House Votes to Bar Fees in Urban Parks
The House voted Wednesday to bar the National Park Service from charging entrance fees for visitors to the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, Independence Park in Philadelphia and other urban national park sites.
The Park Service prompted a wave of criticism in December when it announced plans to begin charging fees at 73 park facilities. The service later exempted Independence Park in Philadelphia but went ahead with its plan to charge visitors at other sites.
The House, on a 416-5 vote, passed the Land and Water Conservation Act amendments bill, including a provision to bar new fees at any national park facility in cities with populations greater than 50,000. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Arguing for the ban on such fees, Rep. Frank J. Guarini (D-N.J.) said the public should not have to pay to visit the Statue of Liberty, which recently was extensively renovated, with much of the cost paid by individual contributors.
He said the proposed $1 fee would be “a slap in the face to all those who reached deep in their pockets to support the statue’s renovation.”
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