[House Hearing, 109 Congress]
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JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING
=======================================================================
MEETING
before the
JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS
ON THE LIBRARY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MEETING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JUNE 28, 2006
__________
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JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY
VERNON J. EHLERS, Representative from Michigan, Chairman
TED STEVENS, Senator from Alaska, Vice-Chairman
CANDICE MILLER, Michigan THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
CHARLES TAYLOR, North Carolina TRENT LOTT, Mississippi
JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD, CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut
California CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York
ZOE LOFGREN, California
Bryan T. Dorsey, Staff Director
Jennifer Mies Lowe, Staff Director
JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2006
House of Representatives,
Joint Committee on the Library,
Washington, DC.
The joint committee met, pursuant to call, at 3:06 p.m., in
room H-140, The Capitol, Hon. Vernon Ehlers (chairman of the
joint committee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Ehlers, Miller, Taylor, Millender-
McDonald, and Lofgren.
Chairman Ehlers. Good afternoon. The only good news I
received so far is an e-mail I just received that said we
probably won't have votes in the House until 4 o'clock, at the
earliest, so that means our meeting should not be interrupted.
The bad news is that we are likely to not have any Senators
present because of various meetings and circumstances they have
in the Senate. However, we have full representation for the
House, so we, under the rules, are allowed to proceed without
any Senators present, and so we will take up our business.
First item of business is--this is to remind me as much as
anyone--please turn off cellular phones, pagers, et cetera, so
we can have a nice progressive quiet meeting.
I will proceed with the opening statement.
I certainly welcome our representatives here. I am glad you
are setting an example by all showing up. And I won't say
anything about that indicating better operation of the House,
that would be impolite, so I didn't say that. But I just wanted
you to know I am not saying it.
The committee's agenda has some important business items
that need our immediate consideration. Our first witness is the
Librarian of Congress, Dr. James H. Billington. Dr. Billington
will be discussing two items with us today. First, the
Librarian is seeking JCL endorsement of his plans to redesign
the space within the Jefferson Building. This proposal has the
potential to open up nearly triple the amount of existing to
the public within the Jefferson Building, and I look forward to
hearing more of Dr. Billington's plans on this topic.
Second, the Librarian is seeking JCL approval to explore
the possibility of naming the National Audio Visual
Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia after Mr. David
Woodley Packard, a distinguished gentleman from the State of
California. Mr. Packard had donated the majority of the money
for the creation of this new facility which will house the
entirety of the library's audio visual collections. The
committee appreciates the intention of the Librarian to
recognize Mr. Packard's generosity, and looks forward to
hearing more about the exploratory efforts into naming the
facility for its primary benefactor.
I have personally met Mr. Packard's father some years ago,
and in fact, would not have been able to complete my Ph.D
research without the wonderful equipment that he generated when
they first started Hewlett Packard company.
Next we will hear from the Architect of the Capitol, Mr.
Alan M. Hantman. Mr. Hantman will be discussing several issues
with us today pertaining to statues and their placement, and
will give us an update on the status on the National Garden
Project that is nearing completion.
Regarding the proposal for the relocation of statues in the
National Statuary Hall collection to the Capitol Visitor Center
and the subsequent relocation within the Capitol, I want to
stress the importance of bringing this to the JCL members'
attention now, as we are roughly 1 year from the opening of the
CVC. This proposal has been developed in conjunction with
House, Senate and Capitol curators, and some input from me
after I had an initial briefing.
From the earliest discussions, one of the benefits of the
CVC facility was that it would lessen the congestion in the
Capitol by increasing the amount of space available for
artistic and historic works in the CVC.
I urge all members to review this proposal, and we will
soon be organizing meetings for members to meet with the
curators to assist in the development of a final plan that will
meet JCL approval.
Mr. Hantman will also discuss concerns about a proposed
design of a replacement statue requested by the Alabama Statue
Committee. Members may remember that in 2001, the JCL approved
the Alabama Statue Committee's request to replace their statue
of Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry with a statue of Helen Keller. Last
year, the JCL approved their request to depict Helen Keller as
a child. The Statue Committee has now submitted their final
design plan for JCL approval. The architect will present
concerns regarding this design. The JCL will send a letter to
the Alabama Statue Committee outlining those issues, and state
that final JCL approval is contingent upon addressing those
concerns.
