This bill establishes the voluntary Congressional Fitness Challenge, outlining required physical tests, administration guidelines, performance benchmarks, data collection, and recognition levels for eligible participants aged 6 to 17.
Abraham Hamadeh
Representative
AZ-8
This bill establishes the voluntary Congressional Fitness Challenge, a national program designed to promote physical fitness among eligible participants aged 6 to 17. The Challenge requires participants to complete five specific fitness tests, with performance benchmarks set based on age and gender. Successful participants who meet performance goals will receive official recognition certificates signed by Congressional leadership. The legislation also outlines administrative rules for testing, data collection, and allows lawmakers to use office funds for related activities.
New Congressional Fitness Challenge Targets 6- to 17-Year-Olds with Five Required Physical Tests
This bill establishes the "Congressional Fitness Challenge," a voluntary national recognition program aimed at encouraging physical fitness among students aged 6 to 17. Think of it as a reboot of the old Presidential Physical Fitness Test, but with a Congressional sign-off. The core of the program is simple: eligible kids who pass a series of five standardized physical fitness tests get a certificate signed by their local Representative and Senator, among others (SEC. 1, SEC. 6).
The Five-Point Fitness Checkup
If your kids participate, they’ll be tested on five specific areas, designed to cover endurance, strength, and flexibility (SEC. 2). They’ll do a timed 1-mile run or walk, an upper body strength test (pull-ups or flexed arm hang), a 60-second core strength test (curl-ups or sit-ups), a timed shuttle run for agility, and a sit-and-reach test for flexibility. The bill mandates that these tests must be administered by a certified fitness professional—which could be a certified personal trainer or a PE teacher, depending on what the program sponsor decides (SEC. 3, SEC. 8). This is key because it means the person timing that mile run is supposed to know what they’re doing.
What It Takes to Get the Gold
The standards for passing aren’t arbitrary. Congressional committees are tasked with setting performance standards, or "benchmarks," based on age and gender, and they must include adaptive benchmarks for participants with disabilities (SEC. 4). Recognition comes in three flavors: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. To get the highest level, Gold, a participant needs to score in the top 85th percentile for their age and gender group on all five tests. The final recognition level on the certificate is determined by the lowest score achieved across the five events (SEC. 6). This means you can’t slack on the sit-and-reach if you crushed the mile run.
Data Collection and the Administrative Lift
While this is a voluntary program hosted by schools, Congressional members, or homeschool groups, it comes with a mandatory data requirement. Any organization sponsoring the Challenge must collect and submit the performance data for every participant who qualifies for recognition to the relevant Congressional committees (SEC. 5). The committees then aggregate this data nationally by gender and age group. This is where the cost of the program comes in: the bill specifically allows Members of Congress to use their existing office budgets—like the Members Representational Allowance (MRA) for the House—to cover the costs of running these local Challenges (SEC. 7). This means that while no new money is explicitly appropriated, existing funds meant for general office expenses can be redirected to support these physical fitness events, which could impact the resources available for other constituent services.