Out of a formidable, doorstop-sized tome, a mere 28 pages doesn't seem like much. But to Representative Stephen Lynch, those 28 pages can speak volumes.
Lynch joined Boston Public Radio Thursday to express frustration that, more than a decade after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, 28 redacted pages of the 9/11 Commission's report are still unavailable to the American public.
Lynch and a bipartisan group of Congressman plan to reintroduce legislation to release the redacted pages in the new session of Congress. Both the Bush and Obama Administrations have, thus far, kept them securely under lock and key.
"I don't get it," Lynch said. "They keep telling us they're working on it and there's progress being made. But this has been a very long tap dance, this is 14 years now," he said.
According to Senator Bob Graham of Florida, the pages in question refer primarily to the financing of the attacks . Many have speculated that Saudi Arabia is implicated and that the report remains classified to protect U.S. officials with ties with the country.
Lynch would neither confirm nor deny that speculation. However, he emphasized his belief that making the report public would not be a security risk.
"I think having it out there will be good for us," he said. "It will help our national security. It won't be a threat to us."
Boston 2024?
As four potential host cities around the nation—Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston— wait with bated breath for the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision announcement Thursday evening, Lynch expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of Boston hosting the Games in 2024.
"It will be challenging, no question about it, but I think we should embrace it," Lynch said. "It's exciting."
Lynch said preparation for the Olympics in Boston could rely, in part, on existing university infrastructure around the city at UMass, Harvard, Boston University, and other area schools. It would also compliment projects already in the pipeline, like the initiative to build 1,000 additional dorms at UMass Boston to drive down costs of community housing.
However, Lynch was adamant that Boston not follow what he called the "Vladimir Putin model" should Boston win the Games. Russian President Vladimir Putin famously spent a staggering $51 billion on the Olympic Games in Sochi, a large chunk of which has allegedly found its way into the pockets of those with close ties to the Kremlin.
"We can do it in a smart way where the benefits will accrue to the region in general and not just a few contractors that get to build the athlete housing and the stadium," he said.
To hear more from Representative Stephen Lynch, tune in to his full interview on Boston Public Radio above.