John Hansen: “I rise today to commend my home State of Utah for hosting, in the words of NBC sportscaster Dick Ebersol, ``far and away…”

“I rise today to commend my home State of Utah for hosting, in the words of NBC sportscaster Dick Ebersol, ``far and away the most successful Olympics, summer or winter, in the history of the games.'' The State of Utah and their citizens were introduced to the world, and boy did they ever shine in the eyes of their national and international visitors. Never in the history of the Olympics has there been such a spirit of volunteerism exhibited by the host community. Visitors from around the world were duly impressed by the helpfulness and congeniality of the locals. Salt Lake City, Utah, in the words of a Washington Post writer, is the ``nice'' capital of the world. Mr. Speaker, not only did my home State shine in its hosting of the Winter Olympics, U.S. Olympians took home an unprecedented number of medals, 34 in all, placing a close second to Germany with 35 medals. The previous U.S. record for winter games was 13 medals. I commend our U.S. Olympic team for their tremendous showing. Furthermore, since the horrendous attacks on our country on September 11, United States citizens and the international community as a whole approached the 2002 Winter Olympic games with some trepidation. Thanks to the united efforts of thousands of Federal, State, local law enforcement and National Guard personnel, the Olympic games went off without a single incident.”