BILL NUMBER: SR 88	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2016
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 26, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Moorlach

                        AUGUST 26, 2016

   Relative to the International Olympic Commission


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, Dating back to 776 B.C., with a modern revival in 1896
A.D., the Olympic Games has long had a tradition of competition,
honor, and integrity that magnifies the ultimate in human ideals and
physical achievement; and
   WHEREAS, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the chief
governing body that invites athletes from hundreds of countries to
participate in a quadrennial event in the summer and winter, with 207
countries participating in the most recent Olympic Games in Rio de
Janeiro; and
   WHEREAS, The IOC is charged with awarding thousands of
medals--gold, silver, and bronze--for hundreds of events, as well as
recognizing Olympic and world records set by competitors. To date,
18,554 medals have been awarded by the IOC; and
   WHEREAS, As a regulatory body, the IOC has established rules and
standards for competitors to adhere to, including policies
prohibiting cheating and the taking of performance-enhancing
substances; and
   WHEREAS, Throughout its history, the IOC has reprimanded
participants who were found to be competing with the assistance of
performance-enhancing substances by stripping titles and medals and
properly recognizing their competitors who played by the rules; and
   WHEREAS, An especially egregious example occurred during the 1976
Olympic Games, for which records recovered after the fall of the
Berlin Wall show that the East German women's swim team was involved
in a state-sponsored scheme for the use of performance-enhancing
substances, violating the integrity of the competition and the rules
of the IOC; and
   WHEREAS, Because of the use by the East German female swimmers of
performance-enhancing substances, United States swimmer Shirley
Babashoff and other female swimmers from the United States and other
countries competing in those Games were unfairly denied their medals
and legitimate places in the record books; and
   WHEREAS, Forty years have passed since that scandal, and another,
successful Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has now concluded; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
urges the International Olympic Committee to address this issue and
recognize the competitors who played by the rules in the 1976 Olympic
Games with their rightful medals and places in the record books; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.