CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON, DC  20515

Dingell, McCain: GAO Says
Olympic Games Cost Taxpayers
$2 Billion Since '84

Washington, D.C.-- Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI), Ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Commerce, and Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, today released a General Accounting Office (GAO) report detailing federal dollars spent on the Olympic Games when hosted by the United States.

While the United States has been privileged to host more Olympic Games than any other country, the Federal cost of this honor is growing by leaps and bounds according to the GAO report. In constant 1999 dollars: $75 million for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, $609 million for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and $1.3 billion is projected for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The total is nearly $2 billion from 24 different federal agencies, and there is still two years to go before the Salt Lake City Winter Games are held.

"We believe it is time to stop allowing the bid cities to have a blank check that the American taxpayer must make good on," said Rep. Dingell. "The Federal Government needs to ensure that projects promised to the International Olympic Committee by the bid cities, in their pursuit of the Games, will continue to serve the community and be economically viable after the Olympics have come and gone. It is time for Congress and the Administration to exercise more aggressive oversight of what the bid cities are promising."

"This report is not about the Olympic games. It is about the fact that the American taxpayer is now the largest underwriter of the Olympic games," said McCain. "In Salt Lake City alone, taxpayers have shelled out $1.3 billion in pork barrel subsidies." He noted such projects highlighted by GAO for Salt Lake City include: $2 million to fund sewer construction projects the EPA says would not have been necessary if not for the Olympic games (pg. 40); $77 million to move spectators to and from game events (pg. 39); $8.9 million in improvements to campgrounds and trails (pg.42 ); and $4.7 million in post office improvements (pg. 42).

The GAO's principal findings include the fact that there is no government-wide law or policy on federal funding and support for the Olympic games. The agency also found that federal agencies did not use funds appropriately for two of five Olympic-related projects it reviewed.

Copies of the report "OLYMPIC GAMES: Federal Government Provides Significant Funding and Support" (GAO/GGD-00-183) are available at the GAO web site http://www.gao.gov/new.items/gg00183.pdf.