II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1085

To provide for the revitalization of Olympic sports in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 21, 2001

Mr. WELLSTONE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To provide for the revitalization of Olympic sports in the

United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Olympic Sports Revi5 talization Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:

9 (1) Chapter 2205 of title 36, United States

10 Code (commonly referred to as the Ted Stevens

11 Olympic and Amateur Sports Act), requires the
2

•S 1085 IS

1 United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to obtain

2 for the United States ‘‘the most competent represen3 tation possible in each event of the Olympic Games’’.

4 (2) A traditional route in the United States to

5 participation in the Olympic Games has been partici6 pation in athletics at United States four-year col7 leges and universities.

8 (3) United States four-year colleges and univer9 sities are producing a much smaller number of par10 ticipants in certain sports of the Olympic Games

11 than they have in the past. A 2001 report of the

12 General Accounting Office entitled ‘‘Intercollegiate

13 Athletics: Four-Year Colleges’ Experiences Adding

14 and Discontinuing Teams’’ reveals that, between

15 1981 and 1999, in five Olympic women’s sports—

16 gymnastics, fencing, field hockey, archery, and bad17 minton—and eleven Olympic men’s sports—wres18 tling, tennis, gymnastics, rifle/shooting, fencing, out19 door track, swimming, skiing, ice hockey, water polo,

20 and archery—discontinuations of teams by such col21 leges and universities have resulted in a net loss in

22 the number of such teams nationwide. The largest

23 percentage loss in such teams occurred in women’s

24 gymnastics (a 53 percent loss) and in men’s wres25 tling (a 40 percent loss). The report also indicates
3

•S 1085 IS

1 that while the number of women participating in col2 lege athletics increased between 1981 and 1999, the

3 number of men participating in college athletics in

4 1999 still significantly exceeded the number of

5 women participating in college athletics in that year.

6 (4) According to the report, such

7 discontinuations stem from declining student inter8 est in the Olympic sports referred to in paragraph

9 (3) and from administrative decisions of colleges and

10 universities regarding the allocation of resources.

11 (5) While there has been a loss of teams at col12 leges and universities in the Olympic sports referred

13 to in paragraph (3), three other Olympic sports,

14 called ‘‘Emerging Sports for Women’’ by the Na15 tional Collegiate Athletic Association, have yet to be

16 fully established. These sports are team handball,

17 synchronized swimming, and equestrian. These

18 sports merit additional support if the USOC is to

19 meet the basic requirement referred to in paragraph

20 (1).

21 (6) Because the Olympic sports referred to in

22 paragraphs (3) and (5) tend not to generate revenue

23 for colleges and universities, such sports have little

24 leverage in decisions of colleges and universities
4

•S 1085 IS

1 about the allocation of their resources for sports pro2 grams.

3 (7) The discontinuation by colleges and univer4 sities of teams in the Olympic sports referred to in

5 paragraphs (3) disrupts the amateur careers of ath6 letes participating in such sports and makes it more

7 difficult for the USOC to fulfill one of its primary

8 missions.

9 (8) In addition to the basic requirement re10 ferred to in paragraph (1), the Ted Stevens Olympic

11 and Amateur Sports Act also identifies other objec12 tives of the USOC, including—

13 (A) that it ‘‘assist organizations and per14 sons concerned with sports in the development

15 of amateur athletic programs for amateur ath16 letes’’;

17 (B) that it ‘‘encourage and provide assist18 ance to amateur athletic activities for women’’;

19 and

20 (C) that it ‘‘encourage and provide assist21 ance to amateur athletes of racial and ethnic

22 minorities for the purpose of eliciting the par23 ticipation of such minorities in amateur athletic

24 activities in which they are underrepresented’’.
5

•S 1085 IS

1 (9) Due to a lack of public dissemination of

2 data collected by the Department of Education

3 under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, pro4 spective student-athletes often lack information to

5 determine what athletic opportunities colleges and

6 universities provide their students.

7 (10) According the report referred to in para8 graph (3), colleges and universities often discontinue

9 sports teams in a manner that gives student-athletes

10 no advance notice of consideration of such

11 discontinuations and no opportunity for appeal of

12 the decision—thereby disrupting the amateur ca13 reers affected by such discontinuations.

14 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour15 age United States representation in the events of the

16 Olympic Games by—

17 (1) promoting the revitalization of amateur ath18 letics; and

19 (2) encouraging amateur careers in athletics.

20 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SUPPORT OF CERTAIN AMATEUR ATH21 LETICS.

22 (a) AUTHORITY.—Chapter 2205 of title 36, United

23 States Code (commonly referred to as the Ted Stevens

24 Olympic and Amateur Sports Act), is amended by adding

25 at the end the following new subchapter:
6

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—MISCELLANEOUS

2 ‘‘§ 220541. Grants for support of certain amateur ath3 letics

4 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Secretary

5 of Commerce may, from funds authorized to be appro6 priated by subsection (d), make grants to the corporation

7 to provide funds for the purpose described in subsection

8 (b).

