Sen. Scott presses committee to pass resolution urging that 2022 Olympics be pulled from China

Florida Sen. Rick Scott is continuing to push a resolution urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to hold the upcoming 2022 Olympics in China as planned, absent strides by China toward upholding human rights.

The Sunshine State Republican in a Wednesday letter to members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations asked legislators to support a resolution that calls upon the IOC to shift the Olympics to another country if China does not show significant advances toward protecting human rights by the first of 2021.

"Last week, I spoke on the Senate floor to ask unanimous consent to pass my bipartisan resolution with Senator Markey (S.Res. 526) to condemn Communist China’s gross human rights violations and demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) host the games in a country that respects fundamental human rights," Scott wrote in the letter. 

"I greatly appreciate Chairman Risch’s willingness to work with me to bring this important resolution directly to the Senate floor," Scott wrote. "Standing up for human rights transcends politics, and my resolution should have unanimously passed the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, Senator Menendez blocked it, claiming the resolution needed to be considered during a Committee Business Meeting, and instead tried to pass an unrelated bill on Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Ironically, this TPS measure (H.R. 549) has not been considered by the Judiciary Committee."

The bipartisan resolution introduced in March mentions a variety of issues including China's treatment of Uyghurs, and calls upon the IOC to rebid the 2022 Olympics to another nation if China does not take significant strides toward upholding human rights by the January 1, 2021.

"I understand the Ranking Member prefers that resolutions receive committee consideration, and I welcome a Business Meeting that considers my resolution," Scott said in the letter. "But given that this policy is not uniformly enforced, including Senator Menendez’s own S.Res. 150, commemorating the Armenian Genocide, which passed without committee consideration, I ask for your support to pass this resolution unanimously on the floor of the U.S. Senate."

According to a Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen, 53% of registered American voters believed that the 2022 Winter Olympics ought to be held somewhere other than China. Just 19% thought that the games should occur there and 28% were not sure.