III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 396 

To establish a special committee of the Senate to address sexual abuse 

within United States Olympic Gymnastics. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2018 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mrs. ERNST, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. DAINES, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. BURR) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Rules and Administration 

RESOLUTION 

To establish a special committee of the Senate to address 

sexual abuse within United States Olympic Gymnastics. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a special 

4 committee of the Senate to be known as the Special Com5 mittee to Investigate Sexual Abuse Within United States 

6 Olympic Gymnastics (hereafter in this resolution referred 

7 to as the ‘‘special committee’’). 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the special committee 

2 is— 

3 (1) to investigate the United States Olympic 

4 Committee and national sports governing bodies, in5 cluding USA Gymnastics, and determine the extent 

6 to which these organizations were complicit in the 

7 criminal or negligent behavior of their employees re8 lating to sexual abuse; 

9 (2) to identify and recommend solutions to the 

10 systemic failures at the United States Olympic Com11 mittee and national sports governing bodies, includ12 ing USA Gymnastics, that allowed for pervasive sex13 ual abuse to continue for decades; 

14 (3) to identify actions that must be taken by 

15 the United States Olympic Committee and national 

16 sports governing bodies, including USA Gymnastics, 

17 to ensure increased transparency and protections for 

18 children, athletes, and their families; 

19 (4) to make such findings of fact as are war20 ranted and appropriate; and 

21 (5) to make such recommendations, including 

22 recommendations for new legislation and amend23 ments to existing laws and any administrative or 

24 other actions, as the special committee may deter25 mine to be necessary or desirable. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 (c) LIMITATION.—No proposed legislation shall be re2 ferred to the special committee, and the special committee 

3 shall not have power to report by bill or otherwise have 

4 legislative jurisdiction. 

5 (d) TREATMENT AS STANDING COMMITTEE.—For 

6 purposes of paragraphs 1, 2, 7(a)(1), 7(a)(2), and 10(a) 

7 of rule XXVI and rule XXVII of the Standing Rules of 

8 the Senate, and subsections (i) and (j) of section 202 of 

9 the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 

10 4301), the special committee shall be treated as a standing 

11 committee of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SPECIAL 

13 COMMITTEE. 

14 (a) MEMBERSHIP.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The special committee shall 

16 consist of 8 members of the Senate, of whom— 

17 (A) 4 shall be appointed by the President 

18 pro tempore of the Senate from the majority 

19 party of the Senate upon the recommendation 

20 of the Majority Leader of the Senate; and 

21 (B) 4 shall be appointed by the President 

22 pro tempore of the Senate from the minority 

23 party of the Senate upon the recommendation 

24 of the Minority Leader of the Senate. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 (2) COMPOSITION.—Not less than 4 of the 

2 members appointed under paragraph (1) shall be 

3 women. 

4 (3) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the member5 ship of the special committee shall— 

6 (A) not affect the authority of the remain7 ing members to execute the functions of the 

8 special committee; and 

9 (B) be filled in the same manner as origi10 nal appointments to the special committee are 

11 made. 

12 (4) SERVICE.—For the purpose of paragraph 4 

13 of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 

14 service of a Senator as a member, chair, or vice 

15 chair of the special committee shall not be taken 

16 into account. 

17 (b) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chair of the special 

19 committee shall be selected by the Majority Leader 

20 of the Senate and the vice chair of the special com21 mittee shall be selected by the Minority Leader of 

22 the Senate. 

23 (2) VICE CHAIR DUTIES.—The vice chair shall 

24 discharge such responsibilities as the special com25 mittee or the chair may assign. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this resolu3 tion, the special committee may— 

4 (1) make expenditures from the contingent fund 

5 of the Senate; 

6 (2) employ personnel; 

7 (3) hold hearings; 

8 (4) sit and act at any time or place during the 

9 sessions, recesses, and adjourned periods of the Sen10 ate; 

11 (5) require, by subpoena or otherwise, the at12 tendance of witnesses and the production of cor13 respondence, books, papers, and documents; 

14 (6) take depositions and other testimony; 

15 (7) issue interim reports, as necessary; 

16 (8) procure the services of individual consulta17 tions or organizations thereof in accordance with the 

18 provisions of section 202(i) of the Legislative Reor19 ganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i)); and 

20 (9) with the prior consent of the Federal de21 partment or agency concerned and the Committee on 

22 Rules and Administration, use on a nonreimbursable 

23 basis the services of personnel of the Federal depart24 ment or agency. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 (b) OATHS FOR WITNESSES.—The chair or any mem2 ber of the special committee may administer oaths to wit3 nesses. 

4 (c) SUBPOENAS.—A subpoena authorized by the spe5 cial committee may be— 

6 (1) issued over the signature of— 

7 (A) the chair after consultation with the 

8 vice chair; or 

9 (B) any member of the special committee 

10 designated by the chair after consultation with 

11 the vice chair; and 

12 (2) served by any person designated by the 

13 chair or the member signing the subpoena. 

14 (d) ACCESS OF MEMBERS TO INFORMATION.—Each 

15 member of the special committee shall have equal and 

16 unimpeded access to information collected or otherwise ob17 tained by the special committee. 

18 SEC. 4. REPORT AND TERMINATION. 

19 (a) REPORT.—The special committee shall report the 

20 findings of the special committee, together with such rec21 ommendations as the special committee deems advisable, 

22 to the Senate not later than the last day of the first ses23 sion of the 116th Congress. 

24 (b) RECORDS.—Upon termination of the special com25 mittee, all records, files, documents, and other materials 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•SRES 396 IS 

1 in the possession, custody, or control of the special com2 mittee shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Senate 

3 under appropriate conditions established by the special 

4 committee, including conditions to protect information 

5 under the HIPAA privacy and security law, as defined in 

6 section 3009(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 300jj–19(a)). 

8 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

9 From the date on which this resolution is agreed to 

10 through the termination of the special committee, the spe11 cial committee shall use such funds as necessary to carry 

12 out the duties of the special committee. 

Æ 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS