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House Passes Bill to Re-open Statue of Liberty NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- A Queens, N.Y. congressman won a legislative skirmish Thursday in his long-running battle with the government to reopen the top of the Statue of Liberty to the public.
The House voted 266-152 for a funding amendment offered by Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has urged the National Park Service, which oversees Lady Liberty, to let tourists return to the statue's crown.
The statue, which sits on 12-acre Liberty Island in New York Harbor, was shut down in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks because of terrorism concerns. When the National Park Service reopened it in 2004, the public was allowed only as far up as the pedestal on which the statue stands to peer up into the structure.
Weiner's amendment doesn't force the parks service to reopen the statue. Instead it redirects $1 million in funding from the Department of the Interior to the parks service, which could use the money for safety improvements at the statue or for other purposes. Story Continues Below
But the Democrat called it a vote on reopening the top of the statue, a move other lawmakers said was simply too dangerous after Sept. 11, 2001.
"Certainly we can figure out a way," protested Weiner. "The symbolism is so important, I can't imagine we are technically unable to secure this site."
Another lawmaker, Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., said he visited the site last year and agreed with critics there was no good way to protect tourists in the cramped spiral staircase that rises from the base of the statue to the crown.
"The time to evacuate the statue is very high," said Pearce. "No amount of money can change the size or the scope of the stairways."
Lawmakers opposed to reopening the staircase inside the statue also argued intelligence reports regularly show the statue is one of the most high-profile targets of would-be terrorists. The government has already spent nearly $20 million in security and safety improvements at the site.
Weiner suggested the stairway could be made safe by barring bags and letting only a certain number of people up at a time.
"To simply say you can go visit the island and pat Lady Liberty's toes is not enough," said Weiner.
Tightened security measures at the national monument include a bomb detection device that blows air into clothing and then checks for particles of explosives residue. Bomb-sniffing dogs also have been seen at the site.
The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in October 1886 and was designated a national monument in October 1924. It was restored for its centennial on July 4, 1986. Its torch has been closed since July 1916.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note:
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