President Bush is not a native Texan. He was born in New England.
>>> [log in to unmask] 05/25/2001 1:05:13 PM >>>
Subj: Re: Governors Island
Date: 5/24/2001
From the "New York Daily News"
This article appeared 5/23/01 "Ideas & Opinions" page opposite the editorials
by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney. It appears with "One of Fort Jay's cannons, shown
in undated photo" photograph. It appears to be a "Rodman" and is pointed at
Manhattan from what I can tell. Next to it stands a serviceman.
Governors Is. is ours, Mr. Prez - don't sell it
The Bush administration wants to sell Governors Island to the highest bidder.
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has put an estimate of $500 million on
the sale price.
This, despite the fact that New York turned the island over to the federal
government in 1800 for national security, so it is really ours. Despite the
fact that then-President Bill Clinton offered, rightly, to sell it back to
New York for $1. And despite the fact that Clinton declared that the island's
two forts national monuments, which means that legally they cannot be sold.
Since the claims of law. history and fair play don't seem to matter to the
White House, let me put it another way. Remember the Alamo, Mr. President.
We know that President Bush would never consider selling a historic treasure
like the Alamo from his home state of Texas. He would force his father to
dine on a lifetime of broccoli before he would agree to auction off the site
where Davy Crockett lost his life in battle.
Well, the two forts on Governors Island - Castle Williams and Fort Jay - are
national treasures just as much as the Alamo, and their value should be
marked in contributions to history, not in dollars.
As the Daughters of the American Revolution state in their brochure on the
Alamo, people worldwide remember it as "a place where men made the ultimate
sacrifice for freedom."
Governors Island played an important meaningful role in America's fight for
freedom. George Washington and his troops would have been decimated by the
British without the protection of the cannon fortifications on Governors
Island, and the American Revolution might have failed.
When the British invaded the United States during the War of 1812, they never
attempted to attack New York, fearful of the great firepower and versatility
of Governors Island's forts.
You might say that without those forts, Tony Blair would be our prime
minister today and, as former Sen. Patrick Moynihan used to rib, we would all
be speaking English.
Thirty-five years ago, had the Army not turned the island over to the Coast
Guard, New York State would have gotten it for free -- and received cash for
the island's development under the Base Realignment and Closure program.
It is wrong for New York to have to pay for this former military base simply
because Governors Island was managed by the Coast Guard rather than the Army.
And it's wrong for the federal government to demand hundreds of millions of
dollars for land we once gave to defend the country.
Nevertheless, it was reported last week that the Bush administration is
working on a legal strategy to thwart Clinton's designation of the Governors
Island's forts as national monuments. According to the report, the Justice
Department has suggested that the forts are the first national monuments in
history that can, in fact, be sold.
Bush has frequently said he intends to represent "all of the people," even
those living in areas of the country where he did not enjoy electoral
success. Here's a chance to prove it. He should look for ways to defend
Governors Island as he would defend the Alamo.
Maloney, a Democrat, represents the 14th Congressional District in Manhattan.
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I posted some remarks here on this list about Governors Island in New York
City. I was reacting to this article which I would like to share so that I
the premise was known.
George Myers
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