9 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—(1) The corporation shall use

10 amounts received under subsection (a) for the purpose of

11 encouraging participation in covered Olympic sports by in12 dividuals under 18 years of age, with particular emphasis

13 on the participation in such sports of such individuals who

14 have previously had limited opportunity for participation

15 in such sports.

16 ‘‘(2) The corporation may use amounts so received

17 for the purpose described in paragraph (1) directly or by

18 making grants for that purpose to national governing bod19 ies of covered Olympic sports recognized under subchapter

20 II.

21 ‘‘(3) To the maximum extent practicable, participa22 tion in covered Olympic sports shall be encouraged under

23 paragraph (1) through the establishment or support of ap24 propriate community sports organizations.
7

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(c) COVERED OLYMPIC SPORTS.—For purposes of

2 this section, a covered Olympic sport is as follows:

3 ‘‘(1) Women’s gymnastics.

4 ‘‘(2) Women’s fencing.

5 ‘‘(3) Women’s field hockey.

6 ‘‘(4) Women’s archery.

7 ‘‘(5) Women’s badminton.

8 ‘‘(6) Women’s team handball.

9 ‘‘(7) Women’s synchronized swimming.

10 ‘‘(8) Women’s equestrian.

11 ‘‘(9) Men’s wrestling.

12 ‘‘(10) Men’s tennis.

13 ‘‘(11) Men’s gymnastics.

14 ‘‘(12) Men’s rifle/shooting.

15 ‘‘(13) Men’s fencing.

16 ‘‘(14) Men’s outdoor track.

17 ‘‘(15) Men’s swimming.

18 ‘‘(16) Men’s skiing.

19 ‘‘(17) Men’s ice hockey.

20 ‘‘(18) Men’s water polo.

21 ‘‘(19) Men’s archery.

22 ‘‘(20) Any other Olympic women’s or men’s

23 sport determined by the Secretary of Education to

24 be—
8

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(A) a sport in which the discontinuation

2 of teams in the sport by four-year colleges and

3 universities in the United States has resulted in

4 a net decrease in the number of college and uni5 versity teams in the sport nationwide; or

6 ‘‘(B) an emerging sport.

7 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the Depart9 ment of Commerce for purposes of activities under this

10 section, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through

11 2006.’’.

12 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 220511 of that title

13 is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a)—

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘OF QUADRENNIAL RE16 PORT’’ after ‘‘SUBMISSION’’; and

17 (B) by striking ‘‘transmit’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘submit’’;

19 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub20 section (c);

21 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol22 lowing new subsection (b):

23 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL REPORT TO PRESI24 DENT AND CONGRESS.—The corporation shall, on or be25 fore January 31 each year, submit simultaneously to the
9

•S 1085 IS

1 President and to each House of Congress a detailed report

2 on its activities under section 220541 of this title during

3 the preceding year.’’; and

4 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by

5 striking ‘‘the report’’ and inserting ‘‘each report

6 under this section’’.

7 (c) CONFORMING AND CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—

8 (1) The section heading of section 220511 of that title

9 is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘§ 220511. Reports’’.

11 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of that

12 chapter is amended—

13 (A) by striking the item relating to section

14 220511 and inserting the following new item:

‘‘220511. Reports.’’; and

15 (B) by adding at the end the following:

‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—MISCELLANEOUS

‘‘220541. Grants for support of certain amateur athletics.’’.

16 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF OLYMPIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.

17 Title XV of the Higher Education Amendments of

18 1992 (Public law 102–235) is amended by inserting after

19 part E the following:

20 ‘‘PART F—OLYMPIC SPORTS REVITALIZATION

21 ‘‘SEC. 1544. OLYMPIC SPORTS REVITALIZATION.

22 ‘‘(a) OLYMPIC SPORTS REVITALIZATION.—
10

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education

2 may provide funds to the United States Olympic

3 Committee, or the national governing body of the

4 sport concerned, for distribution to institutions of

5 higher education for disbursement to students of

6 such institutions who—

7 ‘‘(A) participate in an intercollegiate ath8 letic program in an Olympic sport described in

9 paragraph (4); and

10 ‘‘(B) are full-time students.

11 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTIONS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States

13 Olympic Committee or the national governing

14 body concerned shall, from funds received under

15 paragraph (1), make distributions to institu16 tions of higher education for purposes of dis17 bursements under paragraph (3) to students of

18 such institutions of higher education who are

19 described in paragraph (1). Each such distribu20 tion shall be for purposes of students of the in21 stitution of higher education concerned in one

22 particular intercollegiate athletic program de23 scribed in paragraph (1).

