OPINION: Entrance Fee And Museum Shop for the 9/11 Museum And Memorial site

Editors Note: Thomas and JoAnn Meehan of the Holiday Heights section of Berkeley Township lost their daughter Colleen Ann Barkow in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Ex-Mayor of New York City, Mayor Bloomberg since the dedication has offered the advice to write to Congress if you are in disagreement with the entrance fee of $24. 

The fee which is actually based on the museum his stewardship created. His personal contribution of $15 million dollars, and achievement of completing the project is to be applauded, but at what cost?

The $24 dollars needed to operate the museum, pay salaries, and provide security is clearly a product of his stewardship. His plan to sell the name to the federal government while stalled in Congress would use your taxpayer dollars to subsidize the costs he has created.

While the museum shop may support the operating cost, a necessity to some, having the remains of those unidentified victims along with the store, only enforces the concept that you must pay to pray or honor these remains.

There is no tomb of the unknown, no eternal flame, no artifact above ground to teach future generations of what happened that day. People at both ends of the spectrum rage about these issues, but these issues are not just 9/11 family issues, they are issues that you the American public should participate in too.

Learn the facts, then write your congressional representatives. Ask why the U.S. Parks department who guard our war dead, are not good enough to operate, guard and protects the 9/11 site.

Ask why there was no survey of all the families, to determine the final interment of those still in the care of the medical examiner. These are the questions you would think should be asked, but are lost in the media frenzy to grab a sound bite, or shine a light on someone's emotional response.