[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H5913-H5915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICAN VALUES AND SECURITY IN INTERNATIONAL ATHLETICS ACT

  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 8405) to direct the Department of State to ensure persons 
representing the United States in international athletic competitions 
in certain countries are appropriately informed, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 8405

       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 ``American Values and Security 
     in International Athletics Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) In 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 
     revised its Host City Contract to require host countries to 
     ``protect and respect human rights and ensure any violation 
     of human rights is remedied in a manner consistent with 
     international agreements, laws, and regulations applicable in 
     the Host Country and in a manner consistent with all 
     internationally recognised human rights standards and 
     principles, including the United Nations Guiding Principles 
     on Business and Human Rights, applicable in the Host 
     Country''.
       (2) The Olympic Charter states the goal of Olympism is ``to 
     place sport at the service of the harmonious development of 
     humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society 
     concerned with the preservation of human dignity''.
       (3) The IOC set up an advisory committee on human rights in 
     December 2018, and IOC President Thomas Bach said, 
     ``Promoting humanistic values in sport has been a core 
     feature of the IOC since its beginning. Our mission, to put 
     sport at the service of humanity, goes hand-in-hand with 
     human rights, which is part of our DNA.''.
       (4) In the report, ``The Cybersecurity of Olympic Sports: 
     New Opportunities, New Risks'', the UC Berkley Center for 
     Long-Term Cybersecurity listed the ``hacking and release of 
     sensitive athletic data'' as one of the four significant 
     categories of cyberattacks on major sporting events.
       (5) According to the State Department's 2019 Country 
     Reports on Human Rights Practices, the People's Republic of 
     China's Ministry of Public Security employs ``tens of 
     millions of surveillance cameras'' to monitor the general 
     public, as well as ``political dissidents, religious leaders 
     and adherents, Tibetans, and Uyghurs''.
       (6) The People's Republic of China (PRC) Government's 
     extensive use of artificial intelligence surveillance 
     technology, including facial and voice pattern recognition 
     technology, poses grave humanitarian, privacy, and security 
     concerns. PRC authorities have used surveillance technology 
     to monitor, control, and repress an estimated 1.8 million 
     Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur 
     Autonomous Region. PRC State media has confirmed that 
     ``voice, image, position and behavior recognition 
     technologies'' will be used in the Beijing 2022 Winter 
     Olympics.

     SEC. 3. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARENESS FOR AMERICAN ATHLETIC 
                   DELEGATIONS.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     individuals representing the United States at international 
     athletic competitions in foreign countries should have the 
     opportunity to be informed about human rights and security 
     concerns in such countries and how best to safeguard their 
     personal security and privacy.
       (b) In General.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
     devise and implement a strategy for disseminating briefing 
     materials, including information described in subsection (c), 
     to individuals representing the United States at 
     international athletic competitions in a covered country.
       (2) Timing and form of materials.--
       (A) In general.--The briefing materials referred to in 
     paragraph (1) shall be offered not later than 180 days prior 
     to the commencement of an international athletic competition 
     in a covered country.
       (B) Form of delivery.--Briefing materials related to the 
     human rights record of covered countries may be delivered 
     electronically or disseminated in person, as appropriate.
       (C) Special consideration.--Information briefing materials 
     related to personal security risks may be offered 
     electronically, in written format, by video teleconference, 
     or prerecorded video.
       (3) Consultations.--In devising and implementing the 
     strategy required under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State 
     shall consult with the following:
       (A) The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations in the 
     Senate, not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (B) Leading human rights nongovernmental organizations and 
     relevant subject-matter experts in determining the content of 
     the briefings required under this subsection.
       (C) The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and 
     the national governing bodies of amateur sports that play a 
     role in determining which individuals represent the United 
     States in international

[[Page H5914]]

