Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020”.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The courageous voice of survivors is a call to action to end emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

(2) Larry Nassar, the former national team doctor for USA Gymnastics, sexually abused over 300 athletes for over two decades because of ineffective oversight by USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee.

(3) While the case of Larry Nassar is unprecedented in scale, the case is hardly the only recent incident of sexual abuse in amateur sports.

(4) Survivors of Larry Nassar’s abuse and all survivors of abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic movement deserve justice and redress for the wrongs the survivors have suffered.

(5) After a comprehensive congressional investigation, including interviews and statements from survivors, former and current organization officials, law enforcement, and advocates, Congress found that the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics fundamentally failed to uphold their existing statutory purposes and duty to protect amateur athletes from sexual, emotional, or physical abuse.

(6) USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee knowingly concealed abuse by Larry Nassar, leading to the abuse of dozens of additional amateur athletes during the period beginning in the summer of 2015 and ending in September 2016.

(7) Ending abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic movement requires enhanced oversight to ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic movement does more to serve athletes and protect their voice and safety.

[134 Stat. 944–969 omitted (26 pages)]

such records are accurate and have been maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

“(B) an assessment of the internal controls used by the Center that describes the scope of testing of the internal controls and the results of such testing; and

“(C) a compliance assessment that includes an opinion or a disclaimer of opinion as to whether the Center has complied with the terms and conditions of subsection (b); and

“(2) ‘independent auditor’ means an independent certified public accountant or independent licensed public accountant, certified or licensed by a regulatory authority of a State or a political subdivision of a State, who meets the standards specified in generally accepted accounting principles.”.

SEC. 9. EXEMPTION FROM AUTOMATIC STAY IN BANKRUPTCY CASES.

Section 362(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in paragraph (27), by striking “and” at the end;

(2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the following:

“(29) under subsection (a)(1) of this section, of any action by—

“(A) an amateur sports organization, as defined in section 220501(b) of title 36, to replace a national governing body, as defined in that section, under section 220528 of that title; or

“(B) the corporation, as defined in section 220501(b) of title 36, to revoke the certification of a national governing body, as defined in that section, under section 220521 of that title.”.

SEC. 10. ENHANCED CHILD ABUSE REPORTING.

Section 226(c)(9) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20341(c)(9)) is amended—

(1) by striking “adult who is authorized” and inserting the following: “adult who—

“(A) is authorized”;

(2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by inserting “or” after the semicolon at the end; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

“(B) is an employee or representative of the United States Center for SafeSport;”.

SEC. 11. COMMISSION ON THE STATE OF U.S. OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPICS.

(a) Establishment.—There is established within the legislative branch a commission, to be known as the “Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics” (referred to in this section as the “Commission”).

(b) Composition.—

(1) In general.—The Commission shall be composed of 16 members, of whom—

(A) 4 members shall be appointed by the chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate;

[134 Stat. 971–972 omitted (2 pages)]

(k) Termination of Commission.—The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the Commission submits the report under subsection (i)(2).

(l) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 12. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, is determined to be unenforceable or invalid, the remaining provisions of this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall not be affected.

Approved October 30, 2020.