[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 481 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 481

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that professional 
  sports leagues and the International Olympic Committee should help 
 reinforce the unacceptability and harmfulness of illegal drug use by 
 establishing clear guidelines and penalties, and that athletes using 
 illegal drugs who do not identify the person who provided the illegal 
  drugs and successfully complete a drug treatment program should be 
       suspended from play for a minimum of one year without pay.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 1998

    Mr. Watts of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. Bunning, and Mr. Ryun) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
    on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on International 
 Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that professional 
  sports leagues and the International Olympic Committee should help 
 reinforce the unacceptability and harmfulness of illegal drug use by 
 establishing clear guidelines and penalties, and that athletes using 
 illegal drugs who do not identify the person who provided the illegal 
  drugs and successfully complete a drug treatment program should be 
       suspended from play for a minimum of one year without pay.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Drug-Free Professional and 
Olympic Athlete Responsibility Resolution''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The House of Representatives finds as follows:
            (1) There has been an increase in the number of reports 
        over the last year about athletes who have used illegal drugs, 
        have failed to get effective treatment, and have not received 
        appropriate sanctions.
            (2) Illegal drug use among our Nation's youth has doubled 
        in the 6 years preceding 1997, with significant increases in 
        the use of marijuana, inhalants, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, 
        and heroin.
            (3) The most dramatic increases in teenage drug use have 
        been among children between the ages of 13 and 14.
            (4) Professional and Olympic athletes are role models for 
        our Nation's youth, particularly young teenagers.
            (5) Increases in substance abuse among youth are due in 
        large part to an erosion of understanding by youth of the high 
        risks associated with substance use, and to the softening of 
        peer norms against use.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) all professional sports leagues and the International 
        Olympic Committee should help reinforce the unacceptability and 
        harmfulness of substance abuse by establishing clear guidelines 
        and penalties regarding drug abuse, including a written policy, 
        treatment assistance programs, and minimum penalties that are 
        consistently enforced; and
            (2) athletes who are using illegal drugs who do not 
        identify the person who provided the illegal drugs and 
        successfully complete a drug treatment program should be 
        suspended from play for a minimum of one year without pay.

SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

    In this resolution, the term ``illegal drug'' means a substance 
listed as a controlled substance under schedules I through V of section 
202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).
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