Strengthening U.S. Olympics Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 132 To establish the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 15, 2019 Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening U.S. 4 Olympics Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. COMMISSION ON THE STATE OF U.S. OLYMPICS AND 6 PARALYMPICS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 8 the legislative branch a commission, to be known as the 9 ‘‘Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 132 IS Paralympics’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commis- 1 sion’’). 2 (b) COMPOSITION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 4 composed of 16 members, of whom— 5 (A) 4 members shall be appointed by the 6 majority leader of the Senate; 7 (B) 4 members shall be appointed by the 8 minority leader of the Senate; 9 (C) 4 members shall be appointed by the 10 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 11 (D) 4 members shall be appointed by the 12 minority leader of the House of Representa- 13 tives. 14 (2) CO-CHAIRS.—Of the members of the Com- 15 mission— 16 (A) 1 co-chair shall be designated by the 17 majority leader of the Senate; and 18 (B) 1 co-chair shall be designated by the 19 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 20 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member ap- 22 pointed to the Commission shall have experience 23 in— 24 (i) amateur or professional athletics; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 132 IS (ii) athletic coaching; 1 (iii) professional advocacy on behalf of 2 victims of bullying, harassment, hazing, or 3 sexual assault; 4 (iv) public service relating to sports; 5 or 6 (v) professional advocacy for increased 7 minority participation in sports. 8 (B) OLYMPIC OR PARALYMPIC ATH- 9 LETES.—Not fewer than 8 members appointed 10 under paragraph (1) shall be Olympic or 11 Paralympic athletes. 12 (c) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days after 13 the date on which the last member is appointed under 14 paragraph (1), the Commission shall hold an initial meet- 15 ing. 16 (d) QUORUM.—Eleven members of the Commission 17 shall constitute a quorum. 18 (e) NO PROXY VOTING.—Proxy voting by members 19 of the Commission shall be prohibited. 20 (f) STAFF.—The co-chairs of the Commission shall 21 appoint an executive director of the Commission, and such 22 staff as appropriate, with compensation. 23 (g) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Commission shall hold 24 1 or more public hearings. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 132 IS (h) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Commis- 1 sion shall serve without pay, but shall receive travel ex- 2 penses in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 3 5, United States Code. 4 (i) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 5 (1) STUDY.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 7 conduct a study on matters relating to the state 8 of United States participation in the Olympic 9 and Paralympic games. 10 (B) MATTERS STUDIED.—The study under 11 subparagraph (A) shall include— 12 (i) a description of proposed reforms 13 to the structure of the United States 14 Olympic Committee; 15 (ii) an assessment of whether the 16 board of the United States Olympic Com- 17 mittee includes diverse members, including 18 athletes; 19 (iii) an assessment of United States 20 athlete participation levels in the Olympics 21 and Paralympics; 22 (iv) a description of the status of any 23 United States Olympic Committee licens- 24 ing arrangement; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 132 IS (v) an assessment of whether the 1 United States is achieving the goals for the 2 Olympics and Paralympics set by the 3 United States Olympic Committee; 4 (vi) an analysis of the participation in 5 amateur athletics of— 6 (I) women; 7 (II) disabled individuals; and 8 (III) minorities; 9 (vii) a description of ongoing efforts 10 by the United States Olympic Committee 11 to recruit the Olympics and Paralympics to 12 the United States; 13 (viii) an evaluation of the function of 14 the national governing bodies (as defined 15 in section 220502 of title 36, United 16 States Code) and an analysis of the re- 17 sponsiveness of the national governing bod- 18 ies to athletes; 19 (ix) an assessment of whether the 20 United States Center for Safe Sport effec- 21 tively handles reported cases of bullying, 22 hazing, harassment, and sexual assault; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 132 IS (x) an assessment of the finances and 1 the financial organization of the United 2 States Olympic Committee. 3 (2) REPORT.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 6 the Commission shall submit to Congress a re- 7 port on the results of the study under para- 8 graph (1), including a detailed statement of 9 findings, conclusions, recommendations, and 10 suggested policy changes. 11 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report 12 required by subparagraph (A) shall be made 13 available to the public on an internet website of 14 the United States Government that is available 15 to the public. 16 (j) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 17 (1) SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.—The Commission 18 may subpoena an individual the testimony of whom 19 may be relevant to the purpose of the Commission. 20 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On request by 21 the executive director of the Commission, the head 22 of a Federal agency shall furnish information to the 23 Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 132 IS (k) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commis- 1 sion shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the 2 Commission submits the report under subsection (i)(2). 3 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 5 essary to carry out this section. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S132.IS S132 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS