03.24.22

Cantwell Congratulates Western Washington University Women’s Basketball on Senate Floor

The WWU Vikings will play for the Division II National Championship on Friday, March 25th

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Cantwell spoke on the Senate floor to congratulate the Western Washington University Women’s Basketball team for advancing to the 2022 Division II National Championship. The Vikings will play for the National title on Friday, March 25th at 5:00 PM PT.

Senator Cantwell delivered the following remarks, “What I'm going to talk about is congratulating the Western Washington University Vikings women's basketball team Division II final championship game players. The Vikings will be playing in the NCAA Division II championship after defeating North Georgia last night [by] a score of 74 to 68 and it was an outstanding performance by Brooke Walling, Emma Duff, and the entire team that represents people from all over our state. Emerson, Tumwater, Monroe, Vancouver Arlington, Marysville, Napa, Ferndale and various other places.

“I also want to congratulate head coach Carmen Dolfo, and who's been in [her] 31st Season leading the Vikings and the fact that this is such a great accomplishment for the women of Western Washington.

“We need to continue to encourage the NCAA to figure out ways to promote women's NCAA March Madness. There are great players, they're great teams, and they deserve to have the same kind of attention. So we'll look forward to cheering them on in that final NCAA Tournament, Division II game.”

Senator Cantwell is a leading advocate for gender equity in sports and education. As the Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Cantwell led two hearings on NCAA Athletes Name Image and Likeness Rights and promoting equity within NCAA women’s athletics. In 2021, Cantwell reintroduced the bicameral Gender Equity in Education Act to advance Title IX protections. And in 2021, Senator Cantwell introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure equal pay for Americans who represent our country in global athletic competitions, like the Olympics, regardless of gender. 

Video of Senator Cantwell floor speech is available HERE, audio HERE, and a full transcript HERE.

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