Dear Director Jarvis:

Through this letter, the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") requests that the National Park Service ("Park Service") take steps as necessary to keep and not destroy documents related to the decision this week to restrict public access to the National World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and other open-air monuments, memorials, and parks in the Washington, D.C., region. The Committee expects to soon send a final document request as a follow up to this letter.

The Committee is also considering conducting an oversight hearing in the near future to better understand the Park Service's closures, as well as the resources and staff time used to erect physical barriers to keep out veterans and other members of the American public from visiting these open-air sites. The World War II Memorial and other open-air sites are ordinarily accessible to visitors 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, and are normally staffed by Park Service rangers only from 9:30 am to 11 :30 pm, with visitors able to tour the sites throughout the day and night. However, the Park Service has now determined these sites must be closed to all visitors at all times due to the lapse in appropriations.

Read the entire letter HERE.