Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7881 To amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to provide for congressional oversight of the board of directors of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and to protect amateur athletes from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Mr. CURTIS, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mr. BURGESS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to provide for congressional oversight of the board of directors of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and to protect amateur athletes from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7881 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Empowering Olympic, 2 Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress makes the following findings: 5 (1) The courageous voice of survivors is a call 6 to action to end emotional, physical, and sexual 7 abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic movement. 8 (2) Larry Nassar, the former national team 9 doctor for USA Gymnastics, sexually abused over 10 300 athletes for over two decades because of ineffec- 11 tive oversight by USA Gymnastics and the United 12 States Olympic Committee. 13 (3) While the case of Larry Nassar is unprece- 14 dented in scale, the case is hardly the only recent in- 15 cident of sexual abuse in amateur sports. 16 (4) Survivors of Larry Nassar’s abuse and all 17 survivors of abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic 18 movement deserve justice and redress for the wrongs 19 the survivors have suffered. 20 (5) After a comprehensive congressional inves- 21 tigation, including interviews and statements from 22 survivors, former and current organization officials, 23 law enforcement, and advocates, Congress found 24 that the United States Olympic Committee and USA 25 Gymnastics fundamentally failed to uphold their ex- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7881 IH isting statutory purposes and duty to protect ama- 1 teur athletes from sexual, emotional, or physical 2 abuse. 3 (6) USA Gymnastics and the United States 4 Olympic Committee knowingly concealed abuse by 5 Larry Nassar, leading to the abuse of dozens of ad- 6 ditional amateur athletes during the period begin- 7 ning in the summer of 2015 and ending in Sep- 8 tember 2016. 9 (7) Ending abuse in the Olympic and 10 Paralympic movement requires enhanced oversight 11 to ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic move- 12 ment does more to serve athletes and protect their 13 voice and safety. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 Section 220501(b) of title 36, United States Code, 16 is amended— 17 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘United 18 States Center for Safe Sport’’ and inserting ‘‘United 19 States Center for SafeSport’’; 20 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘United 21 States Olympic Committee’’ and inserting ‘‘United 22 States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’’; 23 (3) by amending paragraph (8) to read as fol- 24 lows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7881 IH ‘‘(8) ‘national governing body’ means an ama- 1 teur sports organization, a high-performance man- 2 agement organization, or a paralympic sports orga- 3 nization that is certified by the corporation under 4 section 220521.’’; 5 (4) by striking paragraph (9); 6 (5) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 7 (7), (8), and (10) as paragraphs (5), (6), (7), (8), 8 (9), and (12), respectively; 9 (6) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(4) ‘Athletes’ Advisory Council’ means the en- 12 tity established and maintained under section 13 220504(b)(2)(A) that— 14 ‘‘(A) is composed of, and elected by, ama- 15 teur athletes to ensure communication between 16 the corporation and currently active amateur 17 athletes; and 18 ‘‘(B) serves as a source of amateur-athlete 19 opinion and advice with respect to policies and 20 proposed policies of the corporation.’’; and 21 (7) by inserting after paragraph (9), as so re- 22 designated, the following: 23 ‘‘(10) ‘protected individual’ means any amateur 24 athlete, coach, trainer, manager, administrator, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7881 IH official associated with the corporation or a national 1 governing body; and 2 ‘‘(11) ‘retaliation’ means any adverse or dis- 3 criminatory action, or the threat of an adverse or 4 discriminatory action, including removal from a 5 training facility, reduced coaching or training, re- 6 duced meals or housing, and removal from competi- 7 tion, carried out against a protected individual as a 8 result of any communication, including the filing of 9 a formal complaint, by the protected individual or a 10 parent or legal guardian of the protected individual 11 relating to the allegation of physical abuse, sexual 12 harassment, or emotional abuse, with— 13 ‘‘(A) the Center; 14 ‘‘(B) a coach, trainer, manager, adminis- 15 trator, or official associated with the corpora- 16 tion; 17 ‘‘(C) the Attorney General; 18 ‘‘(D) a Federal or State law enforcement 19 authority; 20 ‘‘(E) the Equal Employment Opportunity 21 Commission; or 22 ‘‘(F) Congress.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7881 IH SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE TED STEVENS OLYMPIC 1 AND AMATEUR SPORTS ACT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2205 of title 36, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in the chapter heading, by striking 5 ‘‘UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COM- 6 MITTEE’’ and inserting ‘‘UNITED STATES 7 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COM- 8 MITTEE’’; 9 (2) in section 220502, by amending subsection 10 (c) to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(c) REFERENCES TO UNITED STATES OLYMPIC AS- 12 SOCIATION AND UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE.