January 22, 1980
Page 77
SENATE RESOLUTION 334 — SUBMISSION OF A RESOLUTION WITH RESPECT TO WITHDRAWAL OF OLYMPIC GAMES FROM MOSCOW
Mr. MUSKIE (for himself, Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD, Mr. DURKIN, and Mr. BAYH)
submitted the following resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Foreign Relations, jointly, by unanimous consent:
S. RES. 334
Whereas, the Soviet Union initiated a massive invasion of Afghanistan on December 27, 1979;
Whereas, this invasion constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Afghanistan;
Whereas, this invasion is a threat to the peace, security and stability of the world;
Whereas, the Soviet Union is violating all standards of international conduct;
Whereas, the world community has denounced this Soviet act of aggression overwhelmingly in the United Nations Security Council and in the U.N. General Assembly resolutions calling for the immediate and total withdrawal of foreign troops in Afghanistan; and
Whereas, the Soviet Union is scheduled to host an international event, the Olympics:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that it is the sense of the Senate that if the Soviet Union has not withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan within 30 days, the President should seek United States withdrawal from participation in the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow; seek to encourage all other participating countries to withdraw; and encourage the relocation of the 1980 Olympic games to a suitable location outside the Soviet Union.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I am today introducing a resolution on behalf of myself, Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD, Mr. DURKIN, and Mr. BAYH, which expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should withdraw from participation in the summer Olympics scheduled in Moscow if the Soviet Union has not recalled its troops from Afghanistan within 30 days.
I have no doubt about the appropriateness of this course of action. The United States simply cannot by participation in an international athletic event lend legitimacy to a regime which refuses to accept or comply with the basic rules of international law and sovereignty.
Eleven Olympics ago this country did not withdraw from the games. As a result Adolph Hitler was able to use those games as a propaganda forum.
Unlike the current situation the Nazis waited until after the games to take aggressive action against their neighbors. But, Mr. President, in 1940 and again in 1944, when we were at war, the Olympics were cancelled. The fact that no country has chosen to challenge the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan militarily does not make the Soviet action any less an act of war. Nor should world opinion respond in any other way.
For 60 years the Soviet Union has mixed policies of oppression, aggression, terrorism, and subversion with overtures toward peace in the world. Since the ignominy of Czechoslovakia, while the Soviet Union has been engaged in peace initiatives, its attempts at subversion have been carried out largely by surrogates. And surely it has taken advantage of every source of instability in the world.
At the same time the Soviet Union's armies have stayed within its borders. That is no longer true. Russian armies now occupy the soil of Afghanistan. Every country which borders the Soviet Union or its satellites must now lie alert to further Soviet adventurism.
A dozen years of détente have been wiped out by a single act of international cannibalism. The Soviet Union must be made to understand that fact.
Mr. President, I have supported efforts to reduce tension with the Soviet Union. I have supported the SALT process though I agree with the decision to delay consideration of the treaty so long as the Soviet Union lives outside basic tenets of international law.
The Soviet Union miscalculated the will of the United States. It interpreted our vigorous debate over SALT II and increase in our military budget to be an open invitation to escalation on their part. The Soviets’ decision to become expansive will lead inevitably to more rather than less military spending. It will lead to more rather than less investment in both conventional and strategic weapons. It will lead to more rather than less international instability.
International denunciation of the Soviet aggression is clear and overwhelming. In dramatic votes of 13 to 2 in the United Nations Security Council and 104 to 18 in the General Assembly the world community deplored the Soviet invasion and called for immediate withdrawal of all "foreign troops" from Afghanistan. Although the Soviet veto effectively blocked the decision of the Security Council, these two votes ought to make it clear to the Soviet Union that if it wishes to be accepted as a responsible world leader, it must act like one.
We have said the United States will limit trade with the Soviet Union until it rejoins the community of civilized nations. We must also say to the Soviet Union we will only send our athletes to a civilized nation. American men and women will compete and do well in the summer Olympic games in Moscow if the Soviet troops leave Afghanistan. Otherwise, as a country and as a people, we must turn our backs on the Moscow Olympic games.
Mr. President, I realize the Olympic games are, in the eyes of many in the world community, one of the few opportunities for peaceful competition among men and women of varying nations. The competition is among individuals. It is also competition among nations. Our national team is a source of national pride, and other people feel just as strongly as we do.
The Olympics have been the vehicle by which all manner of political view has been expressed. And surely government investments in athletics and the pseudo-amateurism of Eastern bloc countries attest to the political importance those countries place on the quadrennial events.
The people of the United States encourage individual athletes to excel. We encourage them to work hard so that our flag will fly and our anthem will play at the award ceremonies. And thousands of men and women train for years for one chance to capture the gold. If we adopt this resolution we are telling the athletes "not this time"; we are saying as a nation, "not this time."
Mr. President, I think the athletes will understand. It is in the nature of true competitors to understand the importance of not permitting the Soviet Union the opportunity to regain respectability in the sports arena when they have forfeited respectability in the community of nations.
I think our athletes will understand that, as in 1940 and 1944, a greater calling, a greater demand on national will, a greater commitment on national prestige, take precedence over that for which they have worked so hard.
I would hope the Olympics could find another home. I would hope that the International Olympic Committee and the respective National Olympic Committees actively consider another home for the Olympics. Many nations are seriously considering recommending that the International Olympic Committee adopt this option. The United States is pursuing this effort in conjunction with these countries. But short of that and short of an immediate change in Soviet policies, we must stay home.
