WASHINGTON (AP) — Uniforms for U.S. Olympic athletes are
American red, white and blue — but made in China. That has members of Congress
fuming.
Republicans and Democrats railed
Thursday about the U.S. Olympic Committee’s decision to dress the U.S. team in
Chinese manufactured berets, blazers and pants while the American textile
industry struggles economically with many U.S. workers desperate for jobs.
“I am so upset. I think the Olympic
committee should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should be embarrassed.
I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them
and start all over again,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, told
reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference on taxes.
“If they have to wear nothing but
a singlet that says USA on it, painted by hand, then that’s what they should
wear,” he said, referring to an athletic jersey.
House Democratic Leader Nancy
Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference that she’s proud of the
nation’s Olympic athletes, but “they should be wearing uniforms that are made
in America.”
Republican House Speaker John
Boehner said simply of the USOC, “You’d think they’d know better.”
In a statement, the U.S. Olympic
Committee defended the choice of designer Ralph Lauren for the clothing at the
London Games, which begin later this month.
“Unlike most Olympic teams around
the world, the U.S. Olympic Team is privately funded and we’re grateful for the
support of our sponsors,” USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement.
“We’re proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company,
and excited to watch America’s finest athletes compete at the upcoming Games in
London.”
Ralph Lauren also is dressing the
Olympic and Paralympic teams for the closing ceremony and providing casual
clothes to be worn around the Olympic Village. Nike has made many of the
competition uniforms for the U.S. and outfits for the medal stand.
On Twitter, Sandusky called the
outrage over the made-in-China uniforms nonsense. The designer, Sandusky wrote,
“financially supports our team. An American company that supports American
athletes.”
Ralph Lauren’s company declined
to comment on the criticism.
In fact, this is not the first
time that Ralph Lauren has designed the Olympic uniforms. Yet that did little
to quell the anger on Capitol Hill.
“It is not just a label, it’s an
economic solution,” said Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat from New York. “Today
there are 600,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in this country and the Olympic
committee is outsourcing the manufacturing of uniforms to China? That is not
just outrageous, it’s just plain dumb. It is self-defeating.”
Israel urged the USOC to reverse
the decision and ensure U.S. athletes wear uniforms that are made in America.
Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown
and Kirsten Gillibrand separately sent letters to Lawrence Probst III, chairman
of the USOC, complaining about the made-in-China uniforms. Brown suggested that
the USOC find a manufacturer with a facility in the United States, suggesting
the Hugo Boss plant in Cleveland.
“There is no compelling reason
why all of the uniforms cannot be made here on U.S. soil at the same price, at
better quality,” Gillibrand wrote along with Israel.
Sen. Bernie Sanders said that
while millions of Americans are unemployed, “there is no reason why U.S.
Olympic uniforms are not being manufactured in the U.S. This action on the part
of the U.S. Olympic Committee is symbolic of a disastrous trade policy which
has cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and must be changed.”
In a tweet, U.S. track and field
Olympian Nick Symmonds, who will compete in the 800-meter run at the London
Games, wrote: “Our Ralph Lauren outfits for the Olympic opening ceremonies were
made in China. So, um, thanks China.”
This is hardly the first time
patriotism has been discussed when it comes to Olympic clothing. The must-have
souvenir of the 2002 Salt Lake Games was a fleece beret, something that
athletes wore in the opening ceremony and prompted countless people to spend
hours on lines waiting to purchase during those Olympics.
Those berets were made by Roots,
a Canadian company that was the official U.S. team outfitter for that opening
ceremony.
In the last four years, the USOC
has faced criticism for some of its sponsorship deals as it has scrambled to
deal with the economic downturn.
When General Motors left as a
sponsor, the USOC signed a $24 million deal with German automaker BMW that
raised eyebrows. At the time, the USOC highlighted the carmaker’s 42-year
history of selling cars in the United States and the fact that BMW has 7,000
American employees
The USOC and the International
Olympic Committee also were criticized for sticking with BP as a sponsor after
the deadly oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico.
ABC World News reported Wednesday
night that the uniforms were made in China.
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