[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 168 (Thursday, November 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S6579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING THE U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD TEAM

  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the U.S. Ski & 
Snowboard teams as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic 
Winter Games in Milano-Cortino, Italy.
  For nearly 120 years, U.S. Ski & Snowboard has provided leadership, 
support and direction for young athletes as they work to achieve 
excellence in their sports. U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes participate 
in 10 different Olympic sports, including alpine skiing, para 
snowboarding, cross county skiing, ski jumping, and many others. At a 
typical Winter Olympics, U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes compose more 
than half of Team USA. In the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, 
U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes won 60 percent of Team USA's medals. 
These able-bodied and adaptive athletes share a commitment to 
excellence, team work, and fair competition.
  To Coloradans, skiing and snowboarding are more than just sports; 
they are part of our State's rich history. During World War II, 15,000 
soldiers traveled to Camp Hale--located between Leadville and Red 
Cliff, CO, in the high alpine terrain of the Rocky Mountains--to train 
to defeat the Nazis. These Americans formed the U.S. Army's 10th 
Mountain Division. Among them were the best skiers in America. The men 
of the 10th Mountain Division trained relentlessly in 10 feet of snow 
and temperatures of 50 below zero. In 1945, 10th Mountain soldiers 
climbed more than 1,800 feet up a Riva Ridge and scaled Mount Belvedere 
to surprise the Germans who believed their position in the Alps was 
unassailable. The 10th Mountain Division took the skills they learned 
in the Colorado mountains and punched a hole through the German line to 
clear the way for Allied victory in Europe.
  After the war, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division founded 
Colorado's ski and outdoor recreation industries, including ski resorts 
like Steamboat Springs and Vail. As a result of their hard work, 
Steamboat Springs has produced more Winter Olympians than any other 
town in the United States, and Vail is now known as the birthplace of 
the most decorated ski racer of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in expressing our deepest gratitude 
and appreciation to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team and its able-bodied 
and adaptive athletes for inspiring all of us as they compete on the 
international stage and for their positive representation of American 
ideals throughout the world.

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