Monday, July 27, 2015

US Olympic Committee and Boston 2024 Withdraw Bid

Boston– Today, State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) issued the following statement regarding the mutual decision of the United States Olympic Committee and Boston 2024 to withdraw Boston’s proposal to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024:

Given all of the involved circumstances, today’s decision to withdraw the bid by Boston 2024 to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games nine years from now represents prudence, statesmanship, and responsibility to the citizens of Boston and our Commonwealth.

The fact that the United States Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee viewed the campaign by Boston 2024 and its partners to be competitive and worthy of consideration reaffirms the greatness of our state and its capital city, and reflects the tremendous effort produced by those seeking to bring the Olympics to Massachusetts. While that effort has come to a close, it will certainly have continuing benefits.

Lasting far beyond the excitement caused by the idea of the Olympics and Paralympics possibly coming to the Bay State will be the way that idea has caused us to think and re-think just how together we can best utilize our strategic resources to grow the economy, improve transportation, produce more workforce housing, and make a great quality of life even better.

The Olympics and Paralympics could not, and should not have, come to Boston and the Commonwealth with a financial burden for our citizens and taxpayers, and the possibility of that burden is now gone. Yet, what remains is our understanding and reconfirmation of the fact that we live in a great state with a world-class capital, and what endures is our responsibility to carry them to new heights.