Congressman Brian Bilbray is campaigning for re-election and recently made a bold claim during a debate with his competitors, Port Commissioner Scott Peters and former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña. Bilbray said:

If you think Congress doesn’t have enough to control, think about this: It took an act of Congress just to hold a sailboat race in San Diego. That shows you how far we’ve gone in the wrong direction.

Bilbray was referring to the America’s Cup, an international sailing competition that was held in San Diego last November. Thousands of spectators watched the races, but did Congress actually rescue the event as Bilbray claimed?

In this edition of Fact Check TV, Andrew Donohue and Scott Lewis examine what Congress did, if anything, for the sailboat race in San Diego and whether Bilbray’s description was accurate.

Hungry for more Fact Check TV? You might also enjoy these recent episodes:

Four Claims About Scooter Pay

Wooing San Diego’s Veterans

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New episodes of Fact Check TV appear on NBC 7 San Diego every Friday during the 6 p.m. newscast and our website the following Monday. If you want us to Fact Check a claim, just send me an email explaining the statement and why it merits review.

Keegan Kyle is a news reporter for voiceofsandiego.org. He writes about local government, creates infographics and handles the Fact Check Blog. What should he write about next?

Please contact him directly at keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5668. You can also find him on Twitter (@keegankyle) and Facebook.

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