[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H6192-H6194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SUPPORTING THE IDEALS AND VALUES OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 395) supporting the ideals and values of the 
Olympic movement.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 395

       Whereas, for over 100 years, the Olympic movement has built 
     a more peaceful and better world by educating young people 
     through athletics, by bringing together athletes from many 
     countries in friendly competition, and by forging new 
     relationships bound by friendship, solidarity, sportsmanship, 
     and fair play;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Committee is dedicated to 
     coordinating and developing athletic activity in the United 
     States to foster productive working relationships among 
     sports-related organizations;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Committee promotes and 
     supports athletic activities involving the United States and 
     foreign nations;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Committee promotes and 
     encourages physical fitness and public participation in 
     athletic activities;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Committee assists 
     organizations and persons concerned with sports in the 
     development of athletic programs for able-bodied and disabled 
     athletes regardless of age, race, or gender;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Committee protects the 
     opportunity of each athlete, coach, trainer, manager, 
     administrator, and official to participate in athletic 
     competition;
       Whereas the United States Olympic Training Centers in 
     Colorado, California, New York, Michigan, and Alabama are 
     dedicated to the development of Olympic athletes;
       Whereas athletes representing the United States at the 
     Olympic games have achieved great success personally and for 
     the Nation;
       Whereas thousands of men and women of the United States are 
     focusing their energy and skill on becoming part of the 
     United States Olympic team and aspire to compete in the 2008 
     Olympic games;
       Whereas the Nation takes great pride in the qualities of 
     commitment to excellence, grace under pressure, and good will 
     toward other competitors exhibited by the athletes of the 
     United States Olympic team; and
       Whereas June 23, 2007 is the anniversary of the founding of 
     the modern Olympic movement, representing the date on which 
     the Congress of Paris approved the proposal of Pierre de 
     Coubertin to found the modern Olympic games: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) supports the ideals and values of the Olympic movement;
       (2) calls upon the President to issue a proclamation 
     recognizing the anniversary of the founding of the modern 
     Olympic movement; and
       (3) calls upon the people of the United States to observe 
     such anniversary with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Lamborn) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from American Samoa.


                             General Leave

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from American Samoa?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution, and yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would first like to commend our distinguished colleague, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), for introducing this important 
resolution.
  The Olympics are, first and foremost, about sports, athletes from 
around the world uniting in their love of their games and their 
commitment to free and fair competition.
  But the Olympics are also an important global forum where athletes, 
trainers and leaders and spectators from around the world come together 
to participate in and observe the greatest competition on Earth. The 
games epitomize the spirit of global harmony and cooperation among 
nations.
  For over 100 years, the modern Olympics movement, in sponsoring the 
games, has built understanding by bringing athletes together around the 
world in open competition and by forging new bonds of friendship, 
solidarity and sportsmanship.
  Given the current state of global affairs, we all have learned a lot 
from the Olympic participants and from the symbolism of the peaceful 
assemblage of people from all different walks of life.
  It is with this harmonious sentiment that Mr. Lamborn's resolution 
recognizes the significance of the Olympic movement in global 
understanding.
  This resolution is particularly timely as we approach the 2008 games 
in Beijing, China, and encourages China to act responsibly in 
accordance with the spirit of this Olympics.
  This bill also recognizes the proud history of our own U.S. Olympic 
Committee, which has coordinated the development of young athletes in 
the United States and sent so many of them to represent our country 
with amazing poise.
  I'm delighted that the House will today take this opportunity to 
recognize the anniversary of the founding of the modern Olympic 
movement on June 23.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 395. I am 
pleased to sponsor this resolution that supports and commemorates the 
ideals and values of the Olympics.
  In a few weeks, on June 23, 2007, the United States Olympic Committee 
will be celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the modern 
Olympic movement.
  Specifically, June 23 represents the date in 1896 on which the 
Congress of Paris approved the proposal of Baron Pierre de Coubertin to 
found the modern Olympic games.
  The Olympics emphasize the values and ideals of, among other things, 
an active, healthy lifestyle for both able-bodied and disabled 
athletes, personal excellence, good sportsmanship and fair play, 
without regard for gender, race or age.
  The Olympic movement and its message of peace and solidarity offer 
hope during times of tumultuous world events.
  For over 100 years the Olympic movement has built a more peaceful and 
better world by educating young people through athletics, by bringing 
together athletes from many countries in friendly competition, and by 
forging new relationships bound by friendship, solidarity, 
sportsmanship and fair play.
  Presently, thousands of men and women throughout the United States 
are working hard to prepare for competition to proudly represent our 
great Nation. Embodying values of health and fitness, Olympic athletes 
are role models for young people as obesity becomes far too widespread 
in the United States.
  These athletes will be participating in one of the upcoming Olympic 
games: the XV Pan American Games, which will take place in Rio de 
Janiero, Brazil, later this year; the XXVIV Summer Olympics in Beijing, 
China, in 2008; and the XXI Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, in 
2010.
  As China prepares to open its doors to the world, the 2008 Olympic 
games in Beijing could well be a defining event for our generation.
  The Olympic movement's ideals and values are as relevant today, if 
not more so, than when the modern Olympic games began more than 100 
years ago.