Also on our agenda today is the discussion of H.R. 4145,
which was signed into law last December directing the JCL to
procure a statue of Rosa Parks. Following the adoption of H.R.
4145, JCL staff approached the House, Senate and Capitol
curators to determine an appropriate process.
In keeping with the precedent set with the procurement of
the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Architect of the
Capitol has approached the National Endowment for the Arts to
run the artist selection process. The NEA has outlined how they
would manage this process, and is ready to proceed as soon as
an interagency agreement is signed. Included in the House
version of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2007 is
$370,000 for the commission of the statue, and an
administrative provision giving the JCL the authority to direct
the Architect of the Capitol to sign that interagency
agreement. It is my intention that we will formally endorse
this process today.
Finally, Mr. Hantman will give the committee a construction
update on the progress of the National Garden.
We look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and
coming to resolution on several of these matters.
Again, I want to welcome all of the members here today. And
I was about to turn to the vice chairman for his statement, but
there will not be one; mine was long enough to make up for both
of us.
This is probably one of the busiest JCL meetings that I
have ever attended. There has been lot of activity with the CVC
and with other areas of the Library, partly as a result of the
work on the CVC, and so we have a lot of business today.
Next we turn to Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of the
Congress, for some brief comments regarding the issues of the
Jefferson Building redesign and the naming of the National
Audio Visual Conservation Center.
Dr. Billington, you are recognized.
STATEMENT OF JAMES H. BILLINGTON, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS
Mr. Billington. Thank you, Chairman Ehlers, members of the
committee, it is really an honor and pleasure to be able to
speak before you today. In the interest of time, I would ask
that my statement be submitted for the record, along with the
updated information we provided about a number of important
developments in the Library.
Chairman Ehlers. Without objection, so ordered.
[The statement of Dr. Billington follows:]
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Mr. Billington. I will confine my remarks to the two topics
that appear on your agenda, the Jefferson's Visitors Experience
and recognition in naming the Audio Visual Center in Culpeper,
Virginia for its principal donor, David Woodley Packard. The
Library will provide briefing materials on both of these
topics.
The Library's Jefferson experience will focus on Bringing
Knowledge into Life, that is the theme, with 10 exhibitions
that will make accessible in new ways vast areas of the
Library's collection. With Congress's support, since 1800, the
library has amassed the largest collection anywhere of the
world's knowledge and of our Nation's creativity. The Visitor's
Experience in the Jefferson Building will introduce a greatly
expanded number of visitors permitted by the passageway from
the new CVC, a great number of--increased number of visitors to
the richness of what Congress has preserved in its library. It
will use state-of-the-art technology to link the visitor to the
on-going quest for knowledge into the library's Web-based
resources for learning. We ask for the committee's endorsement
today of this general project, noting that the Library will
continue to update the committee as we finalize all of the
specific plans for the individual exhibition elements.
Our excellent chief of staff, Jo Ann Jenkins, behind me
here is managing the development of the Jefferson Visitors
Experience, and she, as well as I, will be glad to answer any
questions that the committee has about it.
The second item, the Library has received a number of major
gifts over the course of my tenure here. The completion of the
new National Audio Visual Conservation Center by the Packard
Humanities Institute----
Chairman Ehlers. May I interrupt you for a second? Let's
dispose of the Jefferson Building exhibit issue first. Do you
have any drawings or charts that you wish to enter?
Mr. Billington. Yes. Mr. Chairman, this outline of the
proposal with a visual explanation, timelines and some visual
depiction of the plan.
Chairman Ehlers. I just wanted to make certain that all the
members had seen this. I have seen it before, but----
Mr. Billington. Yes, sir.
Chairman Ehlers. I want to make sure everyone had.
Mr. Billington. If there are for any specific questions
that have been raised about this, either now or later, of
course we will be happy to answer them.
But we are proceeding on the basis of respect for the
integrity of the marvelous restoration that the Congress has
done of the extraordinary Jefferson building, but at the same
time, utilizing new techniques, and above all, the connection
between the enhanced exhibits in the public spaces of the
Library and the online virtual library, which, as you know,
received about nearly 4 billion electronic transactions last
year and will probably receive a great deal more than that, it
is an educational tool free for everyone everywhere.
So we want to make a connection with that, but we also want
to accommodate the vastly increased number of visitors that are
expected with the opening of the CVC and the passageway through
to the Library.