— 13 Any reference to the United States Olympic Association 14 or the United States Olympic Committee is deemed to 15 refer to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Com- 16 mittee.’’; 17 (3) in section 220503— 18 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and the 19 Pan-American Games’’ each place it appears 20 and inserting ‘‘the Pan-American Games, and 21 the Parapan American Games’’; and 22 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and 23 Pan-American Games’’ and inserting ‘‘the Pan- 24 American Games, and the Parapan American 25 Games’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7881 IH (4) in section 220504(b)(3), by striking ‘‘or the 1 Pan-American Games’’ and inserting ‘‘the Pan- 2 American Games, or the Parapan American Games’’; 3 (5) in section 220505(c)— 4 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and the 5 Pan-American Games’’ and inserting ‘‘the Pan- 6 American Games, and the Parapan American 7 Games’’; 8 (B) by amending paragraph (4) to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(4) certify national governing bodies for any 11 sport that is included on the program of the Olympic 12 Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American 13 Games, or the Parapan American Games;’’; and 14 (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘the 15 Parapan American Games,’’ after ‘‘the Pan- 16 American Games,’’; 17 (6) in section 220506— 18 (A) in subsection (a)— 19 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 20 ‘‘United States Olympic Committee’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘United States Olympic and 22 Paralympic Committee’’; 23 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘3 24 TaiGeuks’’ and inserting ‘‘3 Agitos’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7881 IH (iii) in paragraph (4), by inserting 1 ‘‘ ‘Parapan American’,’’ after ‘‘ ‘Pan-Amer- 2 ican’,’’; 3 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘the 4 Parapan American team,’’ after ‘‘the Pan- 5 American team,’’; and 6 (C) in subsection (c)(3), by striking ‘‘or 7 Pan-American Games activity’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘Pan-American, or Parapan American Games 9 activity’’; 10 (7) in section 220509(a)— 11 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘the 12 Parapan American Games,’’ after ‘‘the Pan- 13 American Games,’’; and 14 (B) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘or 15 the Pan-American Games’’ and inserting ‘‘the 16 Pan-American Games, or the Parapan Amer- 17 ican Games’’; 18 (8) in section 220512, by striking ‘‘and Pan- 19 American Games’’ and inserting ‘‘Pan-American 20 Games, and Parapan American Games’’; 21 (9) in section 220523(a), by striking ‘‘and the 22 Pan-American Games’’ each place it appears and in- 23 serting ‘‘the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan 24 American Games’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7881 IH (10) in section 220528(c)— 1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or 2 in both the Olympic and Pan-American Games’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘or in each of the Olympic 4 Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-Amer- 5 ican Games, and the Parapan American 6 Games’’; and 7 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 8 as follows: 9 ‘‘(B) any Pan-American Games or 10 Parapan American Games, for a sport in which 11 competition is held in the Pan-American Games 12 or the Parapan American Games, as applicable, 13 but not in the Olympic Games or the 14 Paralympic Games.’’; and 15 (11) in section 220531, by striking ‘‘United 16 States Olympic Committee’’ each place it appears 17 and inserting ‘‘United States Olympic and 18 Paralympic Committee’’. 19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of chap- 20 ters for part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States 21 Code, is amended by striking the item relating to chapter 22 2205 and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘2205. United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee .......................................................................... 220501’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7881 IH SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OF UNITED STATES 1 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE AND 2 NATIONAL GOVERNING BODIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2205 of title 36, United 4 States Code, is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating the second subchapter des- 6 ignated as subchapter III (relating to the United 7 States Center for SafeSport), as added by section 8 202 of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual 9 Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 10 (Public Law 115–126; 132 Stat. 320) as subchapter 11 IV; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER V—DISSOLUTION OF BOARD OF 14 DIRECTORS OF CORPORATION AND TERMI- 15 NATION OF RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL 16 GOVERNING BODIES 17 ‘‘§ 220551. Definitions 18 ‘‘In this subchapter, the term ‘joint resolution’ means 19 a joint resolution— 20 ‘‘(1) which does not have a preamble; and 21 ‘‘(2) for which— 22 ‘‘(A)(i) the title is only as follows: ‘A joint 23 resolution to dissolve the board of directors of 24 the United States Olympic and Paralympic 25 Committee’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7881 IH ‘‘(ii) the matter after the resolving 1 clause— 2 ‘‘(I) is as follows: ‘That Congress 3 finds that dissolving the board of directors 4 of the United States Olympic and 5 Paralympic Committee would not unduly 6 interfere with the operations of chapter 7 2205 of title 36, United States Code’; and 8 ‘‘(II) prescribes adequate procedures 9 for forming a board of directors of the cor- 10 poration as expeditiously as possible and in 11 a manner that safeguards the membership 12 and voting power of the representatives of 13 amateur athletes at all times, consistent 14 with the membership and voting power of 15 amateur athletes under section 16 220504(b)(2); or 17 ‘‘(B)(i) the title is only as follows: ‘A joint 18 resolution relating to terminating the recogni- 19 tion of a national governing body’; and 20 ‘‘(ii) the matter after the resolving clause 21 is only as follows: ‘That Congress determines 22 that lllllllll, which is recognized 23 as a national governing body under section 24 220521 of title 36, United States Code, has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7881.IH H7881 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7881 IH failed to fulfill its duties, as described in section 1 220524 of title 36, United States Code’, the 2 blank space being filled in with the name of the 3 applicable national governing body. 4 ‘‘§ 220552. Dissolution of board of directors of cor- 5 poration and termination of recognition 6 of national governing bodies 7 ‘‘(a) DISSOLUTION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF 8 CORPORATION.—Effective on the date of enactment of a 9 joint resolution described in section 220551(2)(A) with re- 10 spect to the board of directors of the corporation, such 11 board of directors shall be dissolved. 12 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL 13 GOVERNING BODY.—Effective on the date of enactment 14 of a joint resolution described in section 220551(2)(B) 15 with respect to a national governing body, the recognition 16 of the applicable amateur sports organization as a national 17 governing body shall cease to have force or effect.’’. 18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 19 The table of sections for chapter 2205 of title 36, United 20 States Code, is amended— 21 (1) by striking the second item relating to sub- 22 chapter III (relating to the United States Center for 23 SafeSport), as added by section 202 of the Pro- 24 te [Text truncated for display. 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