[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 289 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 289

  Expressing the sense of the Senate that ambush marketing adversely 
 affects the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams and should be 
                              discouraged.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 7, 2013

    Mr. Begich (for himself and Mr. Bennet) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
                           and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Senate that ambush marketing adversely 
 affects the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams and should be 
                              discouraged.

Whereas the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games will occur on February 7 through 
        February 23, 2014, and March 7 through March 16, 2014, respectively, in 
        Sochi, Russia;
Whereas more than 5,500 athletes from 80 nations will compete in 7 Olympic 
        sports and 1,350 Paralympic athletes will compete in 5 sports;
Whereas American athletes have spent countless days, months, and years training 
        to earn a spot on the United States Olympic or Paralympic teams;
Whereas the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (36 U.S.C. 220501 et 
        seq.)--

    (1) established the United States Olympic Committee as the coordinating 
body for all Olympic and Paralympic athletic activity in the United States;

    (2) gave the United States Olympic Committee the exclusive right in the 
United States to use the words ``Olympic'', ``Olympiad'', ``Paralympic'', 
and ``Paralympiad'', the emblem of the United States Olympic Committee, and 
the symbols of the International Olympic Committee and the International 
Paralympic Committee; and

    (3) empowered the United States Olympic Committee to authorize sponsors 
that contribute to the United States Olympic or Paralympic teams to use any 
trademark, symbol, insignia, or emblem of the International Olympic 
Committee, International Paralympic Committee, the Pan-American Sports 
Organization, or the United States Olympic Committee;

Whereas Team USA is significantly funded by 31 sponsors who assure that the 
        United States has the best Olympic teams possible;
Whereas, in recent years, a number of entities in the United States have engaged 
        in ambush marketing as a marketing strategy, affiliating themselves with 
        the Olympic and Paralympic Games without becoming sponsors of Team USA;
Whereas ambush marketing harms the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams, 
        undermines sponsorship activities, and gives ambush marketers an unfair 
        and unethical advantage over entities that officially sponsor and 
        provide funding for the elite athletes of the United States; and
Whereas efforts to prevent ambush marketing have enjoyed limited success as the 
        strategies used by ambush marketers continue to multiply: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) ambush marketing adversely affects the United States 
        Olympic and Paralympic teams and their ability to attract and 
        retain the sponsorships necessary to be successful at the 2014 
        Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia; and
            (2) entities in the United States should cease all ambush 
        marketing efforts related to the United States Olympic and 
        Paralympic teams.
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