[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 51 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3710-S3711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 803. A bill to make the International Olympic Committee subject to 
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                           the ioc reform act

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
would make the International Olympic Committee subject to the Foreign 
Corrupt Practices Act. This legislation is in response to what I 
believe is a failure on the part of the International Olympic Committee 
(IOC) to adequately respond to corruption in the selection of cities to 
host the Olympic games.
  This morning, I chaired a hearing of the Commerce Committee on the 
recent public controversies involving the Olympic bid process. As most 
of you know, allegations of bribes and corruption in the Salt Lake City 
bid process have prompted investigations by the Utah Attorney General 
and the Department of Justice. The purpose of the hearing was not to 
focus on a single investigation. Instead, the Committee examined the 
bid process as a whole and the reform efforts undertaken by the United 
States Olympic Committee (USOC) and IOC respectively.
  The Committee heard testimony from the USOC, IOC and the Special Bid 
Oversight Commission. The Commission was appointed by the USOC to 
review the circumstances surrounding the selection of Salt Lake City to 
host the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Commission, composed of a group of 
highly respected individuals including our former colleague Senator 
Mitchell and Ken Duberstein, made a series of recommendations to reform 
both the USOC and the IOC. The recommendations focused on bringing 
transparency and accountability to both organizations.
  The USOC appears to be moving forward with reform. It adopted in full 
the recommendations of the Commission and took responsibility for its 
own failure to oversee the Salt Lake City bid process. While not 
complete, I believe the process of reform at the USOC has begun. 
Unfortunately, the hearing did very little to ease my concerns about 
the IOC. IOC representatives expressed opposition to several of the 
commissions' recommendations and continues to be resistant to change. 
While I understand the IOC may have legitimate concerns about some of 
the suggested reforms, I question their commitment to reform.
  This morning Senator Mitchell and the other members of the Commission 
agreed that Congress could and should take action to ensure that the 
IOC is

[[Page S3711]]

subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In the United States, the 
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is available to law enforcement to combat 
official corruption in international business transactions. Currently, 
IOC members are not governed by the Act because they do not generally 
act in the role of a foreign official. Rather, they act on behalf of 
the IOC, a private enterprise. My amendment includes the IOC in the 
definition of a Public International Organization subjecting them to 
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
  This bill should be a considered vehicle for discussion. This 
morning, Senator Mitchell and the Commission offered to provide the 
committee with further comments on possible legislative solutions to 
this problem. I look forward to hearing their ideas and working with 
them. However, based upon the recommendation of the panel this morning 
and the need to send a strong signal to IOC that we are serious about 
reform, I wanted to introduce this first step today. I know that many 
of my colleagues either will introduce measures as well and I look 
forward to working with them.
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