[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6067 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6067

  To establish criminal penalties and civil remedies for doping fraud 
            violations at major international competitions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2018

 Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Mr. Burgess, and Ms. Moore) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish criminal penalties and civil remedies for doping fraud 
            violations at major international competitions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs 
        (``doping fraud'') in major international sporting competitions 
        damages the integrity of sports, and often begets other illegal 
        activity, including bribery and money laundering.
            (2) Doping fraud in major international competitions cheats 
        clean athletes, including clean United States athletes, and 
        sponsoring corporations, including United States corporations, 
        which often have anti-doping provisions in their sponsorship 
        contracts.
            (3) The United States is the single largest sovereign 
        contributor to the World Anti-Doping Agency (``WADA''), and 
        thus doping fraud in major international competitions also 
        effectively defrauds the United States.
            (4) Every major international sporting organization has 
        condemned doping fraud, as has international law enforcement 
        agencies such as Interpol, WADA, and the United Nations. 
        Moreover, a number of nations, including Germany, Austria, 
        Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and 
        Spain, have embraced criminal sanctions for doping fraud 
        violations. Thus, action by the United States to enhance the 
        international community's fight to protect clean athletes is 
        fully consistent with international law.
            (5) State-sponsored-doping systems have been revealed, 
        including in Russia by Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, and 
        international federations and WADA lack the tools to 
        effectively deter such systems, which severely magnify the 
        harms to clean athletes, including United States athletes, and 
        sponsoring corporations, including United States corporations.
            (6) Individuals who act as whistleblowers, including Dr. 
        Grigory Rodchenkov, and make disclosures about doping fraud 
        described above, serve the public interest by assisting in the 
        elimination of fraud, unveiling of bribery and money 
        laundering, and other corrupt practices and should not suffer 
        adverse consequences or retaliation.
            (7) Protecting whistleblowers who disclose conduct which 
        falls within the purview of this Act is a major step toward 
        fair sport.
            (8) Criminal proscriptions are necessary to deter doping 
        fraud, even when such conduct occurs outside United States 
        territory at major international competitions, as such conduct 
        has and is intended to have substantial effect on the United 
        States, United States citizens, and United States sponsoring 
        corporations.
            (9) Athletes who were victimized by doping fraud and 
        whistleblowers have heretofore enjoyed few remedies against 
        doped athletes, including when doping fraud was the cause for 
        them not winning medals or placing at the top of various 
        competitions, or depriving them of prize monies and financial 
        awards for medals or top placement, such that the creation of a 
        private right of action is wholly appropriate.
            (10) Given that the science of doping detection is 
        constantly improving--such that newly devised technologies have 
        established new detection methods even for past acts of doping 
        fraud--an elongated statute of limitations is appropriate.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Doping fraud.--The term ``doping fraud'' means use of 
        any performance-enhancing drug to gain an unfair competitive 
        advantage in sports, thereby defrauding athletes who are not 
        using performance-enhancing drugs.
            (2) Performance-enhancing drug.--The term ``performance-
        enhancing drug'' means any substance--including anabolic 
        agents, peptides, hormones, growth factors, mimetics, Beta-2 
        agonists, and hormone and metabolic modulators, to be specified 
        by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the basis of 
        scientific and international sports standards.
            (3) Major international competition.--The term ``major 
        international competition'' means any professional or amateur 
        sporting competition, including competitions that are comprised 
        of a series of bilateral games, in which--
                    (A) either--
                            (i) four or more United States athletes are 
                        contestants; or
                            (ii) two or more United States corporations 
                        act as corporate sponsors; and
                    (B) athletes representing at least three countries 
                other than the United States are contestants.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS.

