Let's get this straight. The National Park Service can't take care of what it has, but the Delaware congressional delegation wants to add a national park unit in its state.

The National Park Service's maintenance backlog is about $8 billion, but Delaware's congressional delegation wants to spend "a few million dollars" to create a "history-themed" park that would be located in multiple locations in the state.

Note the word "create." This isn't a matter of preserving an existing natural area or historical site. U.S. Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware and the rest of the delegation want to spend money to create a park focused on European settlement and Delaware's role as the first state to ratify the Constitution.

We understand Delaware feels slighted because it is the only state without a National Park Service unit. Illinois only has one such unit: the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield.

But the National Park Service is not an entitlement program. The focus should be on taking care of what the National Park Service already has not dreaming up new ways to spend money on unnecessary projects when the country's public debt is nearly $12 trillion.