[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 254 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 254

     To express the sense of the Senate regarding the reopening of 
                          Pennsylvania Avenue.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 1996

Mr. Grams submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     To express the sense of the Senate regarding the reopening of 
                          Pennsylvania Avenue.

    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Senate makes the following findings:
            (1) In 1791, President George Washington commissioned 
        Pierre Charles L'Enfant to draft a blueprint for America's new 
        capital city; they envisioned Pennsylvania Avenue as a bold, 
        ceremonial boulevard physically linking the U.S. Capitol 
        building and the White House, and symbolically the Legislative 
        and Executive branches of government.
            (2) An integral element of the District of Columbia, 
        Pennsylvania Avenue stood for 195 years as a vital, working, 
        unbroken roadway, elevating it into a place of national 
        importance as ``America's Main Street''.
            (3) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, has become 
        America's most recognized address and a primary destination of 
        visitors to the Nation's Capital; ``the People's House'' is 
        host to 5,000 tourists daily, and 15,000,000 annually.
            (4) As home to the President, and given its prominent 
        location on Pennsylvania Avenue and its proximity to the 
        People, the White House has become a powerful symbol of 
        freedom, openness, and an individual's access to their 
        government.
            (5) On May 20, 1995, citing possible security risks from 
        vehicles transporting terrorist bombs, President Clinton 
        ordered the Treasury Department and the Secret Service to close 
        Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic for two blocks in 
        front of the White House.
            (6) By impeding access and imposing undue hardships upon 
        tourists, residents of the District, commuters, and local 
        business owners and their customers, the closure of 
        Pennsylvania Avenue, undertaken without the counsel of the 
        government of the District of Columbia, has replaced the former 
        openness of the area surrounding the White House with 
        barricades, additional security checkpoints, and an atmosphere 
        of fear and distrust.
            (7) In the year following the closure of Pennsylvania 
        Avenue, the taxpayers have borne a tremendous burden for 
        additional security measures along the Avenue near the White 
        House.
            (8) While the security of the President is of grave concern 
        and is not to be taken lightly, the need to assure the 
        President's safety must be balanced with the expectation of 
        freedom inherent in a democracy; the present situation is 
        tilted far too heavily toward security at freedom's expense.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that the President should order the 
immediate, permanent reopening to vehicular traffic of Pennsylvania 
Avenue in front of the White House, restoring the Avenue to its 
original state and returning it to the People.
                                 <all>