1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is filled with green algae because of an incompetent, overpriced renovation, not vandalism. The buried pipes connecting the pool to its treatment plant were never repaired, so the filtration system wasn't running when the basin refilled. The Interior Department traced the algae bloom to residual growth in supply lines dormant for eight weeks. Meanwhile, one of the most surveilled public spaces in the country has produced zero footage of any vandalism. Because there was none. American taxpayers deserve to know why a no-bid contract went to a repeat felon with direct financial ties to this Republican administration, and why a $14 million renovation overlooked the one repair that would have prevented this. You, as a member of Congress, have an obligation to launch a formal investigation into the contracting process and the renovation's execution. My wife and I urge you to hold those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.