Chairman Ehlers. And this will not involve any major
reconstruction, correct? It is just operating within the
existing facility.
Mr. Billington. No. We are carefully trying to keep from
restructuring and reconfiguring in any major way. We are
building some new exhibition space in one area for this
collection, and there will be some other minor accommodations
to the new exhibits and the new materials. But it basically
will respect the integrity of the building. In fact, part of
the purpose of it, one of the major exhibits is the building
itself--is to illuminate in new ways to enable people to see
some of those marvelous frescoes drawings, and mottos, the
various exuberant features of the interior space there.
Chairman Ehlers. And I understand this is going to be
financed entirely with contributions?
Mr. Billington. Yes. This is all privately funded. We have
just received, I am happy to say, just yesterday, a million
dollar private donation for the creation of America exhibit,
which we will be putting on since the Library of Congress has
practically all the documents of the 18th century which led to
the creation of the United States.
So as we celebrate creativity, we kind of begin by
celebrating the creativity involved in the very creation of the
United States of America.
Chairman Ehlers. Any questions from members?
Representative Millender-McDonald. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Yes, Ms. Millender-McDonald.
Representative Millender-McDonald. Thank you very much.
And this is really quite an innovative program. I was
struck when I got this from staff and saw the first thing
creating the United States. That is something that I am going
to go online and look at and see what is going on, because
those are important things that when I speak to students on the
high-school campuses, they are asking all of these things,
discovering the world. I think these are not only innovative, I
think they are very much exciting for a new breed, a whole new
infrastructure, if you will, for the Library of Congress. And
so I applaud you on this. I certainly am very excited about the
interaction through technology because within--I hope I am not
overstepping in saying that this is something that our children
in the schools and all can then access so that they can have
this outstanding--these galleries brought right into their
schools and into their homes.
And Mr. Chairman,--it is all privately funded, an important
aspect. So I am very thrilled and excited about this, and I
certainly endorse it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you. The gentlewoman from Michigan,
the wonderful state of Michigan.
Representative Miller. Yes. We do love our state of
Michigan, Mr. Chairman, but I just want to associate myself
with Representative Millender-McDonald's remarks as well,
because this is an exciting thing.
Watching the Library of Congress and all of this technology
that you are talking about incorporating reminds me of when the
Internet was really coming into its heyday 10 years ago, and
people would think about librarians or libraries almost
becoming passe, because of all this technology. But instead of
that the libraries, with the national model of the Library of
Congress, have really become the role model of how we can
utilize kiosks and technology in everything.
Our younger generation, of course, is so used to accessing
all kinds of information electronically, and as you incorporate
all that into this, I think it is going to be a fantastic
thing. And particularly with the new Capitol Visitors Center, I
was thinking, just coming to this meeting here today, trying to
get through the hallway with all the visitors that are all
lined up into the hallways trying to get over into taking a
Capitol tour, and how we might take advantage of attracting
visitors into the Jefferson Building.
I was just wondering, do you have any idea or estimate of
how many additional visitors you might think would come to the
Library of Congress once all of that is melded into itself?
Mr. Billington. Well, the figure that we have been given by
experts who study this is it is likely to be as many as 3\1/2\
million people, as distinguished from the somewhat over a
million that we annually get already. There will be two
entrances, not only the entrance from the Capitol Visitors
Center, which is of course very important--and by the way, this
will celebrate an aspect of the Congress that will be in
addition to those celebrated in the Visitors Center itself
because we are the only government in the world that has
preserved the private sector creativity of its people in all
its different aspects.
And by locating the Copyright Office in the Library of
Congress, the Congress, as the legislative branch of
government, has, in fact, been the preserver of its own
creative heritage of not just of what governments do, but
really what individuals have done in all different walks of
life.
So yes, the entrance will be not only for the Capitol
Visitors Center, but also from the upper steps through the
building's main entrance. So they will be able to go in, and
the first experience will be the Great Hall itself, this
marvelous space. And there will be the entry point direct from
those steps so that we will be able to welcome visitors but
interfere with the entry or work for scholars or the work of
the reading rooms. Scholars and researchers will enter from the
other side of the building. The new entrance will permit a
greatly increased flow of visitors which current estimates
indicates might be as much as three times or perhaps 3\1/2\
times as much as now visiting.
