Mr. TAYLOR. I would like to yield to the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Aspinall.

Mr. ASPINALL. Mr. Chairman, I wish to thank you for your willingness to have a hearing here in Washington on this legislation at this particular time. I think that the absence of members this morning will show to anybody who is interested the difficulty that we have of getting members to attend hearings this late in the session. It is even more difficult to get members to attend a meeting for the markup of legislation. The legislation does have the approval of the government officials of the State of Colorado. There has been a lot of background work done on this proposal. The work carried on by the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee has been outstanding. One of the results of the GAO report, which has been placed in the record, is that, by and large, the procedures which that committee followed have been in accordance with good business procedures undertaken in like operations.

I would be less than frank if I failed to advise the committee that there is a great deal of opposition in Colorado to the holding of these contests as proposed under the work of the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee. There is even opposition within the State Legislature. There is so much opposition, in fact, that there is an initiated measure that will be on the ballot on November 7.

Of course, I think it should be understood by the people in Colorado that the Federal Government does not as a rule-and only the exception proves the general rule-try to force upon the people of a State or region a program which the people themselves have stated that they do not wish to have. This is so much the understanding of our operations that the other body saw fit to put a provision in the legislation which it approved making Federal participation contingent upon approval by the people of Colorado so that if a majority of the voters decided that they did not wish to have the Olympics, then they would not be given this Federal assistance.

There are many good arguments for the winter Olympics. I personally favor such contests. On the other hand, it must be understood that people have different opinions. And for various reasons we do have the opposition.

If we get to the place in marking up the bill, Mr. Chairman, I would like the committee members to know that I intend to offer amendments which will make it absolutely necessary that any upset of the environment, the ecological balance, will be minimized as far as possible. Any areas that have any permanent scarring or disfigurement will have to be reclaimed and restored and that will be a part of the expense of the operation.

What has been asked of the Federal Government in this instance has decreased considerably since the first proposal came to my attention. What we come out with may be a figure, I suppose, somewhat different. As I understand it, the Federal Government has been called upon to finance a program such as this, with as much money as this involves, only one other time.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I will conclude my statement so that we can hear the testimony and hopefully conclude our hearings here today.

Mr. TAYLOR. I thank the gentleman for his statement.

Our first witness is the Honorable James D. "Mike" McKevitt, the principal sponsor of the bill.

Mr. McKEVITT. Mr. Chairman, I would like to sit at the witness table and have Mr. Kostka sit with me.

Mr. TAYLOR. We welcome our colleague, Mike McKevitt, before the committee. He has been a very effective and very active member of our subcommittee.

You may proceed.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES D. “MIKE" McKEVITT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF COLORADO; ACCOMPANIED BY WILLIAM KOSTKA, DENVER OLYMPIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Mr. McKEVITT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and distinguished members of this committee, and also the distinguished chairman of the full committee.

I wish to thank you for permitting me to testify before you this morning. With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like Mr. William Kostka, of the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee, to share this table with me so that he can provide detailed and expert. answers to any questions subcommittee members might have.

I would also like to submit at this time and request that it be placed in the file a report by Carl N. DeTempo, who is president of the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee. This report was revised as late as September 22, 1972, which was last week. It goes extensively into the history and cost factors as to the committee.

At this time I would like to request, Mr. Chairman, that it be placed in the file.

Mr. TAYLOR. I have seen this report. It is rather lengthy. In the absence of objection it will be made a part of the file.

(The report referred to will be found in the files of the committee.) Mr. McKEVITT. Mr. Chairman, the first effort to win the designation for Denver as the site of the 1976 games began in 1963 and was initiated by Colorado Gov. John Love, then in his first term in office. In 1967, Denver was selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as this country's nominee for 1976. In May 1970, the International Olympic Committee, meeting in Amsterdam, selected Denver from among four international candidates.

On February 3, 1970, the President and the U.S. Congress confirmed by proclamation free entry and departure for all Olympic participants. On January 31, 1972, the Senate and the House of Representatives by resolution again affirmed their support for Denver. Similar resolutions of support have been issued by the Colorado General Assembly and Governor and by the Denver City council and mayor.

