August 31, 1999
Web posted at: 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT)

In this story: Spending limit violated Some records still secret RELATED STORIES, SITES

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- In the aftermath of the Salt Lake City Olympics bidding scandal, the U.S. Olympic Committee plans to strengthen its own code of conduct.

In a proposal put forward Monday by the group's Ethics Oversight Committee, all USOC members and volunteers would be banned from any conduct that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

An Office of Compliance would be established to rule on all aspects of conduct.

While a USOC code of conduct already exists, the plan under consideration would be the first time all rules applying to conduct would be spelled out in detail and would be monitored.

USOC members will vote in October on the proposal, prompted by events that came to light after Salt Lake City was chosen by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2002 Winter Games.

Salt Lake's bid team provided more than $1 million in perks and payments to IOC members, prompting several investigations into possible bribery, fraud and money-laundering.

A congressional committee, meantime, is taking a closer look at Atlanta's successful campaign to host the 1996 Olympics.

Atlanta organizers say they never took part in outright vote-buying, but documents disclosed in June in a report to the House Commerce Committee show repeated violations of the IOC's $200 limit on gifts, and some travel violations.

Congressional investigators have said they believe that first report did not tell the whole story. Lawyers for Atlanta Olympic officials are now preparing a revised report that is supposed to lay out all the details.

While a CNN investigation of the documents found no criminal wrongdoing, it did reveal these examples of lavish spending:

• Thirty-eight IOC officials received gifts totaling more than $15,000 -- an average of nearly $400 a gift. Some were expensive and unusual, like a $950 carburetor, for a Libyan representative.

• A memo from Atlanta Olympics chief Billy Payne describes a special program for the spouses of IOC members. "A fleet of private jet aircraft," the memo says, "will be available for IOC spouses for scheduled and non-scheduled visits to attractions of the American South including Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans (and) Orlando."

• The wife of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was brought to Atlanta with a friend. The total cost of their plane tickets was more than $11,000.

• Mrs. Samaranch was flown in a private jet to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1990, and driven in a stretch limousine.

• Atlanta sent a used bus to Peru -- a country represented on the IOC -- at a cost of $9,510.

Congressional investigators would not comment on their probe other than to say they were trying to clear up discrepancies in what they found and what was previously reported by Atlanta organizers.

The documents are contained in 6,500 boxes of records pertaining to the Georgia capital city's winning bid and organizing effort.

Meantime, there are still seven boxes of records that are not being released to the public. Atlanta officials say they contain personal and private information about IOC members.

Correspondents Greg LaMotte and Aram Roston contributed to this report.

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