Posted on 04/03/2008 7:20:53 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
WASHINGTON — Reps. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., are urging President Bush to consider boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing this year, unless China’s human rights and environmental records improve.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., became the highest profile lawmaker to urge a presidential boycott this week in the wake of China’s crackdown on Tibetan protesters.
“We can’t let the Olympics be a validation that China is conducting themselves in an acceptable manner on the world stage of public opinion,” said Rep. Wamp, who visited China in January and has co-sponsored several resolutions that would bar U.S. officials from using taxpayer money to attend the games, set to begin Aug. 8.
President Bush has committed to attending the Olympics’ opening ceremonies, though he has urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to open talks with the Dalai Lama.
China has blamed the Dalai Lama, in exile in India, for provoking the Tibetan independence protests. China repeatedly has criticized any country threatening an Olympic boycott for injecting politics into an event founded to help foster international relations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has hinted at a boycott.
Rep. Wamp and Rep. Davis said separately that China systematically has denied its citizens political, religious and personal freedoms, such as with its one-child policy, while sponsoring states like Sudan that also commit human rights abuses. In addition, they said, China is a major polluter and contributor to environmental degradation.
“It is important that we let them know that if you want us to be the great partner you want us to be, we at least reserve the right to speak up when it appears you are committing horrible atrocities on the people living in your country,” Rep. Davis said.
Neither congressman has endorsed barring U.S. athletes from competing, as former President Carter did with the 1980 games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets retaliated four years later by boycotting the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“I don’t want to penalize our athletes in any way,” Rep. Wamp said. “They’re training hard, and they should be allowed to compete.”
Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., the only Tennessee lawmaker on the Congressional China Caucus, said he does not have a strong opinion on whether President Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies.
“The Olympics has always been a non-governmental effort, and that’s one reason it’s succeeded,” Rep. Cooper said. “If you let politics get in the way, there’d probably not be any Olympics.”
Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., also said the Olympics should not be politicized.
“That’s a decision the president needs to make in consultation with the State Department,” he said. “I would seriously doubt he would boycott the Olympics.”
OLYMPIC BOYCOTTS
* 1956, Melbourne, Australia: Boycotted by the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland because of Soviet response to the Hungarian uprising, and also boycotted by Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon because of the Suez Crisis; also boycotted by China because Taiwan was allowed to compete as the “Republic of China.”
* 1976, Montreal: Boycotted by 25 African countries protesting the refusal of Olympic organizers to ban New Zealand, which earlier had sponsored a rugby tour of apartheid South Africa; also boycotted by Taiwan after China pressured Olympic organizers not to let Taiwan use its official name, “Republic of China.”
* 1980, Moscow: Boycotted by the United States and 61 other nations to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
* 1984, Los Angeles: Boycotted by the Soviet Union and 13 other nations in retaliation of the 1980 boycott.
* Legislators want Bush to consider a boycott in protest of China’s human rights abuses.
Take the Poll at the bottom of the article...
Should President Bush boycott opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics? Thanks for your vote.
Response Percent Votes Yes 76% 10 votes No 23% 3 votes 13 total votes
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Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin...
Hitler wouldnt shake his hand...
There are certain situations outside of war that define the word hero. I don’t know Jesse’s whole story, but can you frame that moment?
If I am correct this is Jesse Owens
Now just think if we would have boycotted the what was it the 1936 Olympics in Germany where would Jesse Owens be? this was a great moment in History at the time considering the country and what was happening in it.
Maybe those same leaders who want to boycott the Olympics why dont they do something useful like stop the exporting of jobs, or the importing of tainted products.
This is about sports the achievement of people
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