Foundation didn't delay reopening of Statue of Liberty, report says

[Khephra]

NEW YORK (AP) _ A private foundation did not delay the reopening of the Statue of Liberty by launching a new fund-raising campaign instead of using millions of dollars already in its endowment to pay for upgrades, according to an investigative report released Thursday.

Earlier this year some news media outlets reported that the Statue of Liberty, which was closed after Sept. 11, could have reopened sooner than planned if the National Park Service had been more aggressive or if existing assets from the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, rather than new donations, had been used to pay for needed safety upgrades.

Former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell, who chaired the committee investigating the foundation's spending, called the news media reports incorrect.

The foundation, which commissioned the independent report, "has played an important role in facilitating the reopening of the Statue of Liberty and did not in any way delay reopening or misuse endowment funds," Bell said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--statueofliberty0729jul29,0,5506491.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[Democat]

1. There is no such thing as "independent" in the Bush government

We need to get Kerry in there so there can be some real investigations into how things have been running.