WASHINGTON, DC - Bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders today wrote to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding its anti-doping efforts heading into the Olympic Games in Rio next month. The letter was signed by full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), and subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO).
“We are writing today to express our strong interest in supporting efforts to ensure that international sport is clean for athletes of all nations," wrote the leaders. “The Committee on Energy and Commerce, whose jurisdiction includes domestic and international sports, has had a serious and continuing interest in matters related to the administration of international sport. There have been a number of important developments in anti-doping over the past several months that indicate that while your organization and its partners in the Olympic Movement will undoubtedly face continuing challenges, there are now crucial and timely opportunities - in the days leading up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games - to advance doping-free competition. We urge you to make the most of these opportunities while they are still at hand."
Noting completed and ongoing investigations of high-profile allegations of doping in recent years, the leaders highlighted several efforts by the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to eliminate doping from international athletic competition, but stressed that further action and assurances will be needed in the coming months.
The leaders continued, “Athletes worldwide, including those that will participate in the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, must have confidence that their sports are completely free of doping and that all governing bodies in international sport are doing everything possible to ensure that result. To ensure the integrity of the Olympic Games, we need assurances from sports’ international governing bodies in the form of decisive actions, not just words. … We look forward to working closely with IOC, WADA, and others towards this end."
