U.S. Olympic Uniforms Not "Made in America"? ABC News Gets Action
On Wednesday, July 11, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" aired its latest " Made in America" report from Sharyn Alfonsi. The focus of her report - the new uniforms unveiled for the U.S. Olympic team, designed by iconic American designer Ralph Lauren, did not carry a made in the U.S.A. label, but rather were made overseas in China.
7/11/12 - WATCH:
Wednesday's report sparked outrage among both "World News" viewers and lawmakers in Congress. "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, D-Nev., said when asked by ABC News, "If they have to wear nothing but a singlet that says USA on it, painted by hand, that is what they should wear."
7/12/12 - WATCH:
On Friday, ABC's senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a former CEO of the Olympic Games, to weigh in. "I'm not going to weigh in on that. I'm sure the Olympic committee has sponsorship agreements and such that are involved in something of this nature," Romney said.
President Obama's spokesman felt the same way earlier in the day. "Maybe for future Olympics, those kinds of things should be considered," deputy White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. "The United States Olympic Committee has said that they are a-they are privately funded. This isn't a government decision," Earnest said.
Finally, after reporting on the firestorm of reaction for two days ABC News heard back from both Ralph Lauren and the U.S. Olympic Committee. The U.S. Olympic Committee will change its policy so that U.S. Olympic uniforms are made in the USA by the next Olympics, in 2014. Ralph Lauren, the official maker of the Olympic uniforms, also released a statement making a similar pledge.
7/13/12 - WATCH:
But nothing will be done about this year's uniforms, which were made in China.