Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives That the International Olympic Committee Failed to Adhere to its Own Human Rights Commitments

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, when international institutions become unaccountable to the democratic world and are co-opted by dictators, they undermine American interests and values. That has become even clearer over the last few years.

When the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, the World Health Organization's complicity and the CCP's coverup helped turn what could have been a local outbreak into a global pandemic. We are still feeling the effects of the WHO repeating the CCP's lies without scrutiny, with them covering for Xi Jinping and with them legitimizing sham investigations into the origination of the virus.

The International Olympic Committee has a similar track record toward the CCP's human rights abuses. No human rights conditions were ever imposed by the IOC as a condition for China to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the CCP used it as propaganda to whitewash their brutal oppression. They allowed Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, once again turning a blind eye to the gross human rights violations and genocide currently being committed.

Over the last several weeks, we have seen the IOC change from passively validating the CCP's abuses to actively enabling them. The most troubling example is the ongoing abuse of Chinese Olympian Peng Shuai. She was disappeared by the CCP after coming forward with serious sexual abuse allegations against a senior party member.

After the world began speaking up for Peng, the CCP propaganda machine published false statements in her name. Rather than standing up for her, the IOC immediately issued public statements to validate this obvious disinformation and propaganda.

Even more shocking, IOC president, Thomas Bach, participated in and publicized a staged conversation with Peng that was supervised by a senior CCP member.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Peng is neither free nor safe. Since the 2008 games, the Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home, more aggressive abroad, and has begun a genocide against China's most vulnerable minorities.

When Olympians from all over the world travel to Beijing in February, they are trusting the IOC to keep them safe, but the IOC's recent actions have shown that they are not worthy of this trust. I commend this resolution for holding them accountable.

In closing, I want to offer a heartfelt thanks to the Women's Tennis Association and its chairman, Steve Simon. Mr. Simon and the WTA have fought for Peng bravely in an inspiring display of moral clarity and support for our democratic values. Unfortunately, this is all too rare among those with financial ties to the CCP.

Mr. Speaker, I support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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