Date: 1982-05-20
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding me this time and I want to thank the Rules Committee for their consideration and for allocating ample time for discussion of this very important legislation. I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of the rule to provide for consideration of S. 1230. a bill that is designed to maximize private fund raising efforts to support the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles. and to assist in the training of U.S. teams as well as supporting local amateur and youth athletic programs around the Nation. The Committee on Banking. Finance and Urban Affairs by a 32to7 vote a week ago today supported the authorization of 17 different Olympic coins to be produced by the U.S. Mint and marketed worldwide by private firms. I would like to point something out. I heard the statement that no bill had been * forthcoming from me for a period of time. The reason was that the chairman of the committee gave to the chairman of the subcommittee the prerogative of handling the legislation. At a given point in time. the chairman of the committee was contacted. not by lobbyists. but by the U.S. Olympic Committee. as represented by Colonel Miller. and the LAOOC. as represented by Mr. Usher. as well as H 2117 by colleagues from California who were becoming concerned with the fact that the contract would run out. The chairman of the full committee then sat down with Colonel Miller and with Mr. Usher and with the chairman of the subcommittee. There were 17 points of disagreement at that point in time. After a very lengthy meeting that went approximately 3 hours. those 17 points were boiled down to essentially one. which was a difference as to whether there would be 17 coins or 10 coins. That obviously could not be resolved. There were strong feelings on both sides. On the part of the Olympic committee. they felt that 17 coins were a necessary item if the program were to be successful. The chairman of the subcommittee felt just as strongly that there should not be that many coins. that there should be 10 coins. Both parties had a right to their opinions. Once the meeting broke up and it became obvious that there would not be a meeting of the minds or compromise on the all important number of coins. the Chair then.. working with the GAO. taking into consideration the 16 points that were agreed upon in that meeting. then introduced legislation upon which the staff of the sub. committee also was consulted. That is why we have two bills before us today. Under my bill. the private marketeers who would be selected through open bids would be required to provide a $30 millioni guarantee for the Olympic committees. and to pay all production costs in advance to the U.S. Treasury. The bill specifically states the Secretary of the Treasury shall carry out the program with no net cost accruing to the Federal Government. The successful bidder must be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and will be required to operate the program under the ongoing supervision and audit of the Treasury and the GAO. The coin program approved by the committee is a continuation of fundraising efforts which have become a traditional part of the Olympic games. Through a formula established by the International Olympic Committee. the U.S. Olympic team has received a share of the proceeds of sales of Olympic coins in the United States. This has been a substantial source of funds for the U.S. Olympic Committee. and the chances of the U.S. team sharing in coin sales of future Olympic games is directly dependent on the approval of a U.S. Olympic coin program for 1984 as contemplated in S. 1230. S. 1230 centers on five key points: First. a minimum of $30 million guarantee for the Olympics from private sources. Yes indeed. the first $20 million will be paid by the successful bidder upon an award of the contract. In addition. a promissory note for $10 million. payable in January 1984. is called for. That $10 million is as good as gold. It is just like cash that can be discounted in any financial institution. Second. proper incentives to attract private marketeers and provide a significant profit for the Olympic Committee. Third. rational marketing plans that take into consideration the international markets and the international character of the Olympics. Fourth. proper ongoing supervision of the coin program by the U.S. Treasury and the General Accounting Office. Fifth. ironclad assurances that there will be no costs to the Federal Government and that the marketers assume the risks. S. 1230. which incorporates the provisions of H.R. 6058. is supported by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. the U.S. Olympic Committee. and dozens and dozens of amateur and youth organizations throughout the Nation. They are excellent lobbyists. I will admit that. They are excellent lobbyists. When I heard the Olympic Gold Medal winners who appeared before our committeeWilma Rudolph. Donna de Varona. our former colleague. Bob Mathias. the Rev. Bob Richards. the high jumper. John Naber. the swimmerchills went up and down my spine. Never have I heard testimony like that from such outstanding examples of American youth who have benefited from participation in the Olympics. It made me proud once again to be an American. And. frankly. when they lobbied me. I was happy. -extremely happy. to react to their pleas and their requests. The administration gives full backing to the committeepassed bill. Speaking for the administration. the Treasurer of the United States. Miss Angela Buchanan. who oversees the U.S. Mint. addressed the key point in testimony before the Consumer Affairs Subcommittee on April 29. I quote: There is every reason to believe that the 17coin program sponsored by Chairman St Germain would generate a far greater sum of money. The potential of the larger coin program offered and promoted by a capable private sector marketing group on a world wide basis should add substantially to the preceeds received by the Olympic Committee. Speaking to the Annunzio program. Miss buchanan said. and I quote: We are reluctant to hinge the success of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics on a coin marketing program run by the Government. This is particularly the case when a program is proposed that has no exact historical precedence and. therefore. makes projections based on historical results somewhat more speculative. The Annunzio proposal not only threatens the financial stability of the 1984 games. but forces a marketing disaster on the Treasury Department. The Annunzio bill calls for a 3headed marketing monster with each segment in a position to undercut the other. It is doubtful that such a program could attract qualified international marketers. and failure to market the coins worldwide could threaten the opportunity of U.S. Olympic teams to share In proceeds of other countries coin sales in future Olympic games. A substantial part of the projected sales of the Annunzio proposal would be through unsupervised bulk sales by the U.S. Mint at large disecunts. This part of the marketing is not only speculative. but could threaten the Integrity of the U.S. Mint and the Olympic coin program. Under this proposal. any group with cash in hand. without regard to its reputation. could buy huge quantities of the coins at discount and market them in any manner. The St Germain bill provides specific requirements and controls for advertising and promotions. but the bulk purchaser. provided under the Annunzio bill. would be unknown to the Mint and would be under no supervision and no strictures as to claims. promotions and advertising. These discounters would be in the markets in direct competition to the Mint that produced the coins. not to mention the strong possibility that such a discount program would deter bidders from entering into agreements with the Treasury for international marketing rights. While the numismatic trade press and some professional coin groups have lobbied for the Annunzio proposalthey are lobbyists. tooand a limited program. a number of respected people in the numismatic field have been willing to step forward with objective analyses of the Olympic programs. Norman Stack. of Stacks of New York. a large coin firm with widely recognized expertise. wrote me: Based on my 36year association with this firm I can state conclusively that in my opinion a governmentrun marketing program simply will not reach beyond collectors in the marketplace and. more significantly. will not result in sufficient broadlybased revenues to meet the stated need of the Olympic Committee. Some confusion has been generated about the references in the bill concerning the division of the proceeds. The references are to gross margins. not net. The formala was negotiated by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in au agreement with prospective marketersan agreement that was terminated after the Congress failed to pass the coinage legislation in a timely fashIon. We felt strongly that the hardfought position of the Olympic Committee should be retained and included their formula in the bill as a "floor" for future negotiations. Translating the gross margin numbers. the Olympic Committees will receive at least two thirds of the net pretax profits of the coin sales. The marketing costs and the risks will be borne by the private companies. The formula protects the Olympic Committees from being charged any increases in marketing costs which occur during the life of the program. I support the rule. I look forward to the debate. Hopefully. within the next few hours. we can say to our prospective Olympic participants throughout the Nation. "Yes. the Congress is providing you the means. the wherewithal. to be properly trained. and we are providing the means by which the U.S. Olympic Committee can live up to its commitments to its sister committees throughout the world as far as the international marketing of coins is concerned." We had to pull out of Moscow. They gave up a lot for us at that time. those Olympic people. Now. let us say to them. "We are going to make up for what we did to you when we made you pull out of Moscow for foreign policy reasons."