[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 777-778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   UTAH WELCOMES THE WINTER OLYMPICS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the 2002 Winter Olympic Games 
will officially begin. Tomorrow the world will be welcome to Utah. 
Visitors from across the globe will quickly discover that they have 
arrived at the most beautiful and diverse of the 50 States.
  People will be thrilled by the snowcapped rugged mountains, the 
rustic lands and the greatest snow on Earth. Utah will welcome the 
world with its beauty, its charm and its unique warmth and personality. 
It will not take long for visitors to witness the kindness, hospitality 
and common decency that are the hallmarks of the great people of the 
State of Utah.
  There will be artistic demonstrations, performances and opportunities 
for all who participate to learn about the great heritage of the West. 
Utah will welcome the world with its values.
  Preparing for the Olympic Games has not been a short-term task. 
Individuals in Utah have devoted years to anticipating and planning for 
this time. And the manner in which they have prepared is demonstrative 
of their spirit. In Utah, record numbers of individual citizens will 
serve as Olympic volunteers. Doctors and nurses will donate their time 
to be first responders in case of illness or injury. Active citizens 
will greet athletes at the airport, be on hand to provide directions, 
and ensure a smooth and successful Olympic Games.
  For the first time in Olympic history, Salt Lake City has developed a 
plan to ensure that its neediest populations are served during the 
Olympics. For example, each evening volunteers will pick up surplus 
food from Olympic venues and deliver it to the Utah Food Bank from 
which it will be available to families and the elderly. Utah will 
welcome the world with its tradition of service.
  Throughout all the planning there has been a focus on safety and 
security. With Federal support and volunteers from surrounding States, 
Utah's courageous law enforcement personnel will ensure the greatest 
level of safety possible during the Olympic Games. Utah will welcome 
the world with its preparation and security.

                              {time}  1245

  In every preparation, the Olympic efforts have not been accomplished 
by one individual. They have taken the sacrifice and dedication of all 
the citizens of Utah, but in the end, they will not be Utah's games. 
They will be America's games.
  It will be the triumph of our Nation that in the face of great 
tribulation we did not shrink; we did not fear to go forward in the 
effort. We demonstrated great courage by pressing on and opening our 
hearts and our country to the world. America will welcome the world 
with its unity and resolve.
  As the Winter Olympic Games for 2002 have taken on a particular 
significance as a symbol of global unity and peace, the moral value of 
the games has become apparent. In order to protect the value and 
integrity of such international competitions, and of amateur athletics 
in general, we must not allow the practices like the use of 
performance-enhancing substances to tarnish the spirit of such 
significant events. We should expect, in fact we should demand, that 
Olympic athletes, that all athletes, compete free of performance-
enhancing substances.
  For sports to meet this standard, there must be a fair testing 
process. In the year 2000, the Center on Addiction and Substance 
Abuse's National Commission on Sports and Substance Abuse published a 
report on the practice of doping in Olympic sports. The report says 
there has been no independent and accountable organization with the 
authority to create and administer a truly effective antidoping 
program, and recent data has shown that doping is occurring in 
increasing rates among our youth.
  This report made several specific recommendations to address the 
practice of doping, and these included mustering the political will to 
demand a drug-free Olympics; ensuring that an independent authority 
exists and standards are set for testing practices; researching the 
long-term health consequences of performance-enhancing

[[Page 778]]

substances, with particular emphasis on youth; improving the cost 
effectiveness of testing; and conducting noncompetition testing to 
develop baselines and generate valid and reliable tests.
  Several of those steps have already been implemented.
  In year 2000, the U.S. Olympic Committee established the U.S. Anti-
Doping Agency as a result of criticism that drug testing and rules 
enforcement needed to be completely independent of the Olympic 
committee, and the antidoping agency was designated as the official 
antidoping agency for Olympic sport.
  Another recommendation of the commission has already been implemented 
by the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, the concept of ``Athlete Testing 
Passports.'' But more must be done.
  For there to be fair, dope-free competition, there must be a fair, 
reliable and valid method to test for banned substances. Without a fair 
method of testing, athletes and the public cannot have confidence in 
the fairness of the competition itself. Much is at stake if the 
practices of doping are not curtailed.
  There is the symbolic value of the Olympics, there is the examples we 
are setting for our youth, and finally there is the actual health of 
our youth. That is why I introduced legislation this week that would 
implement many of the other recommendations of the committee's report.
  My bill, the Fair Play in Sport Act, would invest additional 
resources in developing more valid and reliable tests and conduct more 
extensive research into the long-term health aspects.
  I certainly encourage people's support of this bill. We look forward 
to welcoming the world to Utah with the Olympic games.

                          ____________________