Katko Leadership Drives Beijing Boycott Momentum

WASHINGTON, DC – Following Homeland Security Lead Republican Rep. John Katko’s (R-NY) call for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, national figures and international allies have echoed the need to hold China accountable for its abhorrent human rights violations and ongoing acts of genocide.

On February 22, Ranking Member Katko called on President Biden to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party and work with international partners to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing.

Ranking Member Katko has stressed that the United States cannot in good faith participate in an Olympic Games in a country that is actively committing genocide and continually attempts to manipulate and lie to the global community about it. The world should be calling out the Chinese Communist Party’s flagrant acts of genocide, not giving it a platform to host the world’s most time-honored competition.

• Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley penned an op-ed in Fox News calling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
• The Canadian House of Commons passed a motion declaring that China is committing genocide against more than one million Uyghurs in the western Xinjiang region and calling on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing.
• The Dutch parliament passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China amounts to genocide, the first such move by a European country.
• During his Senate confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed that the Chinese Communist Party was committing genocide against its own people in Xinjiang.
• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the United States to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not move the games from Beijing.
• U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) called on President Biden to direct immediate attention toward moving the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing. Scott and Senate colleagues also introduced a resolution calling on the IOC to rebid the Games to another country.

Background

• Ranking Member Katko joined John Roberts on Fox News’ America Reports to urge President Biden to work with the international community to relocate the Beijing Olympics to a country that actually lives up to the values of the Olympic Charter.
• Ranking Member Katko, joined by Rep. Waltz and Rep. Reschenthaler, introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives urging the IOC to rebid the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted in Beijing. If the Games are not moved, the legislation calls for the United States to lead an international boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.