Rep. DeGette takes on NFL over domestic violence

September 11, 2014

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., has written letters to two congressional committee chairmen seeking a public hearing into reports of domestic violence by professional athletes.

"The penalties imposed by professional sports leagues on players who commit such violence vary widely," wrote Rep. DeGette in a letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R- Mich.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-Penn).

"As the Committee with primary jurisdiction over professional sports, we could play an important role in standing up for victims of domestic violence by asking professional sports leagues to explain in a public hearing how they are acting to educate their players about violence against women, what they are doing to prevent them from engaging in such violence, and whether they are administering appropriate punishments for athletes who commit violence against women," the letter said.

DeGette is the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Upton and the Oversite and Investigations subcommittee, chaired by Murphy.

DeGette highlighted the recent case of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was issued a two-game suspension and fined $500,000 by the league dragging his unconscious fiance from a casino elevator.

Later, video surfaced of Rice striking the woman with a closed fist which prompted outcries that the punishment was not enough.

However, DeGette said there have been other incidents in other leagues as well. "A USA Today database of [National Football League] player arrests identified at least 33 separate incidents where NFL players on 22 NFL teams were charged with domestic violence or sexual assault in the past five years," DeGette wrote to the two congressmen.

"Professional athletes are role models, and when they abuse women – particularly when they are not held appropriately accountable for their behavior – it normalizes such violence and sends the wrong message to young men and women," DeGette wrote.