Congressman Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.) sent a letter to the National Park Service (NPS) on Wednesday demanding answers to the agency’s “dubious” handling of the government shutdown.
Ninety-three additional members of Congress have signed onto the letter sent to NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis questioning if politics is involved in the closings of the World War II Memorial,privately owned parks, and other sites across the nation.
“The National Park Service continues to act in an arbitrary and punitive manner to exclude veterans from memorials built in their honor and the American people from many of our country’s national treasures,” said Rep. Huizenga, in a statement. “I have serious questions about the tactics and decisions being implemented by the National Park Service and clearly many of my colleagues do as well.”
“Director Jarvis cannot simply make up the rules as he goes along, which is one of the major reasons my colleagues and I sent this letter requesting concrete and definitive answers,” he said.
The letter asks Jarvis to explain the barricades erected to block out veterans from the World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War memorials, all of which are open-air sites.
The World War II Memorial, in particular, has been the subject of controversy since the government shutdown on Oct. 1, with the NPS attempting to block veterans who fought in the conflict and had traveled across the country to see the site.
Rep. Huizenga, whose father is a disabled WWII veteran, has visited the memorial several times during the shutdown to help constituents gain access.
