Olympics Committee Wants The Games Out Of Russia In 2014

WASHINGTON — The International Olympic Committee should punish Russia by moving the 2014 Winter Olympics out of Sochi, Russia, the co-chairs of the congressional House Georgia Caucus said.

Reps. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Bill Shuster, R-Pa., said in a joint statement they plan to file a resolution declaring that Russia's movement of troops into Georgia on the eve of the Beijing Olympics makes it an unacceptable country to host the games.

"It is practically and financially untenable to hold the 2014 Winter Olympic Games less than 20 miles from a zone of conflict, particularly when the prospective host country has played a significant role in the escalation of that conflict," according to a draft of the resolution.

IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said Friday the IOC believes the Olympics games are "not a tool to be used by politicians."

"It is premature to make judgments about how events happening today might sit with an event taking place six years from now," Davies said in a statement, adding that 35 representatives from the Sochi 2014 are in Beijing observing the games.

The head of the Sochi organizing committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, said in a statement that the members of the panel are aware of the intended resolution and only the IOC can respond to such matters.

"All our efforts here in China are spent on learning from these wonderful Beijing Games so that we can enhance our offer for the Olympic movement," Chernyshenko said. "At Sochi 2014, our focus is to deliver an excellent and innovative Games that will inspire the world. We are on track to achive this."

On Friday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia that protects his country's interests despite concessions to Moscow.

The two lawmakers said here that they plan to file the resolution when Congress reconvenes after the August recess.

"Russia must realize that its actions in Georgia will not be ignored by the international community," Schwartz said.

Sochi was selected last summer as the location for the 2014 Olympics.

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Steve Wilson in Beijing contributed to this report.

Comments

[SeanHannity4Obama]

Olympic Committee WANTS--- Really?!

[personalpolitical]

Niiiceee. So let me get this straight, denying basic civil liberties in your country, violating human rights in Tibet, and supporting the genocide in Darfur are all ok, but invading another country isn't? Does that mean the US can't host the Olympics anymore either? Because I'm pretty sure we have acted much more belligerently with Iraq than Russia has with Georgia.

Maybe you should just shut up stupid hypocritical committee that no one cares about.

[MagisterLudi]

Who writes the headlines for these threads???? The headline: Olympics Committee Wants The Games Out Of Russia In 2014 has NO relationship to the article. This is so irresponsible if not outright deceitful. Can't wait for interns to go back to their community colleges.

[Fight4USA8]

...My point exactly.

...Reps. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Bill Shuster, R-Pa., are the ones WHO WANT "The Games out of Russia in 2004."

..Good news is:
"IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said Friday the IOC believes the Olympics games are "not a tool to be used by politician­s."

...Are these two representatives want to justify a war between Israel & Iran, which in the process will involve USA?

..If so, are these two representatives mad with Russia for saying what is needed is a strong diplomacy not WAR to solve the problem between Israel & Iran?

...We as Americans should question our lawmakers intentions, and stop them from using congress as a tool to fulfill their wishes, and make the understand that they are elected to "Congress" to protect USA not to involve USA in a WAR whenever where ear they want to.

http://www.nndb.com/

[MyOwnPerson]

This is 6 years down the road. A lot can happen in 6 years. There may not even be any Olympics in 6 years. Honestly!

[CharlottesvilleVA]

Think your headline might be a little, er, inaccurate? Untrue, even? You know, daledribble is right - things like this do affect your credibility.

[daledribble]

Yellow Journalism Alert on Huffington Post! How is does "Olympics Committee" = "the co-chairs of the congressional House Georgia Caucus" ?

I'll answer my own question - it does not, but that's what is implied by the incredibly misleading headline - which is actually contradicted by the article. In said article, a representative of the actual olympic committee, called the International Olympic Committee, is quoted to say the Olympics games are "not a tool to be used by politician­s."

Hey Huffington Post editors, don't forget to actually read the articles you write headlines for. You're doing a crappy job right now.

[moreupnorth]

Nice comment. I wonder when the Russian Afghan/Iraq Caucus will call for a complete boycott of the games in America. After all they are leading Russia 2 to 1 in invasions.