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Nutter: Using State Dollars To Open Philadelphia Historic Sites Not An Option

By Mike Dunn

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - New York officials have arranged to re-open the Statue of Liberty despite the federal shutdown using state dollars.

In Philadelphia, though, Mayor Nutter is resigned to this city's historic sites remaining shuttered.

Governor Corbett has already ruled out the use of state dollars to temporarily re-open national parks in Pennsylvania.  And Mayor Nutter now says using city dollars for the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall will not happen:

"What the feds have said is national sites will only be able to re-open if state funding is provided, and I think its pretty clear from an announcement I saw a couple of days ago that Governor Corbett and the state are not going to put forward funds, much like Gov. Cuomo did in the New York situation to get the Statue of Liberty open."

Nutter refused to blame Corbett, but did voice frustration and anger at Washington:

"It is astounding to me that there is some rule or provision that allows the federal government to shut down.  We look like idiots around the world that we would allow this to happen.  These monuments -- the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the birthplace of freedom, liberty and democracy -- that we would tell Americans or international travelers coming here to see these incredible, iconic, historic sites that the government is closed!  That's so silly."

The Corbett Administration ruled out using state dollars for historic sites because officials instead want to focus on ensuring social service payments that could be affected.

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