Ohio U.S. Sen. George Voinovich Forgets He's The Debt Hawk: Seeking Gov't $$$ For SW Ohio Park Site

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The debt hawk seems to have developed an apetite for pork. Ohio's retiring U.S. Senator has been complaining for years the federal government spends too much money. George Voinovich says the U.S. has a "long term fiscal imbalance of $54 trillion." So what's a few dollars more to expand the National Park Service? But the Republican senator -- who calls himself the Senate's leading 'debt hawk' -- now wants to do just that. From a press release issued by Voinovich's office:

"February 9, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – To commemorate Black History Month, U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) today in Xenia, Ohio discussed S.2933. He recently introduced the bill to determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the Colonel Charles Young Home as a unit of the National Park System (NPS). The designation will enhance local, state and federal resources and ensure that this unique part of our nation's history is preserved for generations to come . . ."

Col. Young was certainly a distinguished American. He was the third African-American to graduate from West Point. He led Buffalo Soldiers in the expedition that tried to capture Pancho Villa in Mexico. He taught at Wilberfoce University and led an Army unit that was sent to protect Sequoia National Park in California where loggers were after the trees. Still, Voinovich has long noted the U.S. needs to watch its pennies because it blows too much money. Instead of seeking federal money to buy Col. Young's home, Voinovich might want to consider raising cash from foundations, charitable groups and private donors. He could tap his campaign treasury. He could lead the fund raising drive. This is what he says about out of control federal spending on his Senate Website:

"The national debt has increased from $5.4 trillion when Sen. Voinovich came to the Senate in 1999 to $10.52 trillion in today – an increase of 95 percent and over $30,000 for every American alive today. But these numbers pale in comparison with the budget problems looming as the Baby Boomers retire. In today’s dollars, we face a long-term fiscal imbalance of $54 trillion; that’s $177,000 for every citizen or $372,000 for every worker. As the Senate's leading "debt hawk," Sen. Voinovich believes that our nation cannot continue to spend uncontrollably and reduce revenue under the assumption that our children and grandchildren will pay for it tomorrow."

Snubbed By Feds: Cincinnati's $100 Million Underground Railroad Museum

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a $100 million-plus facility built partially with federal and state funds, has failed to win inclusion as a site listed in the National Park Service's Network to Freedom. Congress created the Network To Freedom during the 1990s as a method of preserving historic sites, plus supporting important interpretive and educational programs about the Underground Railroad. Twenty-eight of 36 sites that applied for inclusion were approved last month during a meeting at Georgetown College in Kentucky, The Daily Bellwether has learned.

Diane Miller, a park service official who coordinates the Network to Freedom program, said the Freedom Center filed an application that fell short of details. The museum is on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati and is supposed to be a leading tourist attraction. So far, attendance has not lived up to expectations, and it has failed to stand on its own financially without infusions of government subsidies.

"It has to do with technical issues related to the application. It's not a sense that it will never get in. It's a sense it's just not quite, well, not yet. There are typically in any given round quite a lot that don't make it. Maybe next time.''

Miller said there are 203 historic sites on the list, along with 60 interpretive programs and 37 facilities -- which are museums or heritage centers, a classification that would have included the Freedom Center if it had made the cut. Miller said the Freedom Center can apply again in January.

Bill Clinton: Honored By Ohio Museum His Administration Opposed

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A top Clinton-administration appointee from the National Park Service told Congress in 2000 that earmarking $16 million in federal funds for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati could stress the agency's budget. He warned the appropriation would divert money for badly needed deferred work at other sites across the country. Now the museum -- which got the money from Congress anyway and depends on government subsidies -- plans to give former President Bill Clinton a major award later this year.

Clinton visits Cincinnati today on a different mission -- a fundraiser for his wife Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign. News of the Freedom Center award broke just ahead of the fundraiser.

What hasn't been mentioned is that Clinton was completing his last year in office when his administration explicitly told Congress the Freedom Center would "compete directly for funding" with the National Park Service. That agency was cash-strapped and could not get enough from Congress to maintain and improve its own properties. The Clintonites wanted to focus money on those priorities.

How much was needed? According to the White House, NPS estimated the deferred maintenance backlog was nearly $4.9 billion, with about $2.7 billion related to roads, bridges, and transportation projects. The current White House recommended action to eliminate the NPS deferred maintenance backlog over five years, and allocated $440 million for non-road projects, a 30-percent increase over 2001

But that all seems forgotten today. It looks like the museum is making an effort to cash in on the popularity of Democrat Clinton and former Republican President George H.W. Bush, who both are slated to become recipients of the International Freedom Conductor Award later this year in Cincinnati. But Clinton's administration expressed clear concerns before Senate and House panels in March and May 2000 that providing federal financial assistance to the Freedom Center could suck money away from the national park system, the nation's crown jewels.

"Mr. Chairman, to emphasize again, our opposition to the legislation is not a judgment about the Freedom Center. The Department recently testified against two other bills that authorized funding for two worthy institutions that are not part of the National Park System -- the Palace of Governors in New Mexico and the Lincoln Interpretive Center in Illinois. We opposed those bills, as we oppose this one, because unless there are unexpected substantial increases in funding for the National Park Service in coming years, funding for institutions that are not part of the National Park System will compete directly with funding that the NPS needs to manage units of the National Park System. That includes funding for the long and costly list of deferred construction projects in our national parks."

That was from Denis P. Galvin, deputy director of the National Park Service. His testimony is HERE and HERE. Below is a bit of what the Freedom Center -- which cost $110 million to build on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati and includes $41 million in public funds -- has to say about prior recipients of its Freedom Conductor awards:

"Modeled after the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, the award was created by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center to recognize contemporary individuals who by their actions and personal examples reflect the spirit and courageous actions of the "Conductors" of the Underground Railroad. The Conductors risked their lives and livelihoods to help those who were enslaved escape through the secret network of houses, churches, and barns known as the Underground Railroad. In 1998, the award was endowed by a $1 million gift from the Firstar Corporation (Today known as US Bank).

"The award is presented at the International Freedom Conductor (IFCA) Gala, a black-tie awards celebration of human rights and individual courage on an international scale. The first honoree (1998) was Mrs. Rosa Parks, the mother of the modern-day Civil Rights movement. The second recipient (2000) was Bishop Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Cape Town in South Africa.

"Dr. Dorothy Irene Height and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights are recipients for the 2003 International Freedom Conductor Award. Both Dr. Height and the Kennedy Memorial Center, represented by Ethel Kennedy, were honored on October 4, 2003 at a gala award ceremony for their contributions to freedom and human rights across the world."

Clinton and Bush I raised money together for tsunami victims and Hurricane Katrina relief.