[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 51 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S3705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ASHCROFT:
  S. 797. A bill to apply the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 to 
the International Olympic Committee; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.


         International Olympic Committee Integrity Act of 1999

  Mr. ASHCROFT. Mr. President, for decades Americans have watched with 
awe and amazement at the invigorating achievements of the world's 
Olympic athletes. When Gail Devers and Wendy Williams won Olympic 
medals, they inspired their hometown of Bridgeton, Missouri. When Nikki 
Ziegelmeyer won a speed skating Olympic medal, her hometown of Imperial 
Missouri cheered. And when Ray Armstead helped win the 4 by 400 meter 
relay, St. Louis was proud of its native son.
  Gail, Wendy, Nikki and Ray won through sheer talent, toil and sweat. 
They pursued Olympic fame with honor and integrity, competed fairly, 
and won with dignity. Their athletic grace on the world stage helped 
spark dreams of future Olympic glory in young people today.
  But now the Olympic torch has been dimmed, and the five Olympic rings 
have been tarnished by bribes and graft given to secure victory at any 
price. The victory pursued with moneyed vengeance was not in athletic 
competition. In this scandal, the Olympic athletes are the innocents, 
yet the scandal tarnishes their achievement. The villains at ground 
zero are those who decided where the games were to be played and those 
who hosted or will host the games. Such irony: Scandal torches the 
competition to host the world's most competitive and honorable games.
  The facts are bleak--in their attempts to land the 2002 Olympics, 
leaders of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee spent $4 million on 
gifts, scholarships, cash payments and other inducements for 
International Olympic Committee members; allegations by senior Olympic 
officials have raised questions about payments that may have been made 
to influence the selection of other Olympic cities; the Justice 
Department has launched a criminal investigation into payments by Salt 
Lake City Olympic Officials; an independent investigation conducted by 
former Senator George Mitchell and former White House Chief of Staff 
Ken Duberstein concluded that receipt of ``valuables'' by International 
Olympic Committee members has become ``widespread, notorious, 
continuous, unchecked and ingrained in the way Olympic business is 
done.''; and the International Olympic Committee has expelled six of 
its members for corruption.
  Now that these problems have been exposed to the world, the question 
is what should be done to stop this bribery from destroying the Olympic 
movement.
  Today, Senator McCain took a step in the right direction by convening 
a hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee. I regret the decision by 
the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio 
Samaranch, to not attend that hearing. And I take exception with the 
comments of one of the IOC witnesses who told the Associated Press, and 
I quote, ``What I'm afraid is that they're doing it for political 
advantage and not for the benefit of anybody except for themselves. 
They just get on a soap box and preach their righteousness.''
  Well, it is crystal clear to me that Congress should, for our Olympic 
athletes and the hometowns they represent, use soap and scrubbing and 
scrutiny to clean up this mess.
  Mr. President, today I am introducing legislation that is a vital 
step in restoring integrity to the IOC host city bidding process. The 
International Olympic Committee Integrity Act will expand the coverage 
of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to include the IOC. The FCPA 
prohibits U.S. businesses from offering bribes or kickbacks to foreign 
officials. The U.S. Olympic Committee has asked President Clinton to 
issue an executive order to cover the IOC under the FCPA. To date, the 
President has not done so. My bill accomplishes what the U.S. Olympic 
Committee has requested and that is to outlaw the gifts and payments 
such as those that have been made in the past to International Olympic 
Committee officials.
  In addition, I am keeping open the option of removing the federal tax 
deduction that federal tax law provides for contributions made to the 
International Olympic Committee. I will review the testimony of IOC 
witnesses from today's Commerce Committee hearing before making a final 
decision.
  In closing, Mr. President, we should give credit where it is due. 
When faced with a serious mistake that has been made, a test of 
character is whether you do the next right thing. Once the Salt Lake 
City problem was discovered, officials at the U.S. Olympic Committee 
responded quickly. The USOC asked for the Mitchell-Duberstein 
investigation I mentioned earlier. The USOC has implemented a series of 
internal and external reforms of procedures used to apply for hosting 
the Olympic Games. The USOC has strengthened ethics rules, and created 
a compliance officer to monitor U.S. bid cities. And, in the future, 
all honoraria received by committee members must be forfeited to the 
group's chief financial officer.
  We have much more to do in order to restore confidence and dignity to 
the Olympics. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of the 
International Olympic Committee Integrity Act. We owe it to Gail 
Devers, Wendy Williams, Nikki Ziegelmeyer, Ray Armstead and all future 
Olympic athletes.
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