The 2022 Winter Olympics set to be hosted in Beijing is receiving bipartisan pushback with a new piece of legislation aimed at preventing the federal government from being involved with sponsors of the games.
The bipartisan Beijing Winter Olympics Sponsor Accountability Act is spearheaded by Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL), and co-sponsored by Democrat Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) and Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) and GOP Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), and Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Beijing looks to make BILLIONS from hosting the 2022 Olympics.
— Rep. Mike Waltz (@michaelgwaltz) May 28, 2021
Proud to introduce a bill with @Malinowski to stop contracts between federal gov & companies supporting the Beijing Olympics to keep American dollars from funding the #CCP’s gross violation of basic human rights. https://t.co/Bmq9Y1LvZx
The legislation would implement a 4-year ban on contracts between the federal government and businesses sponsoring the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Waltz said that companies bankrolling the games are “complicit” in the human rights violations committed by the Chinese government.
“By financially supporting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, both American and other global corporations are complicit in whitewashing the ongoing genocide against Chinese ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang region, repression against their own people, the attempted coverup of the COVID-19 pandemic, media censorship, the repression of democratic rights in Hong Kong and Tibet, and threats against the free democracy in Taiwan,” Waltz said. “It is egregiously appalling for these companies to be promoting their ‘wokeness’ while at the same time ignoring genocide and human rights atrocities being committed by the Chinese Communist Party, simply to appease the oppressive regime and maintain market access. We intend to help them find their spines.”
Waltz previously introduced legislation to compel the United States to boycott the Beijing games next winter.