The first Olympic medals are being awarded before the 2002 Winter Games open Friday night. In the race for pork, Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) takes home the gold on behalf of the entire Utah congressional delegation, past and present. For fleecing federal taxpayers with Olympic earmarks, CAGW names Bennett the February 2002 Porker of the Month.

Utah scored more taxpayer money than any previous American Olympiad. At the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles, federal taxpayers were saddled with only 11 percent ($75 million) of the $680 million total cost. In Atlanta, site of the 1996 summer games, taxpayers shouldered 26 percent ($609 million) of the $2.3 billion total cost. But thanks to the Utah congressional delegation, federal taxpayers are subsidizing 56 percent ($1.5 billion) of the $2.7 billion cost of the 2002 games.

After Sept. 11, one might expect most of these federal resources would have been devoted to security. In fact, 20 percent ($310 million) of the total federal dollars are being used for that purpose. The balance has gone primarily for infrastructure development.

In defense of Utah's politicians, the trend of using federal dollars for matters other than security began in Atlanta, where only 21 percent ($125 million) of the federal share went to security. The rest went to infrastructure development and other projects. In contrast, 91 percent of the federal dollars at the L.A. games went to security, as that city chose not to thoroughly soak taxpayers.

Salt Lake City was chosen to host the 2002 Winter Olympics in July 1995. Thus, lobbying for Salt Lake City's pork began before any medals had been given out at the Atlanta games. Since then, Utah's delegation, led by Senate appropriator Bennett, has secured money for the following non-security matters: $2 million for cultural exchange projects; $1.2 million for the National Weather Service; $1 million for Olympic scholarships; $700,000 for visitor information services; $500,000 for the Olympic tree program; $70,000 to adopt the official Olympic horse; and $55,000 to "resolve racial tensions." At least $1 billion will go to infrastructure improvements, including $91 million for an Olympic transportation system. Utah's system will cost five times more than Atlanta's, even though summer games generally attract about eight times more people than winter games.

Utah will benefit from these infrastructure improvements long after the athletes and fans are gone. Cities and states no longer see hosting the Olympics as an honor for which they will sacrifice. Instead, they see it as a way to secure a landslide of federal dollars for parochial interests.

In the future, Congress should follow Los Angeles's example and target 90 percent of federal taxpayer dollars strictly for Olympic security. Cities without the necessary infrastructure, or the state, local, and private resources to create it, should not rely on federal dollars for those purposes after being named an Olympic site.

For bringing home 2002 Olympic bacon to an unprecedented extent, CAGW names Sen. Robert Bennett its February Porker of the Month.