National monuments closed following federal government shutdown

By By David Ng

Oct 02, 2013 | 7:55 AM

National monuments closed following federal government shutdown — Tourists walk by a sign announcing that the Statue of Liberty is closed due to a federal government shutdown. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)

National monuments around the country remain closed following Tuesday's partial shutdown of the federal government.

The National Park Service, which oversees such monuments as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington and the Statue of Liberty in the New York area, said that all monuments and parks will remain shuttered and that their webpages will remain nonoperational.

The government shutdown, which started after Congress failed to reach an agreement on spending, also has resulted in the closure of all Smithsonian museums in Washington and New York.

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Among the national monuments that are closed are the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. In Southern California, shuttered monuments include the Cabrillo National Monument near San Diego and the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Kern County.

The shutdown has disappointed countless tourists in Washington and New York who have been turned away from famous sites by signs and blockades. Some reports state that a group of World War II veterans from Mississippi and Iowa ignored and swept past barricades at the World War II Memorial in Washington to visit the site.

The partial shutdown of the federal government -- its first in 17 years -- stems from disagreement in Congress over the Affordable Health Care Act.

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