Chair Rodgers Opening Remarks on U.S. SafeSport (3.21.24)

5 minutes thank you chair Griffith nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our children when we place them in the care of coaches and school administrators we trust that they will be protected when they're practicing training and competing in the sports they love we expect coaches trainers and volunteers are all keeping our children's safety front and center when they're on the field or in the pool or on the slopes their only con concern should be competing and being the best athletes they can be it is in these environments that they learn important life lessons of hard work resiliency mental fortitude and teamwork that's why I was Disturbed and heartbroken like all my colleagues after learning of the horrifying abuses inflicted on our young Olympic gymnast what these young women went through is unimaginable and should never happen again these unspeakable acts materialized under a system that failed athletes who were were talented and privileged enough to compete in the Olympic and Par Olympic Games I remember when former Olympic athletes came before Congress and shared their stories the hearing was painful to watch and rocked many of us to our cores but it was necessary and I'm still grateful to those Brave woman women who whose courage is a testament to the mission we have before us today Congress set out to make sure that abuses against our young athletes compete competing in the Olympic system never happens again 6 years ago we created the US Center for safe sport the independent organization responsible for investigating and resolving reported abuses the center has the sole and exclusive authority to investigate and resolve sexual misconduct claims parents ac across the country are counting on the center to protect their children so that they can compete in a safe and healthy environment today safe sport has the scope and authority to investigate any reports of misconduct for the more than 11 million individuals throughout the US Olympic and Par Olympic movement it is no small feat as the center has been has seen misconduct and abuse reports increase year over-year we must put athlete Safety First which means we must find what is working at the center and fix the issues that are not as the center itself has already publicly acknowledged at a hearing on the commission on the state of US Olympics and Par Olympics some of the criticisms against it are warranted the center has stated that at times its process was quote not trauma informed that there was poor communication or it simply took too long it also said quote it is committed to continuous quality improvement these are all issues the commission on the state of US Olympics and Par Olympics documented in its report Rel released earlier this month among the commission's other findings it found the center needs to improve its trust with athletes clarifying its reporting process and better maintain its database I welcome its commitment to do better and know this subcommittee is equally in invested in seeing safe sport improve for the benefit of America's children and young athletes I ask my colleagues to join in today's hearing to bring safe Sports outstanding issues to light in a productive way so that we can find solutions to the millions of America's athletes and young and their parents we hear you and we will work to make sure that all young athletes from Youth Sports to the Olympics are safe healthy and thriving I look forward to today's discussion and I yield back G