[[Page H6193]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend the gentleman for 
his statement, and to honor the spirit of the Olympic movement, and 
especially that the great State of Colorado hosts the resources and the 
facilities that allow our athletes from all over the country to come 
and to train and to prepare adequately for this important global event.
  And I cannot help but to reflect on some of the history and how 
important are some of the events that were classical as far as the 
Olympics were concerned. And I want to share with my colleagues one of 
the great personalities that have come out of this, a gentleman by the 
name of Jim Thorpe, who was a descendent, who was a Sauk and Fox 
Indian, American Indian, a descendant of a great warrior chief and 
athlete himself, Black Hawk, Jim Thorpe. It is very interesting in the 
annals of the Olympic games. In 1912, when he won the Olympics, several 
gold medals in the Olympics there, and he was approached by the King 
Gustav of Belgium, and he said, Sir, this is what the king said to Mr. 
Thorpe. Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world. And Thorpe, 
never a man to stand on ceremony, answered and simply said, Thanks, 
King.
  Jim Thorpe was one of the greatest athletes in the world. He played 
baseball, he played football, in fact, in 1950 he was named the 
greatest American football player. And then another accolade that was 
given to this great athlete, Olympic athlete, the greatest overall 
male, at least by the Associated Press in 1950.
  Jim Thorpe, unfortunately, was suspended in terms of the medals that 
he won during the Olympics supposedly because he had played 
professional baseball. Supposedly, this is what he was accused of.
  Well, later on his medals were restored.
  But given the fact that this is one of the great personalities that 
have evolved from the spirit of the Olympic movement, another gentleman 
that I want to share with my colleagues historically was a gentleman by 
the name of Jesse Owens, a son of Alabama, but raised in the State of 
Ohio, in Cleveland, Ohio, specifically.
  It was in the 1936 Olympics, 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and 
there was this problem that some of our friends from Germany, 
particularly Adolph Hitler, had this very interesting concept about the 
supremacy of the white Aryan race. And this African American athlete 
went there and won four gold medals, to the extent that it was very 
ironic.
  Here, Jesse Owens could not even train together with his white 
counterparts, the members of the Olympic Committee, representing the 
United States of America. And yet, when he got to Germany, in the midst 
of 110,000 spectators in that stadium there in Berlin, ironically Owens 
was allowed to travel and stay in the same hotels as whites in Germany, 
and yet was denied the same privilege here in our own country.
  The fact is even noted that after a New York ticker tape parade that 
was given in his honor in New York City, that Owens had to ride the 
freight elevator to attend a reception for him at the Waldorf Astoria.
  I think it's worth noting that this gentleman, humble as he was, one 
of the greatest athletes, one of the greatest athletes coming from our 
country, again the spirit of the Olympics, where race, color, creed or 
religion should have no barrier, and yet this great American set a 
tremendous example of what he did in 1936.
  Unfortunately, as well, in 1968, at the height of the civil rights 
movement, the Olympics that took place in Mexico, where gentlemen by 
the name of Tommy Smith and John Carlos demonstrated in their own way, 
of course they were highly ridiculed by the media; and it was their way 
of showing that something was wrong here in America. African Americans 
were not given the same civil rights and liberties as all other Federal 
Americans, as is guaranteed supposedly by the U.S. Constitution.
  They made a display of their concern that in America, that something 
was wrong in our country. And I think they were later honored by the 
San Jose State University for the fact that they stood up for 
principle, not because they hated the Olympics or being athletes, but 
because of that.
  Then the Olympics of 1980, we had a very serious problem when the 
Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan. And President Carter then issued a 
very interesting statement. You pull out of Afghanistan or we're going 
to boycott the Olympics. That's exactly what happened in 1980. And 
unfortunately, all our athletes who trained so hard for that 4-year 
period just wasted that whole energy and time unfortunately. But 
because of political reasons.
  And here's one of the ironies, Mr. Speaker, that the United States 
was joined in this boycott with Japan, West Germany, China and Canada. 
And guess who didn't join us? Great Britain, France, Greece. Very, very 
interesting host of supposedly our allies and friends as a matter of 
principle in terms of what the Soviet Union did in 1979.
  And then what happened in 1984? The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact 
members turned around and boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles.

