The team USA Olympic uniforms are causing a little bit of an uproar especially with Congress. The red, white and blue Olympic outfits designed by Ralph Lauren which are to be worn during the opening ceremony were made in China and that is not ideal apparently.
The political folks are seeing this as a brilliant opportunity to get some quality ‘USA’ facetime with the media.
According to the LA Times:
Questions over whether overseas companies should be assembling the U.S. team’s uniforms made their way to Congress on Thursday, with House Speaker John Boehnerand Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi responding to the revelation first reported by ABC News.
“We take great pride in our Olympic athletes and try to watch them through as many of the trials as possible. I can’t wait to stay up all night to see as much as possible of them. We take such pride and they work so hard. They represent the very best and they’re so excellent, it’s all so beautiful,” Pelosi said.
“And they should be wearing uniforms made in America,” she concluded.
Boehner, when asked about the issue, tersely said of the U.S. Olympic Committee: “You’d think they’d know better.”
But the most heated remarks on the uniforms were delivered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“I am so upset. I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves…I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them. And start all over again,” Reid said during a press conference.
“I hope they wear nothing but a singlet that says ‘USA’ on it painted by hand. We have people in America working in the textile industry who are desperate for jobs,” he concluded.
“The U.S. Olympic team is privately funded and we’re grateful for the support of our sponsors. We’re proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company,” the U.S. Olympic Committee told ABC News in response to criticism.
In other great news you can purchase these uniforms for a mere fortune on the Ralph Lauren’s site, available as a full set for men at $1,945, and$1,473 for women.