I yield the remainder of my time.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution submitted by the Senator from Maine (Mr. MUSKIE) for himself and others, relative to U.S. participation in the summer Olympic games in Moscow, be jointly referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Foreign Relations.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I had the good fortune of being reared in a family where my father spent literally 53 years of his life in our public educational system in the area of physical education. He was a basketball coach, a football coach, a baseball coach, and a track coach. I am proud of the fact that in a State like Indiana that prides itself in "Hoosier hysteria," where roundball hoops abound on every barn and every garage door in almost every community, that a man whose name I am proud to bear holds the record for refereeing 10 straight final games in the Indiana High School Athletic Association finals of the basketball tourney.
I say that only as a preface to the remarks I am about to make, following the distinguished Senator from Maine (Mr. MUSKIE) .
Because I have inherited my father's love for athletics — perhaps not the quality of his participation, but indeed his love for sports and competition — I deeply regret to see athletics in the purest American form — Olympic competition — commingled with politics of what appears to be a reemerging cold war.
However, Mr. President, it seems to me that, as trying as these times are, as great as the tensions are between ourselves and the Soviet Union, it would be most irresponsible not to take steps necessary to keep those tensions from increasing.
It appears to me that the only responsible way to accomplish this is to convince the Russians of the severity of their present course of action and to also convince the Soviet Union and, indeed, the rest of the free world, of our resolve to remain dedicated to the principles which distinguish our society from most others on the face of the Earth.
For that reason, Mr. President, our President has called upon us as a nation to join in support of certain sanctions against the Soviet Union. Many of us have deep reservations about the use of grain, for example, as a sanction. We were concerned when President Nixon and President Ford used it in an entirely different circumstance.
However, Mr. President, if that is the message of resolve, and it appears we can be wise enough to not require the farmers of America themselves to have to singularly bear this burden unnecessarily, it seems to me
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator from Indiana has expired.
Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, may I have 2 additional minutes?
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the period for morning business be extended sufficiently to allow Mr. BAYH to complete, up to 10 minutes, as was accorded to other Senators earlier.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BAYH. Mr. President, I appreciate the courtesy of the majority leader. I will try not to take that much time.
If we are to pursue this course, it seems to me we must join together and utilize every avenue available to convey this message to the Soviet Union.
As much as the Senator from Indiana regrets to see politics and athletics commingled, I find it the ultimate in inconsistency for us to say to the Soviet Union: "We will not trade with you in grain, we will not trade with you in technology, but we will trade with you in athletic events."
For that reason, Mr. President, I think we really have no alternative, if we are serious about this, but to join in the effort being made to try to get the Olympics transferred elsewhere and, failing that, to ask our athletes to join in this all-out commitment to convince the Soviet Union that this kind of aggression in Afghanistan does not pay, so that it does not lead, like that of a couple of generations ago, to a major world confrontation that in this day and age could destroy civilization as we know it.
I have come to this decision more in sorrow than in anger. My sorrow is for persons like Indiana State University gymnast Kurl Thomas along with many other Hoosier men and women who have prepared for this so long.
Nevertheless I believe that we must pursue this course of action.
I ask unanimous consent that my name be added as a cosponsor to the proposed resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be an additional 2 minutes for morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
OLYMPICS
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. I strongly favor changing the site of the 1980 summer Olympics games from Moscow. If that is not done, the United States should withdraw from the games.
I am joining as a sponsor of a resolution on this subject being introduced by the Senator from Arkansas, Mr. PRYOR, and a resolution being introduced by the Senator from Maine (Mr. MUsKIE) I understand that other legislation on this issue will be offered, and I hope that these matters will receive prompt committee consideration.
Ideally, of course, the Olympic games should be above politics. But we have to recognize reality. The Olympics are an important international event. Successful sponsorship of the Olympics goes to the very heart of Soviet prestige and legitimacy.
We simply cannot condone participation in the games in Moscow, as scheduled, under the present circumstances. President Carter has said that if the Soviet troops are not out of Afghanistan within 30 days, the Olympics must be moved or the United States should not participate.
We are reminded that in 1936, despite the rise of Nazism in Germany, the Olympics games proceeded as scheduled. However, as Richard Mandell points out in his book, "The Nazi Olympics":
The Olympic games of 1936 were an important episode in the establishment of an evil political regime.
Mandell writes that the 1936 Olympics "were an obscuring layer of shimmering froth on a noxious wave of destiny."
I recognize the practical difficulties involved in relocating the summer games. And I would readily acknowledge that if the games are not held, or if they are held without the participation of the United States and other nations, it will involve great sacrifice and disappointment for many individuals.
I know that many athletes have worked countless hours, weeks, months, and perhaps years, pointing toward the Olympiad, which occurs only every 4 years. But I believe that most of our athletes will recognize that higher principles are involved here.
I believe we should explore the possibility of alternative international competition if the Olympics cannot be relocated. If our athletes have to forgo the Olympics, I would favor giving those who have qualified for the competition some form of special congressional recognition.
If the United States withdraws from competition this year, I realize that the 1984 Summer Games, scheduled for Los Angeles, could be jeopardized.
I agree with the President that serious consideration should be given to establishing a permanent home for the Olympics. Some have suggested that the games be permanently located in Greece, where such competition originated. If the Olympics are to be continued, this would seem to be the wisest course. Another possibility would be to hold various segments of the competition — swimming, track and field, gymnastics, et cetera — at different venues. Perhaps that could be done this year as an alternative to the Moscow site.
I believe the American people will stand united in opposing participation at Moscow under the current circumstances. I do not believe we can countenance a "business as usual" attitude toward the Olympics, and I strongly hope that other nations will join the United States in this position.