Representative Miller. Okay, well, thank you very much.
Chairman Ehlers. Other questions or discussion?
Just one comment, I don't know to what extent the members
of this committee, the newer members have had an opportunity to
tour the Library of Congress, but I certainly hope you would
contact all of them and offer a tour. And I should take another
one, it has been several years since I have been there.
Thank you very much. So your request at this point is to
proceed with the design. And I therefore move that we endorse
the Library of Congress Jefferson Building Exhibit Space
Redesign Plan contingent upon the commitment of the Librarian
to keep the JCL fully apprised of the progress being made with
regard to the redesign plans it moves forward. The question----
Representative Millender-McDonald. I second that, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. The question is on the motion, all those
in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. The motion is
adopted. The motion is agreed to, the plan is endorsed.
Next we move to the naming of the National Audio Visual
Conservation Center.
At this time, the committee is moving to approve the
Librarian's request to explore naming the NAVCC after its major
donor. The committee also expects that we will be kept fully
informed of developments of your discussions and design plans,
and that final approval of the naming will be brought before
this committee again for review and approval.
Representative Lofgren. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Yes, Representative Lofgren.
Representative Lofgren. I would just like to know--I was
actually not focused on the fact that we have long ago set the
precedent of naming things for private individuals in the
Library. And although one could argue we should not have ever
done that, that is long past us. And so, I will certainly not
raise that issue today.
I would just like to say that David Packard was a resident
of my county and I knew him, and he was a marvelous individual.
And his son, really it couldn't be a better choice because of
the premier role he has played, actually, in the preservation
of film in a very generous way. So I think this is very
fitting, and I appreciate the Librarian's leadership in this,
not to mention the great generosity of the Packard family.
Chairman Ehlers. I appreciate your comments because there
has been some controversy about naming--not this particular
naming, but naming of certain other things in the Library. But
this particular facility is far outside Washington, and I think
there should be no question about proceeding with this.
Congressman Taylor.
Mr. Taylor. Mr. Chairman, I would support what the young
lady has just said. As a member of the legislative branch sub-
committee since 1993, I have seen the great works that the
Packard family has done and the contributions they have made to
the Library. And I will certainly echo what the young lady said
that tribute should be paid to people who make that kind of
contribution.
Representative Lofgren. Well, I certainly appreciate being
referred to as a young lady, that is the first time that that
has happened in quite some time.
Chairman Ehlers. I will refer to you that way more
frequently.
I take it there is general agreement----
Representative Millender-McDonald. Mr. Chairman, may I just
make a statement, though? I certainly do concur with you as
long as they say ``young lady.''
While I concur with my colleague from California and those
on the committee, Mr. Chairman, I am concerned about naming of
buildings. We can go on and on ad infinitum with this.
Hopefully we can review this to be very cautious as we move
because once something starts, then it becomes a rippling
effect. And we just cannot name all of these public buildings
after folks, irrespective of the contributions that they make.
So at one point, I suppose we need to review that. I will
not oppose this, but of course, I think this is something we
need to look at.
Chairman Ehlers. Point well taken. And as you know, there
is an absolute rule against naming anything in the Capitol
Building for any person, other than someone who has served
here. Similarly, when the Visitor Center concept was developed,
there was an attempt to raise money. We couldn't raise large
amounts of money without naming things, and the Speaker, in his
wisdom, absolutely refused and said we will pay for it
ourselves then.
The Botanic Garden, there has been some controversy about
that, and there has been controversy about various artifacts in
the Library as well. And there is a loose policy, I don't think
there is a tight policy at this point.
Representative Lofgren. Mr. Chairman, I was wondering, the
same question about a policy--and clearly I think we are all
one mind on this particular instance, but I would like to see a
written policy so that we don't get into trouble down the line,
and perhaps that is something the Librarian could suggest to
us.
Chairman Ehlers. I think there is a written policy, but I
would request that the staff go back and review the various
policy decisions made in the past and see if they form a
coherent picture or whether we really have to come up with a
stated policy.
In view of the affirmative comments, I move to authorize
Dr. Billington and his staff to explore the idea of naming
the National Audio Visual Conservation Center after Mr. David
Woodley Packard. The question is on the motion. All those
in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it, and
the motion is agreed to and the request is approved.
