[CPProt.net] 9/11 Families Seek to Squash Museum Plans

[MSN CPPnet]

9/11 Families Seek to Squash Museum Plans 
- By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 


(06-29) 13:50 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- 


A Sept. 11 family group urged the White House and Congress on Wednesday to
squelch plans for a ground zero museum they say would inject political
arguments into what should be a solemn memorial.

As Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg trumpeted a new design for
the Freedom Tower to rise in place of the fallen World Trade Center, the
families accused the two leaders of cheapening the site's meaning.

The museum, to be known as the International Freedom Center, would be in a
separate building near the Freedom Tower on the ground zero site, where
rebuilding is directed by a board appointed by Pataki and Bloomberg.

In recent weeks, a growing number of Sept. 11 families have publicly railed
against the planned IFC. Separate from a sunken memorial featuring exposed
bedrock, the museum will offer inspiring stories of mankind's progress
toward liberty, according to its planners.

Detractors charge the IFC is being hijacked by left-wing advisers who blame
the United States for the world's wrongs.

Mary Fetchet, a Connecticut mom who became an activist when her 24-year-old
son died in the trade center, wept as she described what future children
from around the world should see when they visit ground zero.

"It should just be pure of heart. It should be a place where our families
can go to reflect," she said.

The families are asking for congressional hearings into how taxpayer money
will be used to fund the museum, and said they want President Bush to step
into the debate on their side.

"President Bush came to ground zero shortly after 9/11," said Jack Lynch,
whose firefighter son Michael died responding to the 2001 terror attacks.

"He stood up with a firefighter there on the fire truck and he made a
commitment to us ... that he would make sure that we would be taken care
of," said Lynch.

"He should now stand up and say this memorial cannot be hijacked, cannot be
diluted," Lynch said.

A White House spokesman had no immediate comment.

Roland Betts, a board member for the agency in charge of the project, the
Lower Manhattan Development Corp., has defended the museum, saying planners
always intended to incorporate the arts into the rebuilt site. Betts is a
fraternity brother and friend of the president's.

___

Petition:
www.ifcwtc.org/index.html


www.takebackthememorial.com/