In the period following May 1970, opposition to the games developed in Colorado. This resulted in part because of some confusion on the part of the Denver Olympic Organizing Committee in designating final sites for the games and because of the absence of an aggressive information program and the new concerns that had developed in

recent years over the environment. Those opposing the games initiated through petition an amendment to the Colorado Constitution that will be on the ballot November 7th. If the measure passes, the State of Colorado would be precluded from any further monetary support of the games.

An extensive campaign has been organized to defeat this amendment. The Denver committee has in recent months added new and more experienced leadership and has been successful in its effort to keep from having to build a bobsled course, which is both expensive and has little use after the games. The International Olympic Committee in Munich expressed full support for the job that the Denver committee has done so far.

The Federal Government has been asked to support construction of new sports facilities for the 1976 games. Bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate in April (H.R. 14597). Full hearings were held by the Senate Interior Committee in June and the Senate acted on the bill on September 15, passing an authorization of up to $15.5 million by a 59-3 vote. The Senate bill provides that the funds will not be made available unless the amendment to the Colorado constitution is defeated.

Hearings have been called by this subcommittee. Witnesses are limited to representatives of the Government and Members of Congress. Chairman Aspinall has indicated that field hearings will be held after the November elections. Representatives of the Denver committee are encouraging the members of this subcommittee, as well as the full committee, to take action on the bill before adjournment so that it might be acted on by the full House in this session. Included in the funds requested are $300,000 for environmental impact studies which must be conducted this winter and approximately $1.5 million for architectural and engineering design facilities leading to construction bids by the summer of 1973.

The overall schedule for construction is very tight since facilities must be completed by the winter of 1974-75 so that they may be tested in international competition and any adjustments made prior to the games in 1976. If action is not taken in this session, it is unlikely that authorization and appropriation bills could be acted upon and funds be available until approximately this time next year. The Denver committee believes that a measure similar to that passed in the Senate which ties Federal participation to the vote in November might be acceptable and could lead to more prompt funding for the games if Congress agrees to support this activity.

Since 1960, the Federal Government has supported seven events of an international scope ranging in financial commitment from $3.5 million to $17 million.

Mr. TAYLOR. Do you have the breakdown on that?

Mr. McKEVITT. Of those last figures?

Mr. TAYLOR. I mean of those various events.

Mr. McKEVITT. Yes: I do have them.

Mr. ASPINALL. If my colleague will yield, as I understand it, what you are going to present to us is the information that was presented by Senator Allott in the Senate debate, is that correct?

Mr. McKEVITT. Yes; it is September 15 in the Congressional Record at page S. 14990, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ASPINALL. That is correct. But those figures were not absolute, as I understand them, they were rounded off. Is that correct?

Mr. McKEVITT. I couldn't give you a specific answer, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ASPINALL. I have read the Senate debate and I wish to state that it is almost impossible, by following Senate procedures, to understand exactly what took place. I will commend Senator Allott, however, for his efforts on this measure, harassed as he was practically every step of the way by one of his colleagues. As you read these amounts of what comparable programs have received from the Federal Government, I think these figures are fairly consistent. As to the amounts proposed for the Denver Olympics, I think that there are some figures there that aren't so constant.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I certainly don't object to what our colleague desires to do.

Mr. McKEVITT. If I might elaborate for a minute, Mr. Chairman. There is on page $14990-and for the purposes of the record I would like to ask that a note be made thereof in case any member of the subcommittee has questions as to the breakdown for further clarification, as raised by Chairman Aspinall, that they begin in the second column of that page where there are some conclusions which were submitted by Senator Allott. And they go back to 1876, And they reflect events occurring as late as 1968 with the Miami Interama Hemisphere 1968, the Montreal Expo 1967, and others. If the chairman wishes to see a copy of it now I would be glad to tender it to the Chair at this time. Mr. TAYLOR. I might state to the witness, we have a copy here. I was hoping to get those figures into our hearing record.

Mr. ASPINALL. Mr. Chairman, I can get them in the record of the hearings, if my colleague will permit me. I ask unanimous consent that the record of the summary of Federal participation funds in international events, as that summary appears on page S14990 of the Congressional Record, dated September 15, 1972, be placed in the record at this point.

Mr. TAYLOR. In the absence of objection it is so ordered. (The record referred to follows:)

Summary of Federal participation funds, international events