[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 125 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 125

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the National 
   Capital Planning Commission should adopt a plan that permanently 
  returns Pennsylvania Avenue to the use of residents, commuters, and 
visitors to the Nation's capital and that protects the security of the 
  people who live and work in the White House, and that the President 
                should adopt and implement such a plan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2001

 Mrs. Morella (for herself, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, Ms. Norton, Mr. 
   Knollenberg, Mr. Petri, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. 
  Frank, and Mr. Clay) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the National 
   Capital Planning Commission should adopt a plan that permanently 
  returns Pennsylvania Avenue to the use of residents, commuters, and 
visitors to the Nation's capital and that protects the security of the 
  people who live and work in the White House, and that the President 
                should adopt and implement such a plan.

Whereas in 1791 President George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L'Enfant 
        to draft a blueprint for American's new capital city, and they 
        envisioned Pennsylvania Avenue as a bold, ceremonial boulevard 
        physically linking the United States Capitol building and the White 
        House, and symbolically linking the legislative and executive branches 
        of government;
Whereas Pennsylvania Avenue stood for 195 years and served as a vital, unbroken 
        roadway, critical to the economic vitality and commerce of the District 
        of Columbia and the surrounding region;
Whereas on May 20, 1995, citing possible security risks from vehicles 
        transporting terrorist bombs, President Clinton ordered the Department 
        of the Treasury and the Secret Service to close temporarily the two 
        blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to vehicular 
        traffic;
Whereas the temporary closing is almost in its sixth year and continues to 
        significantly impede and congest traffic, forcing costly and 
        inconvenient delays on residents, commuters, and tourists, adding to 
        already severe air pollution, placing additional financial burdens 
        through lost revenues on the District of Columbia Government, and 
        curtailing commerce;
Whereas while the security of the President and his family and visitors to the 
        White House is of obvious concern, the need to assure the President's 
        safety does not conflict with our principles of open and accessible 
        institutions;
Whereas locally elected leadership, including the Mayor of the District of 
        Columbia, the Council of the District of Columbia, and the Metropolitan 
        Washington Council of Governments, which consists of representatives of 
        local governments throughout the Washington metropolitan region, urges 
        the President to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue;
Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission, the Federal Government's 
        central planning authority in the Nation's Capital, established a task 
        force to evaluate the impact of security measures around the White House 
        and national memorials and Federal buildings in the city's monumental 
        core and to evaluate various proposals to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue;
Whereas the Federal City Council and others have put forward plans which would 
        reopen Pennsylvania Avenue while enhancing the security of the White 
        House; and
Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission will recommend by July of this 
        year a design to the President and the Congress that balances security 
        needs while ensuring that Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White 
        House is accessible and open: Now, therefore, be it;
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the National Capital Planning Commission should adopt a plan that 
permanently returns Pennsylvania Avenue to the use of residents, 
commuters, and visitors to the Nation's capital and that protects the 
security of the people who live and work in the White House, and that 
the President should adopt and implement such a plan.
                                 <all>