Thank you, Mr. Billington, for your testimony and your
efforts. And thank you to the Library staff, too. The Library
staff is very dedicated. I have a daughter who is a librarian,
and she is also very dedicated. And so I appreciate----
Representative Millender-McDonald. Kudos all over the place
today.
Chairman Ehlers. Yes. I thought of a phrase, Congresswoman
Miller, as you were talking about the change of computers, and
that was survival for libraries and librarians, and survival
brings progress in this case. So the libraries of today are
far, far more useful and more valuable than they were 20 years
ago.
Chairman Ehlers. Now the committee turns its attention to
Mr. Alan Hantman, the Architect of the Capitol. We look forward
to hearing briefly from him on several matters pertaining to
the Capitol Visitor Center's statue plan, other statues and the
National Garden. Mr. Hantman, we turn to you for any comments
or testimony you would like to offer.
STATEMENT OF HON. ALAN M. HANTMAN, FAIA, ARCHITECT OF THE
CAPITOL
Mr. Hantman. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the
Joint Committee, and thank you for this opportunity to testify
here today.
I would like to update you on, of course, several of the
issues that you mentioned, the first of which would be the CVC
statue plan. As final construction issues continue to progress
on the Capitol's Visitor Center, we are turning our attention
to the exhibits and the art work that will enhance the CVC. Not
only will the CVC welcome visitors, it will provide them with
an introduction to the U.S. Capitol. Therefore, it is important
to reflect the present, but also be respectful of the past.
A way to link today with the traditions of yesterday is to
relocate some of the statues in our National Statuary Hall
collection from the Capitol to the CVC. As you mentioned
before, Mr. Chairman, many of the statues that we have are kind
of stuck in corners or backed up one to the other and not
really displayed respectfully, and as you indicated, I think
the CVC gives us an opportunity to do there that so they can
actually be seen as they were designed.
So the Architect of the Capitol, the House and the Senate
curators have drafted a plan which outlines criteria for
selecting statues to move and the reasons for moving them.
Based on their knowledge, their experience and expertise, they
originally identified 14 statues to be relocated from the
National Statuary Hall collection to the CVC. Upon receiving
feedback from the JCL staff, as well as you mentioned for
yourself, Mr. Chairman, I had my staff revisit the plan and
identify 14 additional locations in the CVC based on load
capacity which could support statues.
In reality, if we identified spaces throughout the CVC,
spaces, some of which were not really visible to the public, we
could probably go up to about 48 statues, but I am not sure
that is a recommendation we want to make at this point.
It is recommended, however, that statues selected to be
moved into the CVC include those most recently added to the
collection, only one per State, however, to allow for more
diversity in the people represented and showing citizens who
are part of our representational government.
Another factor in placement should be the safety of both
the statue and the visiting public. Other statues are very
popular with visitors, and as a result, require additional care
and conservation. Other considerations will be given to statue
placement such as aesthetics, balance in the room in which each
statue is placed, and its visibility.
Given the costs associated with relocating the statues, we
recommend that anywhere from 20 to 28 be moved to the CVC great
hall and its surrounding areas. Other statues from the
collection would be relocated within the Capitol Building to
increase visibility and visit or accessibility to their home
State statues. A list of statues recommended for relocation has
been provided to the committee for its consideration. Exact
locations have not yet been fully determined, nor has a
schedule for these moves been decided.
I would like to note for the record that the current
arrangement of statues in the National Statuary Hall and the
idea from having statues from the 13 colonies in the east front
lobby was proposed by my predecessor, George White, in 1975.
This plan went into effect as part of the partial restoration
of the hall for the 1976 Bicentennial. The plan was approved at
the time by the Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library
and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration. In addition, the plan was reviewed and approved
by an advisory committee consisting of a curator from the
Smithsonian, director of the National Collection of Fine Arts,
director of the National Gallery of Art, and the chairman and
executive secretary of the Fine Arts Commission.
Our plan, Mr. Chairman, is to return to this concept by
placing 13 statues representing the original 13 colonies in the
crypt. The plan's goal was to restore order and beauty to the
whole. Ten statues representing original States were moved to
the east front lobby, which reduced overcrowding in the hall.
In the National Statuary Hall there was a careful alternating
arrangement of bronze and marble, with the bronzes placed in
front of the columns. The statues were arranged in descending
order of height on either side of the north entrance, and the
seated statues were placed on either side of the fireplaces.
