Senators Markey, Blunt Rochester Lead Colleagues in Demanding a Stop to the Use of Taxpayer Funds for Censorship of Historical National Park Exhibits

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (April 20, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, led 15 colleagues in a letter requesting that the Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations legislation include language that would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to implement or enforce the Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3431, which requires the review of "all public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties" and the removal of content deemed to "inappropriately disparage Americans past or living." The letter was sent to the chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

The secretarial order has led to the arbitrary flagging of thousands of interpretive signage and educational materials across public lands and historic sites, and resulted in the alteration, and in some cases removal of historic exhibits across the National Park System and other Interior-managed sites. In Massachusetts, this censorship has included the removal of two historical films at the Lowell National Historical Park-one of which has been uploaded for public viewing on Senator Markey's YouTube channel.

The lawmakers wrote, "The National Park Service (NPS) and its sister agencies are entrusted with preserving our natural and cultural heritage, including preserving notable sites that tell the full and complex story of our country - the moments of injustice alongside moments of achievement. Yet under this administration's promotion of revisionist history, interpretive materials addressing slavery, forced removal of Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ and women's rights, and climate change have come under scrutiny. From Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia to Muir Woods in California, we are seeing unprecedented political whitewashing of our nation's history. This administration is bypassing consultation with Tribal Nations and descendant communities and ignoring professional standards around historical interpretation."

The lawmakers continued, "If the Department of the Interior succeeds in altering or erasing these stories, the public's ability to fully understand and learn from our complex history may be compromised. True patriotism requires honest engagement with both our moments of achievement and those of moral failure. Our national parks function as living laboratories and public classrooms. Sanitizing history undermines efforts to ensure that all Americans can see themselves reflected in these shared places."

The letter was co-signed by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-Maine), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).

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