The start of every new year brings with it a rush of anticipation for what lies ahead. This year, the eyes of the world are trained on Paris, where the Summer Olympic Games will open in July. And though the competition is months off, away from the arena, a courageous group of U.S. athletes have already helped notch a major victory.
For years, some of the United States’ most elite gymnasts suffered behind the scenes as their public accomplishments rallied the nation and inspired spectators around the globe. News in 2016 of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s decades of sexual abuse against young female gymnasts sent shockwaves through the world of elite sports and beyond. The ensuing investigation uncovered a twisted history of serious institutional neglect and misconduct that failed Nassar’s victims and abetted his continued exploitation of young athletes.
Many of the survivors of Nassar’s abuse were former Olympians whose achievements made them household names and icons in the eyes of aspiring athletes. Each was accustomed to the intense pressure and scrutiny that comes with competing at the highest level. In September 2021, four of these young women took to the spotlight once again — this time, not on a balance beam or spring floor, but under the bright lights of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room.
As then-ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, I listened to Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols, McKayla Maroney and Simone Biles recount their experiences as brave survivors of sexual abuse. Like every American watching, I was horrified by what I heard.
The four survivors spoke openly of their devastating abuse and agonizing battle to have their concerns taken seriously. Despite the athletes’ efforts to report what was happening to them, USA Gymnastics dismissed their claims and sought to bury allegations of Nassar’s abuse. The institution entrusted to support and protect these young athletes shamefully abdicated its responsibility. In fact, representatives from USA Gymnastics did not even bother to show up when, as Judiciary chairman in 2017, I called the first-ever congressional hearing on sexual abuse of young athletes. Thankfully, survivors and advocates like Jamie Dantzscher, Jessica Howard and Dominique Moceanu did, providing eye-opening testimony as USA Gymnastics kept its back turned.
An appalling display of bureaucratic failure at the FBI added even more insult to injury. FBI officials tasked with investigating Nassar’s abuse sat on the information for years. The agency didn’t lift a finger to inform state and local law enforcement of Nassar’s predatory behavior. And when FBI officials finally documented the case, their report downplayed and mischaracterized the abuse.
The survivors who relayed this brazen and morally depraved conduct to the Senate did so at immense personal and emotional cost. Their message to Congress was clear. They demanded full accountability for the abuse they had suffered, so that no child would ever experience what they had endured.
Though Nassar will spend the rest of his life serving out several state convictions behind bars, the federal sex trafficking statute was too weak to levy federal charges against him for his sexual abuse of minors. Allowing Nassar to escape through this federal loophole was an affront to those he had hurt and cause for concern in future cases. If federal guidelines were too vague to pin down a monster like Nassar, who else might slip through the cracks?
Congress had a duty to act to ensure such heinous crimes receive due punishment.
That’s why I teamed up with Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in a bipartisan effort to strengthen the federal sex trafficking statute. This past December, our bill, the Preventing Child Sex Abuse Act, became law. Now, federal statutory language explicitly prohibits sexual predators from crossing state and international lines to engage in child sex crimes, as Nassar did. These improved guidelines will bring enhanced accountability for perpetrators of child sex abuse, so that the full weight of justice will come to bear for their crimes.
None of this would have been possible without the brave athletes who spoke up and shined light on the systems that failed them. While history will remember these young women for their exceptional athletic talent, so too should they be recognized for their resilience and fearless advocacy.
Nothing can undo damage done in the past. But thanks to the many survivors who have come forward, a safer future is ahead for young athletes and other vulnerable children.
Chuck Grassley led congressional oversight of the botched Nassar investigation while serving as chairman and, later, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Several of his bipartisan proposals to combat sexual abuse of athletes are now law.