McCarthy, China Task Force Republicans demand Olympic Committee inform athletes about security risks, genocide

Sen. Marco Rubio blasts NBC for seeking to monetize the Olympic games hosted by China on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

FIRST ON FOX: Top Republicans in the House have called on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to not only keep American athletes safe while competing in the Winter Games but to properly inform them of China’s human rights abuses. 

The letter, penned by the chairman of the China Task Force, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and signed by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., along with 14 other GOP members, states that given the genocide reported in China and the USOPC’s refusal to change the location of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the games now pose "an unprecedented threat to American values."

Rep. Michael McCaul and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ASK BLINKEN TO BRIEF US OLYMPIC ATHLETES ON CHINA'S HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

"The [USPOC] has a responsibility to ensure our athletes are prepared for these unprecedented Olympic Games," the letter first obtained by Fox News Digital said. Adding that it is "vital" U.S. athletes are "fully informed" about the gross human rights abuses being carried out by the Chinese Communist Party.

The lawmaker’s demands to USPOC Board Chair Susanne Lyons echoes a letter McCaul sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week which asked for detailed information on how he planned to implement the American Values and Security in International Athletics Act (AVSIA) – enacted by President Biden in December 2021.

The act requires the State Department to brief U.S. athletes competing in international competitions on any "human rights abuses and safety concerns" existent in the host nation. 

But it is not just the issue of