[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 99 (Thursday, June 14, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5186-H5188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ANTI-DOPING LEGISLATION
(Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, Americans love sports. They love honest
sports. They love winning the Stanley Cup by the great team here in
Washington. We loved winning the World Series with the Houston Astros.
We love our Olympics.
Today, I rise because I recently introduced, H.R. 6067, the
Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, or RADA.
In the realm of international sports, it has become almost
commonplace for too many athletes to yield to the temptation of
bridging the gap between their own skills and the pinnacle of athletic
achievement by resorting to performance-enhancing drugs.
To conceal this fall from grace, cheaters are employing increasingly
sophisticated modes of masking the use of any prescribed drugs. This
practice, some of it state-sanctioned, undermines international
athletic competition. That is why I introduced the RADA Act, H.R. 6067.
I ask my colleagues to join me. This is a bipartisan bill supported
by Ms. Gwen Moore, Dr. Burgess, and myself. Our numbers are growing.
The legislation I have introduced is bipartisan.
As well, we salute the valiant man who revealed the true extent of
the complex, state-run doping scheme in Russia.
[[Page H5187]]
Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to close by saying a young lady by
the name of Alysia Montano lost a race to Russians who had been a part
of doping fraud. She lost the medal and she lost millions, but she also
may have lost her spirit.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article from The New York
Times entitled: ``U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminalize Doping in Global
Competitions'' which cites RADA as a step in the right direction toward
criminalizing doping in international sports.
[From the New York Times, June 12, 2018]
U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminalize Doping in Global Competitions
(By Rebecca R. Ruiz)
United States lawmakers on Tuesday took a step toward
criminalizing doping in international sports, introducing a
bill in the House that would attach prison time to the use,
manufacturing or distribution of performance-enhancing drugs
in global competitions.
The legislation, inspired by the Russian doping scandal,
would echo the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it
illegal to bribe foreign officials to gain a business
advantage. The statute would be the first of its kind with
global reach, empowering American prosecutors to act on
doping violations abroad, and to file fraud charges of a
different variety than those the Justice Department brought
against top international soccer officials in 2015.
Although American leagues like Major League Baseball would
not be affected by the legislation, which would apply only to
competitions among countries, it could apply to a league's
athletes when participating in global events like the Ryder
Cup, the Davis Cup or the World Baseball Classic.
The law would establish America's jurisdiction over
international sports events, even those outside of the United
States, if they include at least three other nations, with at
least four American athletes participating or two American
companies acting as sponsors. It would also enhance the
ability of cheated athletes and corporate sponsors to seek
damages, expanding the window of time during which civil
lawsuits could be filed.
To justify the United States' broader jurisdiction over
global competitions, the House bill invokes the United
States' contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the
global regulator of drugs in sports. At $2.3 million, the
United States' annual contribution is the single largest of
any nation. ``Doping fraud in major international
competitions also effectively defrauds the United States,''
the bill states.
The lawmakers behind the bill were instrumental in the
creation of the 2012 Magnitsky Act, which gave the government
the right to freeze financial assets and impose visa
restrictions on Russian nationals accused of serious human
rights violations and corruption. On Tuesday, the lawmakers
framed their interest in sports fraud around international
relations and broader networks of crime that can accompany
cheating.
``Doping fraud is a crime in which big money, state assets
and transnational criminals gain advantage and honest
athletes and companies are defrauded,'' said Sheila Jackson
Lee, Democrat of Texas, who introduced the legislation on
Tuesday. ``This practice, some of it state-sanctioned, has
the ability to undermine international relations, and is
often connected to more nefarious actions by state actors.''
Along with Ms. Jackson Lee, the bill was sponsored by two
other Congressional representatives, Michael Burgess,
Republican of Texas, and Gwen Moore, Democrat of Wisconsin.
It was put forward just as Russia prepares to host soccer's
World Cup, which starts Thursday. That sporting event will be
the nation's biggest since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where one
of the most elaborate doping ploys in history took place.
The bill, the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, takes its name
from Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the chemist who ran Russia's
antidoping laboratory for 10 years before he spoke out about
the state-sponsored cheating he had helped carry out--most
notoriously in Sochi.
At those Games, Dr. Rodchenkov said, he concealed
widespread drug use among Russia's top Olympians by tampering
with more than 100 urine samples with the help of Russia's
Federal Security Service.
Investigations commissioned by international sports
regulators confirmed his account and concluded that Russia
had cheated across competitions and years, tainting the
performance of more than 1,000 athletes. In early 2017,
American intelligence officials concluded that Russia's
meddling in the 2016 American election had been, in part, a
form of retribution for the Olympic doping scandal, whose
disclosures Russian officials blamed on the United States.
Nations including Germany, France, Italy, Kenya and Spain
have established criminal penalties for sports doping
perpetrated within their borders. Russia, too, passed a law
in 2017 that made it a crime to assist or coerce doping,
though no known charges have been brought under that law to
date.
