WASHINGTON, June 5 -- The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security issued the following statement by Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, at a hearing entitled "Preventing Abuse in Olympic and Amateur Athletics: Ensuring a Safe and Secure Environment for Our Athletes":

"Good afternoon, I call this hearing to order. Earlier this year, this subcommittee launched an investigation to examine cultural and systemic problems regarding abuse in the Olympic movement. This subcommittee, which exercises jurisdiction over the U.S. Olympic Committee and amateur sports, is fully committed to ensuring the health and safety of all American athletes, and today marks the second hearing in our ongoing investigation.

"We began this process in January following disgusting revelations that former USA Gymnastics team Doctor Larry Nassar sexually abused hundreds of athletes over the span of two decades, even well after numerous survivors alerted authorities about his actions.

"As we now know, many of our American Olympians who stood tall in representing our nation on the international stage were suffering behind the scenes. Their stories break our hearts and all of the athletes who have come forward to share them are to be commended for their courage.

"I know I speak for both myself and Senator Blumenthal when I express my thanks to the many survivors who have personally met with us throughout this investigation. We were grateful to have four abuse survivors across different Olympic sports join our subcommittee hearing panel in April to share their experiences and recommendations on what Congress ought to do to make certain athletes are protected from predators. We are joined by several surviving athletes today, and I thank them for their continued interest and bravery demonstrated throughout our investigation.

"Today's hearing marks the next step in our investigation. In order to make recommendations that will be effective and meaningful in driving change in the Olympic movement so that athletes will be able to freely participate in their sports without fear of abuse, it is vital that we understand how this happened: Who knew about the abuse? When did they know? What did they do with that information? And, importantly, why?

"To that end, this subcommittee has sought extensive documentation from the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, organizations represented on today's panel. We have requested and received additional documentation from all National Governing Bodies on their policies and procedures in reporting, handling and combating abuse, as well as their use of athlete-organization nondisclosure agreements.

"Unfortunately, now four years removed from the first Michigan State investigation into Nassar allegations and three years after a USA Gymnastics coach first heard of his abuse, there are a multitude of questions that remain unanswered. My hope is that the witnesses here today can help answer these outstanding questions, provide us their perspective on what went wrong and offer their advice on how it can be prevented from ever happening again.

"Joining us today is Steve Penny, the former president of USA Gymnastics; Rhonda Faehn, USA Gymnastics' former senior vice president and women's program director; and Dr. Lou Anna Simon, the former president of Michigan State University. Two additional witnesses were invited to participate today but were unable to travel to Washington for medical reasons: Scott Blackmun, the former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee; and Martha Karolyi, the former national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics. Mr. Blackmun and Ms. Karolyi have each provided written testimony for today's hearing and will respond to committee members' written questions for the hearing record.

"We are also honored today to welcome Senators Joni Ernst of Iowa and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to the subcommittee to provide opening testimony. Senators Ernst and Shaheen have taken a sincere interest in preventing abuse in the Olympic movement, and their testimony today will be invaluable in helping this subcommittee further raise awareness and identify solutions that will make a difference. Thank you, senators, for the time you have taken to prepare and present your heartfelt testimony.

"I will conclude my remarks by reminding my colleagues that in light of Mr. Penny and Dr. Simon declining the committee's invitations to appear voluntarily, subpoenas were issued requiring their attendance today. Through their counsels, both Mr. Penny and Dr. Simon made clear that they would not appear voluntarily on June 5th or any other date going forward. I wish that were not the case, as issuing subpoenas is something this committee takes very seriously and pursues only as a last resort. Despite the circumstances, however, I appreciate their presence today and look forward to a productive hearing on this important matter.

"With that, I will turn to the Ranking Member, Senator Blumenthal, for his opening statement."

Investors holding PHL Variable universal life policies with combined death benefits totaling more than $130 million say they paid monthly premiums north of $1 million while Connecticut regulators fed them false hopes of a company rehabilitation.

The hefty premiums helped pad the PHL bottom line for 19 months and now investors stand on the losing end of potential liquidation. Interim Insurance Commissioner Joshua Hershman made the surprising pivot to liquidation in a Dec. 31 status report.

Investors are not happy.

On Tuesday, BroadRiver Asset Management filed an emergency motion to intervene. The firm represents policyholders who own 32 in-force UL policies with cumulative death benefits of $130.3 million.

Large UL policyholders “have funded the PHL estate in reliance on persistent, false representations by the Rehabilitator that a rehabilitation plan – where death benefits would remain due and owing by PHL with various premium cost adjustments to address actuarial projections – would be forthcoming,” reads a memorandum accompanying the motion.

The BroadRiver policyholders have paid $57.1 million in premium payments, $19.7 million in the 19 months since Connecticut regulators began their rehabilitation of PHL Variable, the memo reads.

From the end of 2023 to September 2025, the amount of cash and short-term investments held by the PHL companies increased from $103 million to $437.5 million. Regulators fattened PHL’s coffers via the large premiums paid by investors, the BroadRiver motion says.

John L. Cesaroni, a partner at Zeisler & Zeisler law firm in Bridgeport, Conn. and attorney for BroadRiver, did not respond to a message seeking comment on the emergency motion.

A Connecticut Insurance Department spokeswoman said the department cannot comment on pending litigation.

Three main issues outlined

Large policyholders have been frustrated throughout the 19-month rehabilitation period by three issues:

The $300,000 moratorium. When former insurance commissioner Andrew Mais took over PHL he sought an accompanying moratorium that capped PHL benefits at $300,000. Large policyholders say the moratorium discriminates against them while not impacting smaller policyholders.

For BroadRiver investors, it reduced collectible death benefits on policies that matured during the rehabilitation from $29 million to $1.2 million “without any corresponding reduction in premiums payable to keep their policies in force, and with tens of millions more at risk as policies mature in the future,” the memo reads.

Despite paying nearly $20 million in premiums during the 19 months, the rehabilitator “is only promising to pay out approximately $9.6 million,” the memo adds.

There are about 3,600 “over the cap” UL policies that remain in force, the memo claims.

Rehabilitation strategy. During the 19 months, Mais’s office pursued insurers to take over or reinsure all or part of the PHL book of business. BroadRiver investors say that was never a realistic strategy.

“As recently as November 20, 2025, the Rehabilitator reported it was negotiating with eight bidders and promised to file the terms of a rehabilitation plan by the end of 2025,” the memo states. “All of this induced over the cap UL Policyholders to continue paying full premium amounts.”

Mais retired on Nov. 28 and was succeeded by Hershman.

Lack of information access. Large policyholders tried multiple times to gain access to PHL financial information and were denied.

“This left UL Policy Holders in the dark, facing the Hobson’s choice of either lapsing their policies or continuing to pay full premiums with no way to assess what benefits might accrue to keeping their polies in force,” the memo says.

A liquidation order would result in the termination of UL policies. That means BroadRiver policyholders would be left with nothing more than guaranty association coverage (limited by the $300,000 cap or whatever else the guaranty association agrees to) and a subordinated claim in a PHL liquidation.

A liquidation will not likely be finalized before the end of 2026, the memo states, leaving BroadRiver investors to ponder whether to continue paying $1.3 million in monthly premiums for what could end up as more “sunken costs.”

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