02/01/2012

OK Senator Blocks 9/11 Memorial Funding

"Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is blocking legislation that would provide $20 million a year in federal funding for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at Ground Zero, demanding that co-sponsors of the bill come up with cuts to pay for the spending, his office confirmed to POLITICO...

The move has angered co-sponsors, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats.

'This is sacred ground not just to New Yorkers, but to all Americans, and it deserves the same treatment as other memorials,' said Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat whose office was notified by POLITICO about Coburn’s hold. 'Senator Coburn heard our arguments on the Zadroga bill and eventually supported it. We hope he will do the same this time.'

Coburn, a physician often referred to as the Senate’s Dr. No, initially blocked that earlier bill, which provided health care and other aid to first responders sickened by dust from the World Trade Center attacks, over objections it was being rushed through the Senate. But he eventually relented and the bill passed unanimously during the 2010 lame duck session...

The bill authorizes Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to provide technical assistance to help operate the memorial and museum and sets aside $20 million a year starting in 2013 for those activities. The legislation also requires private matching funds.

The memorial was unveiled last year on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which toppled the Twin Towers, but the museum isn’t slated to open until Sept. 11 of this year.

The memorial and museum came under fire this week after news outlets reported executives there paid themselves $6.5 million in salaries, including a $300,000 golden parachute when one of them left."

POLITICO 02/01/2012