Funding for 9/11 Memorial and Museum faces more questions

The9/11 Memorial and Museum is facing more funding questions as the governors of New York and New Jersey have called on the federal government to step in and contribute more to the management of the site.

The two governers have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking that the National Park Service take on a role in the funding and managing of the site.

“We believe that federal support through the National Park Service would ensure long term stability of the Memorial and Museum,” wrote Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

The 9/11 memorial opened last year for the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks, but the museum remains unfinished, stalled by financial wrangling between the private foundation behind the memorial and museum and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A bill has been introduced in Congress that would provide for $20 million in annual federal funding for the site, located in downtown New York where the Twin Towers once stood. But the bill has been blocked by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who has stated that the project has already received federal assistance.

Supporters of more federal involvement include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

The memorial and museum is reportedly already a few hundred million dollars over budget, with an estimated price tag of more than $1 billion.

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