                              {time}  1500

  In the 1988 Olympics in Korea, Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege to 
lead the first delegation of my territory, as members of the Olympic 
Committee, believe it or not, in the Olympic organization, in Seoul, 
Korea. And what an awesome and powerful force it was to show the world 
community in terms of showing these athletes who prepare for so long 
and so hard that they could share not only their talent but, more than 
that, their fellowship with each other.
  Now, in the advent of what is happening seriously in terms of what we 
are trying to do in Darfur, the moment now among some of the leaders 
and others in the world is to boycott the Olympics in China because 
some feel that China is not doing enough to put pressure on the 
Sudanese Government to stop the genocide, to stop the genocide in 
Darfur, where over 400,000 lives have already been lost because of that 
terrible crisis of genocide, and over 2 million refugees have already 
been sighted because of this terrible incident's happening, and the 
fact that China receives 70 percent of its oil supply from Sudan and 
the fact that China also supplies arms to the Sudanese Government.
  It is a very serious issue. And, unfortunately, like I said, I wish 
we lived in a perfect world where we can separate the politics from 
athletics, but this is not the reality that we are faced with.
  And I am also making an urgent plea to our good friends from China, 
the leaders of China, to put pressure on the Sudanese Government, put 
pressure on the Sudanese Government to stop the genocide in Darfur.
  Again, I want to commend my colleague and good friend for his support 
and for the sponsorship of this important legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to thank my colleague from American Samoa for the words he has 
just shared and especially for the inspiring example that he recounted 
to us of Jim Thorpe and Jesse Owens.
  An Olympic athlete has the potential to galvanize the attention of 
the entire country, sometimes the entire world, through overcoming 
adversity through athletic excellence, and I expect that we will be 
seeing a lot more of that in the future. And that is the kind of 
inspiration that we as Americans and our young people can benefit from.
  I am proud that in Colorado Springs we have the headquarters of the 
United States Olympic Committee and we have a very involved training 
center in Colorado Springs, in my district. We also have training 
centers in other parts of the country. I am aware of training centers 
in California, New York, and Michigan as well. So the Olympics movement 
is something that we as a Nation can be proud of and can support, and I 
would hope that this resolution makes a big step in that direction.
  I want to thank my colleague across the aisle for helping me on this 
resolution, for the words that he shared.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.

[[Page H6194]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) that the House suspend 
the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 395.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________