Five Pennsylvania Congressman have asked the National Collegiate Athletic Association to rescind two of the major remaining Jerry Sandusky-related sanctions against the Penn State football program.

FILE - NCAA President Mark Emmert has been asked anew by several Pennsylvania Congressman to end two key Sandusky-related sanctions against the Penn State football program. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

The NCAA imposed the sanctions after reviewing a university-commissioned report that suggested the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal was tied to an over-arching "culture of reverence" for football at Penn State.

In their latest letter, sent Friday, the five House members asked the NCAA to lift any remaining restrictions on football scholarships at Penn State, and to erase a separate $60 million fine levied against the university.

U.S. Rep. Charles Dent, R-Lehigh County, said in an interview with PennLive that he'd like to see the last two years of a four-year bowl ban lifted too.

But the scholarships and fines, Dent said, have the greatest nexus to federal government concerns about use of public funding to support the broadest access possible to the higher education opportunities.

"The impact of these sanctions directly contradicts your organization's supposed goal of promoting education for student athletes," the letter asserted, adding that they only harm "innocent student-athletes who had nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky's unspeakable crimes."

Besides Dent, the Congressional letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert is signed by Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Chester County, G.T. Thompson, R-Centre County, Mike Kelly, R-Butler County, and Mike Doyle, D-Allegheny County.

NCAA spokesman Stacey Osburn declined comment on the congressmens' request Monday.

The NCAA did move last year to ease the reductions in the number of Penn State's football scholarships.

Other penalties that remain in place besides the fine are: Two more years of a ban on post-season play; and the erasure of some 111 on-field wins from the 1998 through 2011 football seasons.

Besides the Congressional pressure, the remaining NCAA sanctions are under direct assault from former head coach Joe Paterno's family and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit pending in Centre County court.