Associated Press (AP) reports that Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell intends to block a bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. John McCain that would drastically scale back the USOC’s governing bodies, provide more congressional oversight of the committee’s functions and extend whistle-blower protection to Olympic employees.
Campbell notified Senate leadership that he will put a hold on McCain’s bill if it does not make Colorado Springs, where the committee has been based for 25 years, the USOC’s permanent headquarters. USOC officials have informally discussed moving the committee’s business, advertising and television offices to a larger city like New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles or Atlanta.
Campbell said, “I’m going to have to sit back and see what language they are willing to offer that I can live with. I know it’s important to move that bill quickly because the (2004 Summer Games) are coming up and they need stability. Moving it quickly is important, but doing it right is more important. My big thing now as it always has been is the protection of Colorado and Colorado Springs”.
Acting USOC President Bill Martin praised the legislation, calling it a “historic moment” for the Olympics, although some minor changes may be needed.
The bill closely following the recommendations of a five-member panel appointed earlier this year by McCain, Campbell and Sen. Ted Stevens, a co-sponsor of the bill. It also adopts many of the recommendations of the USOC’s own reform task force.
Under the bill the USOC’s 124-member board of directors and 23-member executive committee would be replaced with a nine-member elected board and four members – an athletes representative and the U.S. delegates to the International Olympic Committee – who would have one vote combined.
The directors would be elected to four-year terms and could not seek re-election. The board would elect a chairman, but a chief executive officer would be selected to manage day-to-day business.