24 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF DISTRIBUTION.—The ag25 gregate amount of the distribution under this
11

•S 1085 IS

1 paragraph for a particular intercollegiate ath2 letic program may not be less than $100,000

3 or exceed $200,000.

4 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF DISTRIBUTION.—

5 The amount of the distribution under this para6 graph shall be allocated to the institution of

7 higher education concerned in equal portions

8 over four years.

9 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF RECIPI10 ENT ATHLETIC PROGRAMS.—No more than

11 three intercollegiate athletic programs of an in12 stitution of higher education may have a dis13 tribution in effect under this paragraph at any

14 one time.

15 ‘‘(E) CANCELLATION OF ATHLETIC PRO16 GRAM.—Notwithstanding subparagraphs (B)

17 and (C), if an institution of higher education

18 receiving a distribution under this paragraph

19 for an intercollegiate athletic program cancels

20 the program, no further portion of the distribu21 tion may be allocated to the institution of high22 er education under this paragraph for the pro23 gram.

24 ‘‘(3) DISBURSEMENTS.—
12

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of high2 er education receiving a distribution under

3 paragraph (2) with respect to an intercollegiate

4 athletic program shall disburse the distribution

5 among full-time students of the institution of

6 higher education who are participating in the

7 intercollegiate athletic program.

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The amount of the

9 disbursement to a student under subparagraph

10 (A) may not exceed the cost of educational ex11 penses at the institution of higher education

12 concerned.

13 ‘‘(4) OLYMPIC SPORTS.—An Olympic sport de14 scribed in this paragraph is—

15 ‘‘(A) women’s gymnastics;

16 ‘‘(B) women’s fencing;

17 ‘‘(C) women’s field hockey;

18 ‘‘(D) women’s archery;

19 ‘‘(E) women’s badminton;

20 ‘‘(F) women’s team handball;

21 ‘‘(G) women’s synchronized swimming;

22 ‘‘(H) women’s equestrian;

23 ‘‘(I) men’s wrestling;

24 ‘‘(J) men’s tennis;

25 ‘‘(K) men’s gymnastics;
13

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(L) men’s rifle/shooting;

2 ‘‘(M) men’s fencing;

3 ‘‘(N) men’s outdoor track;

4 ‘‘(O) men’s swimming;

5 ‘‘(P) men’s skiing;

6 ‘‘(Q) men’s ice hockey;

7 ‘‘(R) men’s water polo;

8 ‘‘(S) men’s archery; and

9 ‘‘(T) any other Olympic women’s or men’s

10 sport determined by the Secretary to be—

11 ‘‘(i) a sport in which the discontinu12 ation of teams in the sport by four-year

13 colleges and universities in the United

14 States has resulted in a net decrease in the

15 number of college and university teams in

16 the sport nationwide; or

17 ‘‘(ii) an emerging sport.

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a dis19 tribution under subsection (a), an institution of higher

20 education shall prepare and submit to the United States

21 Olympic Committee or the national governing body of the

22 sport concerned an application at such time, in such man23 ner, and accompanied by such information as the Com24 mittee or such body, as the case may be, may reasonably

25 require.
14

•S 1085 IS

1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section,

3 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2006.’’.

4 SEC. 5. REPORTING OF EQUITY IN ATHLETIC DISCLOSURE

5 ACT DATA.

6 Section 485(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965

7 (20 U.S.C. 1092(g)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (4)—

9 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as

10 subparagraph (E); and

11 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (C),

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall ensure that reports

14 are disseminated to the public under subparagraph

15 (C) by means that include the Internet and in a

16 manner that is easily understandable. Beginning in

17 the year in which data for a 5-year period is avail18 able, such reports shall include information on the 5-

19 year trends in the data reported.’’; and

20 (2) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(F) There is authorized to be appropriated to

22 carry out this paragraph, $1,250,000 for each of fis23 cal years 2002 and 2003.’’.
15

•S 1085 IS

1 SEC. 6. TEAM TERMINATION NOTIFICATION AND APPEAL

2 REQUIREMENT.

3 Part D of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965

4 (20 U.S.C. 1018 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 144. TEAM TERMINATION NOTIFICATION AND AP7 PEAL REQUIREMENT.

8 ‘‘Effective on the date of enactment of this section,

9 an institution of higher education that receives assistance

10 under this Act shall not terminate funding for any inter11 collegiate sport, or reduce funding or participation levels

12 to such an extent so as to effectively terminate such a

13 sport, unless such institution provides to the members of

14 the team participating in that sport—

15 ‘‘(1) a written statement of the justification for

16 the termination or reduction that includes the rea17 sons relating to why the termination is necessary;

18 and

19 ‘‘(2) an internal process for appealing the ter20 mination.’’.

Æ