Family members of those killed on United Flight 93 are trying to persuade a North Carolina Congressman - Rep. Charles. H. Taylor, R-N.C. - to lift his hold for a memorial planned for the Shanksville site, where the plane crashed and 40 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001, after it was commandeered by terrorists.
In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday some family members of the victims met with Rep. Charles H. Taylor, R-N.C., to ask him to support $10 million for the project.
Taylor, chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department, has blocked $5 million in funding for the project in the last two year, and haw expressed opposition to this memorial.
In its 2007 budget, the White House requested $5 million to purchase the nearly 1,700-acre site in remote western Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 went down, for the Flight 93 National Memorial. Of course this request is only a part of a larger spending bill. However, the land has yet to be acquired by the National Park Service. Now that request sits in congressional appropriations subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the memorial project.
That subcommittee is chaired by Taylor, who says he doesn't want the embarrassment of having the $58 million project only partially funded.
Taylor issued a three-page statement Tuesday in which he expressed concern about the project's size and cost. He was also troubled by the possibility of additional federal funding might be needed if not enough dollars were raised. "We will make sure those people who sacrificed will get a realistic and lasting tribute," Taylor said. "What we do not want to do is embarrass the country or the families of those aboard Flight 93 with a memorial that is only partially funded," he adds.
Kate Philips, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said Tuesday the state has committed $10 million to the project and $250,000 has already been awarded.
The Washington Post first reported on the issue Tuesday.
Further information:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...