britt joined several of her colleagues, including U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Darline Graham (R-S.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), advocates, and athletes in a press conference.
“Today we went to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and not one Democrat came to ask a question,” she said. “Here we have an issue where we have biological men, biological boys competing in women’s sports, competing in youth sports, and [Democrats are] unwilling to say a thing. Look, what we know is, [your biological sex] is an immutable trait. This is truth. We have got to preserve this for young women for generations.”
“We had people who fought for opportunity for young women, who fought for that opportunity to grow, to learn, to lead, to try, to fail, to be a part of a team, to be able to be part of the discipline that comes along with that, the teamwork,” she added. “All of those things are taken away by not just protecting female sports. You’ve heard it over and over again: yes, it is about fairness, it is about safety. But one thing we heard at this hearing today is that young women are being silenced from coast to coast. They are being bullied. They are being told they cannot use their voice. They are being told they cannot speak the truth. That must end. The NCAA has been feckless at every single turn. It is time for them to do more to protect young women, to protect the opportunity that comes with sports.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