    (a) Participation in Doping Fraud.--It shall be unlawful for any 
person to knowingly and intentionally conduct, manage, supervise, 
direct, abet, or participate in doping fraud at or in preparation for 
any major international competition.
    (b) Administration of Performance-Enhancing Drugs.--It shall be 
unlawful for any person to knowingly and intentionally administer, to 
him or herself, or to any other individual, any performance-enhancing 
drug at or in preparation for any major international competition.
    (c) Performance-Enhancing Drugs Generally.--It shall be unlawful 
for any person to knowingly and intentionally manufacture, distribute, 
dispense, or possess any performance-enhancing drug with the intent to 
commit or attempt to commit doping fraud at or in preparation for any 
major international competition.
    (d) Retaliation.--It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly 
and intentionally retaliate by taking adverse action against an 
individual because such individual has disclosed evidence of doping 
fraud, whether such disclosures were made to an official governmental 
or anti-doping authority or to the public in general through the media.
    (e) Conspiracy.--It shall be unlawful for any person to conspire to 
violate any of the provisions of subsections (a), (b), or (c) of this 
section.
    (f) Jurisdiction.--Prohibited acts are within the jurisdiction of 
the United States if--
            (1) the offense is committed in whole or in part in the 
        United States; or
            (2) the offense is committed outside the United States, 
        and--
                    (A) the offense is committed in relation to a major 
                international competition; or
                    (B) the offense occurs in or affects the interstate 
                or foreign commerce of the United States.

SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

    (a) In General.--Whoever violates any provision of section 4 shall 
be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not more than five years 
and, if the person is an individual, fined $100,000, or $250,000 if the 
defendant is other than an individual.
    (b) Conspiracy.--Whoever, as part of a group of five or more 
persons, violates section 4 shall be sentenced to a term of 
imprisonment for not more than ten years and, if the person is an 
individual, fined $250,000, or $1,000,000 if the defendant is other 
than an individual.
    (c) Seizure and Forfeiture.--Any property, real or personal, used 
in violation of the provisions of section 4 may be seized and forfeited 
to the United States.

SEC. 6. CIVIL REMEDIES.

    (a) In General.--Any person injured in his vocation, business, or 
property by reason of a violation of section 4 may sue therefor in any 
appropriate United States district court. If such person is a 
prevailing party, he or she may recover the cost of the suit, including 
reasonable attorneys' fees.
    (b) Retaliation.--Any person who has experienced retaliation 
because of such person's disclosure of doping fraud in any major 
international competition may sue the retaliating party or parties 
therefor in any appropriate United States district court. If such 
person is a prevailing party, he or she may recover the cost of the 
suit, including reasonable attorneys' fees.
    (c) Contestants.--Any contestant in a major international 
competition who was deprived of a financial award or placement in the 
top three finishers in any major international competition by reason of 
a violation of section 4 has a private right of action hereunder, and 
may sue therefor, in any appropriate United States district court and, 
if he or she prevails, shall recover threefold the damages sustained, 
together with the cost of the suit, including reasonable attorneys' 
fees.
    (d) Retroactivity.--The provisions of subsections (a) through (c) 
shall apply retroactively.
    (e) Final Judgment.--A final judgment or decree rendered in favor 
of the United States in any criminal proceeding brought by the United 
States under this Chapter shall estop the defendant from denying the 
essential allegations of the criminal offense in any subsequent civil 
proceeding brought by under this section.
    (f) Regulations.--Within 120 days of the effective date of this 
Act, the Attorney General of the United States shall promulgate 
regulations proscribing a means by which the Department of Justice will 
assist private litigants hereunder to obtain foreign evidence in 
compliance with the Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in 
Civil or Commercial Matters, opened for signature Mar. 18, 1970, 23 
U.S.T. 2555, T.I.A.S. No. 7444, 847 U.N.T.S. 241.

SEC. 7. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

    (a) Criminal Penalties.--No person shall be prosecuted, tried, or 
punished for a violation of section 4 unless the indictment is returned 
or the information is filed within 7 years after the offense was 
completed.
    (b) Civil Actions.--No civil suit may be brought under section 6 
unless brought within 10 years after the offense was completed.
    (c) Tolling.--Upon application of the United States, filed before 
return of an indictment, indicating that evidence of an offense under 
section 4 is in a foreign country, the district court before which a 
grand jury is impaneled to investigate the offense shall suspend the 
running of the statute of limitations for the offense if the court 
finds by a preponderance of the evidence that an official request has 
been made for such evidence and that it reasonably appears, or 
reasonably appeared at the time the request was made, that such 
evidence is, or was, in such foreign country.
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