While leaders in the Senate were busy trying to draft a bill that would be an end to the 16 day old government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling before the Oct. 17 deadline lawmakers from both parties took shots at each other as the head of the National Park Service testified at a House hearing on Wednesday, according to Fox News.
On Oct. 1 when the government shutdown went into effect a group of veterans in Washington D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial found the memorial to be blocked by barriers. Shortly thereafter Republican lawmakers arrived and the barriers were moved to allow access.
The incident has become a symbol of the now two and a half week old shutdown as Republicans say the parks and open-air monuments never should have been closed while Democrats argue that the shutdown never would have happened if it weren't for the Republicans attempting to defund the Affordable Care Act, according to the Associated Press.
National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis defended the actions taken by the NPS during the hearing stressing that it turning away visitors is the last thing that they wanted to do. When addressing the Washington D.C. monuments in particular Jarvis pointed out that of the 300 employees employed by the NPS to look after the monuments roughly a dozen were left after the furlough, according to Fox News.
"Given the limited staff resources prudent and practical steps were taken to secure life and property of these national icons," Jarvis said. "We know that visits of Americans' World War II veterans to the memorial are pilgrimages that many of them will only make once.
"Throughout the shutdown, we have worked diligently to try and ensure that no Honor Flight group, veteran, or their family has been turned away from visiting the veteran's memorials," Jarvis continued.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., charman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said that if the NPS had closed the monuments in order to make the shutdown "as painful and as visible as possible" that it was a "disgusting and despicable" thing to do, Fox News reports.
