Sen. Warner backs plan for 2024 Olympics

{mosads}Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) became the first member of Congress to publically support the effort announced Tuesday. But his office told The Hill he holds little hope of success.    

“Senator Warner supports it. Not likely, but it would be good for Capital region,” said Warner’s press secretary, Beth Adelson. 

Earlier in the day, Warner tweeted out a message from sports team owner Ted Leonsis, calling on followers to sign up for the plan. 

Sign Up to Support the Summer Olympics Coming to DC in 2024: http://t.co/YQ8t3tuVoy

— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) August 27, 2013

On Tuesday, a nonprofit group, DC 2024, announced its formation and said it would attempt to raise $5 million to support the push to bring the games to D.C. 

The head of the organization, Bob Sweeney, made the pitch that the already heightened level of security would make the city a natural fit for the games. 

“We are the safest and most secure city in the world,” Sweeney told The Associated Press. “The largest expense of any Olympic Games is security, and the fact that we’ve got it pretty built in to our everyday life here in Washington, we would leverage that asset tremendously to put on this high-profile event.”

The selection of a site is still four years away, and the U.S. Olympic Committee is still testing which cities are interested in hosting. 

Washington, D.C., made an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 games, which London hosted. That bid gained the support of a handful of Virginia, Maryland and D.C. lawmakers at the time. 

Members, including Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the House at the time, signed on to a joint resolution backing that effort. 

Holmes Norton did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about support for the current proposal.

When the Washington region was passed over in 2002, many speculated that it partly had to do with anti-Washington sentiment held by the International Olympic Committee, the body that selects the venue. A few years earlier, a House Commerce subcommittee called the head of the IOC to testify about alleged corruption in the selection process, with at least one lawmaker calling for his resignation.