WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress is moving to shut down a scheme that lawmakers said funneled millions of taxpayer dollars from the Pentagon to professional sports teams for honoring American soldiers at sporting events.
Since 2012, the Pentagon paid out at least $6.8 million in contracts to teams in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer, according to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain and his fellow Arizona senator, Jeff Flake.
Dubbing the practice "paid patriotism," the Republican senators found that the Department of Defense had entered into at least 72 contracts with the professional teams to pay for ceremonies in packed stadiums.