BILL NUMBER: SR 88INTRODUCED BILL TEXT 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.