Caitlin Clark

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on a second matter, I want to talk about Caitlin Clark, a native of West Des Moines, IA. Caitlin Clark played basketball at the University of Iowa. She changed women's college basketball but also inspired athletes of all ages across all sports. She plays professionally for the Indiana Fever.

Since joining the professional ranks 3 years ago, Caitlin has been the subject of very unfair treatment on the basketball court, and the referees are not doing their job.

Recently, she got a fist to her throat by a player. Yet, the refs at the time did not call a foul. I am glad that the WNBA corrected this matter a few days later by charging a foul and suspending the player, but the unfair treatment of Caitlin and others in the WNBA has got to stop.

Officials are human, but we have seen time after time where Caitlin has suffered physically--beyond what you would expect in competitive professional sports--with little accountability from the people that run the WNBA or from the referees.

So I hope for Caitlin--and for the growth of women's basketball-- things improve quickly in the WNBA. Caitlin is a generational talent. Her hard work and dedication should be rewarded, not penalized.

She has revolutionized WNBA. Attendance has shot up since she has been with the Indiana Fever, and income has shot up for the league and their teams. Salaries for players went from five figures to six figures, all because of her playing. So every player of all teams are better off. They should be thanking Caitlin as opposed to mistreating her on the floor.

Someday I would like to meet Caitlin Clark.

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