Anthony Weiner: “I want to thank Mr. Dicks, and I also want to extend my gratitude to Mike Stephens of your staff, Deb Weatherly of Mr.…”

“I want to thank Mr. Dicks, and I also want to extend my gratitude to Mike Stephens of your staff, Deb Weatherly of Mr. Taylor's staff, and Rob Howarth of Mr. Pearce's staff for their cooperation. Mr. Chairman, I submit the following articles for the Record. [From the New York Times, Aug. 4, 2004] Liberty Is Open Again to the Masses, But Just to the Hem of Her Robes (By Carolyn Curiel) For anyone who has ever trekked up the spiral staircase of the Statue of Liberty and peered through the crown's narrow windows, the statue's reopening this week, for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, is bittersweet. Its surrounding grounds and facilities have been spruced up, and members of the National Park Service gamely claim that the statue, an international icon, is better than ever. But there's no way to ignore the loss of what was the main attraction: tourists can no longer knock themselves out by climbing those storied 354 steps. It's perhaps an unavoidable result of the vigilance against terrorism, but a sad one nonetheless. The new tour stops short of the hem of Liberty's robes, at the top of her thick concrete pedestal, in a room that holds only 30 people at a time, or about 3,000 people a day who are quickly shuffled in and out. While a guide gives a short talk and shows a video, tourists are invited to look up at the ceiling, where a few glass panels give a glimpse of a few feet of the interior.…”