The PGA Tour has a major impact on our economy, our way of life, our image in this country, our self-image, and our image abroad.
Richard Blumenthal
The Public Record
Richard Blumenthal is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Connecticut since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, Blumenthal has focused on issues such as consumer protection, healthcare, and veterans' affairs during his tenure. He previously served as the Attorney General of Connecticut from 1991 to 2011, where he gained recognition for his advocacy on behalf of consumers and his efforts to hold corporations accountable. Blumenthal has been an active voice in the Senate, participating in various committees and addressing key national issues.
I would argue that legally, as well as morally, they have a duty to keep their boards of directors informed.
But there is an understanding that PIF will contribute an investment to the PGA Tour and the entity that will control it.
You still have the choice to stand up against sportswashing, against the Saudi monarchy, against the hundreds of billions of dollars, and maybe a lot more that the Saudis will throw at you and stand up for America because America is going…
Congress' authority to investigate here and investigate golf comes from Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution.
We are here because the regime, an autocratic, repressive regime, is torturing, imprisoning, killing its own people.
But will you commit that it will not have it, that you will not agree to it if it does?
Instead of accepting this amount of money--call it an investment, call it financing--from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, did you explore other sources of potential investment?
That is how they can be disruptive because they have a lot of money, bucketsful of money. Correct?
To have them taken over by a repressive foreign regime certainly is a matter of our national security.
I would like to have a commitment from both of you that the final agreement will not prevent players or PGA Tour executives from commenting on or criticizing actions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We are going to continue this inquiry. We are going to ask that the other potential witnesses that we invited actually come and share their perspectives and information.
But there is something that stinks about this path that you are on right now because it is a surrender, and it is all about the money, and that is the reason for the backlash that you have seen.
Will you commit today, Mr. Price, that the PGA Tour will not punish any members who criticize the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or human rights anywhere, regardless of this new relationship with PIF?
In other words, their interest was public image, sportswashing, cleansing their reputation. Correct?
In other words, their interest was public image, sportswashing, cleansing their reputation. Correct?
But there is an understanding that PIF will contribute an investment to the PGA Tour and the entity that will control it.
It is about hypocrisy, how vast sums of money can induce individuals and institutions to betray their own values.
But most corporations trust their boards of directors. In fact, they are intimately involved.
To have them taken over by a repressive foreign regime certainly is a matter of our national security.