     athletic competitions, regarding the most appropriate and 
     effective method to disseminate briefing materials.
       (c) Content of Briefings.--The briefing materials required 
     under subsection (b) shall include, with respect to a covered 
     country hosting an international athletic competition in 
     which individuals may represent the United States, the 
     following:
       (1) Information on the human rights concerns present in 
     such covered country, as described in the Department of 
     State's Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
       (2) Information, as applicable, on risks such individuals 
     may face to their personal and digital privacy and security, 
     and recommended measures to safeguard against certain forms 
     of foreign intelligence targeting, as appropriate.
       (d) Covered Country Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``covered country'' means, with respect to a country hosting 
     an international athletic competition in which individuals 
     representing the United States may participate, any of the 
     following:
       (1) Any Communist country specified in subsection (f) of 
     section 620 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
     2370(f)).
       (2) Any country ranked as a Tier 3 country in the most 
     recent Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
     Report.
       (3) Any other country the Secretary of State determines 
     present serious human rights concerns for the purpose of 
     informing such individuals.
       (4) Any country the Secretary of State, in consultation 
     with other cabinet officials as appropriate, determines 
     presents a serious counterintelligence risk.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Espaillat) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 8405.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me commend Mr. McCaul, our ranking member of the 
Foreign Affairs Committee, for authoring this bill. We know that 
people-to-people connections are a great way to build bridges of 
friendship and understanding between countries, and that international 
sports have long provided the best example for those connections.
  Yet, even as we put serious differences aside to see major sporting 
events go forward, we cannot ignore the fact that some governments 
simply don't respect basic human rights, and may seek to violate the 
privacy of our athletes by collecting information about them without 
their knowledge or consent.
  We think about China hosting the upcoming Winter Olympics. We will be 
sending our athletes to a country where the government conducts mass 
surveillance and abuses the human rights of its own citizens. Our 
athletes have the right to know about their security concerns, and 
about how best to keep themselves and their privacy secure.
  This legislation will require the State Department to develop a 
strategy to better support our athletes. We want to make sure that they 
understand the security and human rights situations in the countries 
where they compete and can take the best steps to protect themselves. 
It is a commonsense bill, and I am glad to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his support, and 
Chairman Engel, once again. The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics were a 
triumph for the China Communist Party and a significant blow for human 
rights.
  While the CCP aired lavish television spectacles for the world to 
see, they were evicting people from their homes, arresting activists, 
and harassing foreign journalists. Now, 12 years later, human rights 
abuses have only escalated in China.
  The CCP is currently oppressing anywhere from 1 to 3 million ethic 
minorities in Xinjiang. These prison camps are described as oppressive 
with harsh labor conditions, brainwashing, and even forced 
sterilizations and abortions. The Department of Defense has compared 
them to concentration camps.
  At the same time, the CCP continues to crack down on the people of 
Hong Kong for simply asking for the freedoms they were promised. And we 
should never forget the role the CCP played in the COVID-19 pandemic. 
In an attempt to hide the truth from the world and cover up their own 
culpability in allowing what could have been a regional epidemic, they 
allowed it to turn into a global pandemic. The CCP destroyed lab 
samples and threatened and arrested doctors and journalists who were 
simply just trying to report the truth.
  However, even with all this happening, Beijing is still set to host 
the 2022 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, the International Olympic 
Committee has shown their lack of concern for the CCP's escalating 
human rights violations, whether it be the Uighur Muslims, the Tibetan 
monks or the Christian population.

                              {time}  1515

  They are even refusing to discuss moving the games and have refused 
to use the upcoming games to simply put pressure on the CCP to stop 
their attacks on human rights.
  Just like they did in 2008, the CCP will try to use games, including 
American athletes, to whitewash their history and improve their image.
  Today, there is no structure to prepare our athletic delegations for 
this threat.
  That is why Chairman Engel and I introduced the American Values and 
Security in International Athletics Act.
  This bipartisan bill would direct the State Department to establish a 
briefing program on human rights violations and personal privacy 
concerns American athletes will face in countries that denigrate human 
rights, like China.
  So when we send our American athletes to represent us in 
authoritarian countries that flagrantly abuse human rights, those 
athletes deserve to know exactly what is happening. Then they can make 
an informed decision about their own participation, particularly as we 
prepare for the 2022 games.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the 40th anniversary of the United States 
boycott on the Moscow Olympics.
  At that time, in support of President Carter's boycott against the 
Soviet Union, famous sports journalist Howard Cosell said:

       It seemed absolutely wrong to me to let the Soviet Union 
     use our athletes and our technology capabilities to broadcast 
     their perverse propaganda to every corner of the globe.

  I agree with Howard Cosell.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to come together again to raise awareness for 
the next winter Olympics in China.
  Silence is not an option. And this bipartisan bill is an important 
step to ensure the United States Olympians, many of whom are icons and 
adored by our children as role models, to make sure that they are 
educated about where they are competing when they go abroad to China.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank Mr. McCaul for his 
bipartisan leadership on this matter. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, hosting the Olympics is an honor that indicates the host 
country's legitimacy on the world stage, but unfortunately, this honor 
has been handed to governments who misuse it time and again.
  We cannot let the Olympic games become a tool for corrupt and malign 
governments to conceal their behavior and portray themselves in a 
positive light. We know that the CCP will use international 
participation in the Olympics to normalize its atrocities. They have 
done it once before.
  At the very least, we should ensure that American athletes have the 
opportunity to at least be informed and to protect themselves and their 
personal privacy.
  We have all traveled, as Members of Congress, across the globe to 
oppressive governments. Many of us have been under surveillance in 
hostile governments like Russia and China and other countries. This 
bill simply allows

[[Page H5915]]

for our athletes to have the same courtesy, to be briefed in advance 
about the threats that they may face while they are in the host country 
at the Olympics in China.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman from New York for his support; 
Chairman Engel, my dear friend, for cosponsoring the bill, along with 
Representatives Sherman, Spanberger, and Phillips.
  I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 8405.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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