Under the proposed American law, criminal penalties for
offenders would include a prison term of up to five years as
well as fines that could stretch to $250,000 for individuals
and $1 million for organizations.
``We could have real change if people think they could
actually go to jail for this,'' said Jim Walden, a lawyer for
Dr. Rodchenkov, who met with the lawmakers as they considered
the issue in recent months. ``I think it will have a
meaningful impact on coaches and athletes if they realize
they might not be able to travel outside of their country for
fear of being arrested.''
The legislation also authorizes civil actions for doping
fraud, giving athletes who may have been cheated in
competitions--as well as corporations acting as sponsors--the
right to sue in federal court to recover damages from people
who may have defrauded competitions.
Ms. Jackson Lee cited the American runner Alysia Montano,
who placed fifth in the 800 meters at the 2012 Summer
Olympics. Two Russian women who placed first and third in
that race were later disqualified for doping, elevating Ms.
Montano years later. ``She had rightfully finished third,
which would have earned her a bronze medal,'' Ms. Jackson Lee
said, noting the financial benefits and sponsorships Ms.
Montano could have captured.
The bill would establish a window of seven years for
criminal actions and 10 years for civil lawsuits. It also
seeks to protect whistle-blowers from retaliation, making it
illegal to take ``adverse action'' against a person because
he or she has disclosed information about doping fraud.
Dr. Rodchenkov, who has lived in the United States since
fall 2015, has been criminally charged in Russia after he
publicly deconstructed the cheating he said he carried out on
orders from a state minister.
``While he was complicit in Russia's past bad acts, Dr.
Rodchenkov regrets his past role in Russia's state-run doping
program and seeks to atone for it by aiding the effort to
clean up international sports and to curb the corruption
rampant in Russia,'' Ms. Jackson Lee said, calling Tuesday's
bill ``an important step to stemming the tide of Russian
corruption in sport and restoring confidence in international
competition.''
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, join me in supporting the RADA bill.
I thank Isabella Belcher and the OSCE staff.
Mr. Speaker, I recently introduced H.R. 6067, the Rodchenkov Anti-
Doping Act (``RADA'') because in the realm of international sports, it
has become almost commonplace for too many athletes to yield to the
temptation of bridging the gap between their own skill and the pinnacle
of athletic achievement by resorting to performance enhancing drugs.
And to conceal this fall from grace, cheaters are employing
increasingly sophisticated modes of masking the use of any proscribed
drugs.
The United States has a large role to play in ferreting out
corruption in international sports.
Not only do U.S. athletes lose out on millions in sponsorships, but
when a U.S. company spends millions to create a marketing campaign
around an athlete, only to have that athlete later implicated in a
doping fraud scandal, the damage to that company's brand can cost tens
of millions.
This has been the story of Alysia Montafio, a U.S. runner who
competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics games in London and placed fifth
place in the 800 meters behind two Russian women finishing first and
third.
These women were later found to have engaged in doping fraud by the
World Anti-Doping Agency, meaning that Ms. Montano had rightfully
finished third, which would have earned her a bronze medal.
Ms. Montano estimates that doping fraud cost her `maybe half a
million dollars, if you look at rollovers and bonuses, and that's
without outside sponsorship maybe coming in.'
She adds, `That's not why you're doing it, but you still deserve it.'
She certainly does. Until now, defrauded U.S. athletes and companies
have had little recourse against doping fraud.
A recent article published by The New York Times titled ``U.S.
Lawmakers Seek to Criminalize Doping in Global Competitions''
references the RADA as a step in the right direction toward
criminalizing doping in international sports.
The RADA is an important step to stemming the tide of Russian
corruption in sport and restoring confidence in international
competition.
This practice, some of it state-sanctioned, undermines international
athletic competition and is often connected to more nefarious actions
by state actors.
This is why it is necessary for Congress to enact H.R. 6067, the
bipartisan Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (``RADA'' Act)
The legislation I have introduced is bipartisan, and bears the name
of courageous whistleblower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, a valiant man who
revealed the true extent of the complex state-run doping scheme which
permitted Russia to excel in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and which
resulted in its ban from the 2018 Olympic Games.
While he was complicit in Russia's state-run doping program, Dr.
Rodchenkov regrets his role and seeks to atone for it by aiding the
effort to clean up international sports and to curb the rampant
corruption within Russia.
[[Page H5188]]
The RADA Act is a serious step towards cracking down on the use of
performance-enhancing drugs in major international competitions because
it establishes criminal penalties and civil remedies for doping fraud.
A number of other nations, including Germany, Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain, have embraced
criminal sanctions for doping fraud violations and it is time for the
United States to be added to this list.
Doping fraud in major international competitions--like the Olympics,
the World Cup and the Tour de France--is often linked with corruption,
bribery and money laundering.
It is not just victory that criminals engaged in doping fraud snatch
away from clean athletes--athletes depend on prize money and
sponsorships to sustain their livelihoods.
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