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

Mr. Chairman. I would like to at this point use a bit of my time to apologize to the amateur athletes of this Nation. to the volunteers who work with our Olympic committees. to the hundreds of local youth and athletic organizations who have seen their efforts besmirched by some very vitriolic language against this legislation. They deserve better from the House. Seldom have so few cast so much misinformation about an issue. The excesses have been many. Regardless of ones feelings about this legislation. I trust there are few on this floor who will endorse the tactics of the opposition. When the unpaid volunteers from the Olympic committees dared to oppose the Annunzio legislation. he opened a session of his subcommittee with this series of charges. and I quote: "Could there be some secret deals. underthetable payments. special contracts. the hiring of favored law firms. or even outandout bribes?" You know. that is similar to the old cabal. "When did you stop beating your wife?" Then. as if to wipe away the blood with a single swipe of the towel. he said. and I quote: "I have no information that this is the case. and I hope that these possibilities are not true." Repeatedly. we have had charges of worldwide scandals. We have had the convenient and. of course. selected leaks to Jack Anderson. We have had the broad innuendoes about supporters of the legisation "helping Communists." a charge that would have made Joe McCarthy proud. The charges have hurt the Olympics and they have hurt our athletes. The long delay in bringing this measure to the floor. after It sat in the subcommittee for a year. has cost the Olympic effort in Los Angeles and the American team millions of dollars. Mr. Chairman. under this smokescreen of excessesand we have heard more todaythe Olympic coin issue remains a very simple question. Commemorative coin programs have become a tradition with the Olympic games. These programs have become an important source of private funds for all host countries. Our own Olympic committees are asking that their Congress allow them. as the 1984 hosts. to continue that tradition and to be allowed to raise funds. as other nations have. in all recent Olympic games. Our U.S. Olympic Committee has shared the profits of all of these programs3 percent of the sales conducted in the United States. These sums have been very important to our athletes. and if this Nation fails to conduct a worldwide coin program for the 1984 Olympics. this source of funding for U.S. teams in future Olympics would be eliminated. The Olympic committees are asking only that we authorize the minting of 17 different Olympic coins that would be sold worldwide by private marketersprivate marketers who would assume all of the risks of the program. They are not asking for any public funds. We have never funded our Olympic athetes with tax dollars. As a result. our U.S. team is heavily dependent on the type of private fundraising contained in S. 1230. more so than any other Olympic team in the world. As reported by our committee. it is a workable program. S. 1230. lined with public interest safeguards. and with all of the risks and the costs borne by the private sector. There are five key points to the committeepassed legislation: First. a minimum of $30 million guarantee for the Olympics from private sources. Second. proper incentives to attract private marketers 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. and Fifth. absolutely ironclad assurances there will be no costs to the Federal Government and that the marketers assume the risks. As a counter to S. 1230. the opponents of the Olympic Committees efforts will offer a jerrybuilt program. patched together in the middle of the subcommittee hearings. which will shift the costs. the risks. and the marketing largely to the backs of the Federal Government. onto a Treasury Department that does not want it. The gentleman from Illinois and the gentleman from Texas have tried mightily to suggest that the mint is secretly behind their plan. The Treasurer of the United States. who oversees the U.S. Mint. Angela Buchanan. spoke clearly whbn she appeared before the subcommittee. and I quote: There is every reason to believe thatthe 17coln 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 worldwide basis should add substantially to the proceeds received by the Olympic Committees. Speaking of the Annunzio program. Ms. 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 precedents and. therefore makes projections based on historical results somewhat more speculative. The administration supports S. 1230. This was confirmed as recently as Tuesday of this week when Deputy Secretary R. T. McNamar wrote the distinguished minority leader. Mr. MICHEL. and I quote: We feel that the marketing of the coins by the private sector will maximize the revenues to the Los Angeles Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee. The Administration strongly supports this legislation as reported by the Committee on Banking. Finance and Urban Affairs. .. The Treasury Department has been working on this legislation from almost day one. They have met with the Olympic Committees. the prospective marketers. the committees of the House and Senate side. They have held innumerable conferences on the issue. they have talked with GAO. They have explored the issue fully. I have a very strong feeling that if there were a worldwide scandal. or any of the other nefarious schemes charged by the opposition. that the Treasury Department and the administration would have long since backed away. They clearly have not been impressed by the string of "Dear Colleague. I have a new charge today" letters of a few of my colleagues. Mr. Chairman. I want to briefly address the question of coin dealers. coin collectors and the numismatic press. Some elements of this communityparticularly the professionals who make their bread and butter off the coin shoppers guideshave lobbied hard for a limited program. The editorial positions of these publications and the gentleman from Illinois have. miraculously come out at the same place at the same time. The editors and publishers of these coin papers have appeared in the hearing room as "members of the press" one day and have appeared on other days as witnesses for the Annunzio proposal. One of the newspapers. Numismatic News. is blatant about its lobbying and has openly boasted that its staff prepared position papers for lawmakers who are opposed to what they describe as an expansive Olympic coin program. Despite the "Dear Colleague" letters and despite this trade publication lobbying. there is not unanimity of opinIon in the coin community. Many important coin people. respected dealers. support the committee reported bill and sincerely question the viability of a Government run program. The numismatic witnesses who take this positionwho support the Olympic billdid not have an opportunity at the hearings. despite repeated requests. they tell me. to testify. So when you hear claims about the coin community. take it with a little grain of salt. The collectors are very important. but a program based solely on their desires and their market is doomed to failure. The Annunzio bill may make important elements of the numismatic community feel good. but we are talking about raising funds for the Olympics. not about what the publisher of Numismatic News would like to sell in his newspaper. In addition to running for the coin publications and their allies in the numismatic community. the opponents of S. 1230 have spent a great deal of time running against Armand Hammer. Mr. Hammer is head of Occidental Petroleum. one of the firms which has stated it will bid on the marketing program. Mr. Hammer has been shot at from all angles. "Forget the Olympics and attack Armand Hammer." has become the battle cry of the opponents of S. 1230. They will be passing out ripe tomatoes today for anyone who wants to join in the fun. Mr. Hammer can defend himself. He and representatives of Lazard Freres appeared voluntarily and willinglyin fact. they had difficulty getting on the witnesses listas witnesses before the gentleman from Illinois .