[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 126 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 126

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding observance of the Olympic 
                                 Truce.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 11, 2001

   Mr. Daschle (for himself, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Reid, Mr. Conrad, Mr. 
     Hardin, Mr. Dorgan, and Mr. Sarbanes) submitted the following 
  resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding observance of the Olympic 
                                 Truce.

Whereas the Olympic Games are a unique opportunity for international cooperation 
        and the promotion of international understanding;
Whereas the Olympic Games bring together embattled rivals in an arena of 
        peaceful competition;
Whereas the Olympic Ideal is to serve peace, friendship, and international 
        understanding;
Whereas participants in the ancient Olympic Games, as early as 776 B.C., 
        observed an ``Olympic Truce'' whereby all warring parties ceased 
        hostilities and laid down their weapons for the duration of the games 
        and during the period of travel for athletes to and from the games;
Whereas war extracts a terrible price from the civilian populations that suffer 
        under it, and truces during war allow for the provision of humanitarian 
        assistance to those suffering populations;
Whereas truces may lead to a longer cessation of hostilities and, ultimately, a 
        negotiated settlement and end to conflict;
Whereas the Olympics can and should be used as a tool for international public 
        diplomacy, rapprochement, and building a better world;
Whereas terrorist organizations have used the Olympics not to promote 
        international understanding but to perpetrate cowardly acts against 
        innocent participants and spectators;
Whereas, since 1992, the International Olympic Committee has urged the 
        international community to observe the Olympic Truce;
Whereas the International Olympic Committee and the Government of Greece 
        established the International Olympic Truce Center in July 2000, and 
        that Center seeks to uphold the observance of the Olympic Truce and 
        calls for all hostilities to cease during the Olympic Games; and
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly, with the strong support of the 
        United States, has three times called for member states to observe the 
        Olympic Truce, most recently for the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, 
        Australia: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT TO THE OLYMPIC TRUCE.

    (a) Commendation of the IOC and the Government of Greece.--The 
Senate commends the efforts of the International Olympic Committee and 
the Government of Greece to urge the international community to observe 
the Olympic Truce.
    (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the United States Government should join efforts to use 
        the Olympic Truce as an instrument to promote peace and 
        reconciliation in areas of conflict; and
            (2) the President should continue efforts to work with 
        Greece--
                    (A) in its preparations for a successful XXVIII 
                Olympiad in Greece in 2004; and
                    (B) to uphold and extend the spirit of the Olympic 
                Truce during the XXVIII Olympiad.

SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.

    The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
resolution to the President with the request that he further transmit 
such copy to the International Olympic Committee and the Government of 
Greece.
                                 <all>