Mr. Chairman, what we are presenting to you is a
recommendation that was not developed in a vacuum, however, it
is vital to have the committee's input and support of any plan
that moves forward.
[The statement of Hon. Hantman follows:]
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Chairman Ehlers. All right. I thank you for your summary of
that. Just a bit of history, when the plans for the Capitol
Visitors Center were being developed, the idea was to move
approximately--and we talked only in rough numbers of 25 to 45
statues over there because the Capitol really looks a bit
cluttered with the large number of statues we have here. And
the worst part is visitors frequently cannot see the statues to
good advantage because some are in front of others et cetera.
So the idea was to move quite a few over to the CVC.
And so when I heard the lower number that Mr. Hantman gave,
I thought that was really not enough. So I appreciate you
coming back with new plans and new ideas.
I don't think there is any further action needed from us on
this issue, is there, other than discussion?
Mr. Hantman. That is correct, sir.
Chairman Ehlers. All right. The gentlelady from California?
Representative Lofgren. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I understand that having the original 13 and not all of
them, I mean, that makes total sense. But taking a look at--it
is appendix A that would be moved, I do have a concern--well,
two suggestions. First, I think that the delegation of each
State ought to be consulted before we move forward to solicit
their point of view. And I would just note because it is in
order, it has the unfortunate impact of all native peoples
being moved to the basement, and I don't think that is
something we necessarily want to do. I mean, you have got the
New Mexico statue and North Dakota, Wyoming and even Hawaii,
and it has only been in recent times that we have recognized
native peoples, but I think there will be some concern about
that. And I think it is better to raise it early than late. And
I would suggest maybe some other method than just time might
want to be considered.
Mr. Hantman. Mr. Chairman, if I may, just one comment.
Chairman Ehlers. Yes, Mr. Hantman.
Mr. Hantman. I think your comments are certainly
appropriate. One thing that I want to point out to you is when
you talked about moving them to the basement, what I would like
to show you is a rendering of the great hall. And there are
skylights over here letting in lots of light from the outside.
These are representational statues that might be placed in the
great hall. In fact, again, I want to thank you, Chairman
Ehlers, for having so many Members of the House come on down
and take a look at the space. I welcome the opportunity to walk
all of you down there and show you what the space looks like
because I think it is actually a space of honor, a space of
quality that we are talking about over here.
Clearly, States may choose to have their statues remain in
the original Capitol as opposed to this complement to the
Capitol, and that needs to be determined by people, other than
myself certainly. But the ability to move statues I think is a
good one.
In fact, many of the delegates and the people from the
State of Hawaii had come and basically asked to have their
statue moved to the great hall over here because clearly, King
Kamaya, for instance, is displayed in the second row----
Representative Lofgren. He is stuck in the corner.
Mr. Hantman. He really is. So I think, again, there are
quality locations, and I welcome the opportunity to show it to
you.
Representative Lofgren. I actually toured, I think we all
have--if I may continue, Mr. Chairman--there is something about
being there right outside the floor of the House and to have
all the statues of all the native peoples someplace else is
going to become an issue, I guarantee you. So I think that we
need to explore that and come up with a different method as
well as consulting with the delegation.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you for the comment. Any further
comment?
Representative Millender-McDonald. Mr. Chairman, let me
concur with the gentlelady from California, it is a sensitive
issue that I think really deserves some further exploration.
And I also concur that the Hawaiian statue that is hidden
certainly should come out and come forward and be seen. And it
is imperative that we do consult with those representatives
representing those states so that we can ensure that they are
satisfied with what you are saying.
I also concur with what you are saying, that you are
putting them in, I guess, a better light that will be
representative of where and who they are, but it is very
important that we get some sense of those who are
representative of those States.
And in saying that, Mr. Chairman, I just want to reiterate
that Congresswoman Norton does have an issue that I hope we can
resolve as well with reference to statues depicting and
representing the District of Columbia.
Chairman Ehlers. Any further discussion or comments? I
would like to thank Ms. Lofgren for her comments on this and
your affirmation of that. And obviously, we can't do that in
this formal setting, but it may very well be that we should
call a meeting with--or invite Members of the House, Members of
the Senate to review the document, submit their comments to us
before we make any final decision. I appreciate the wisdom of
that.
Any further discussion on the Architect's testimony up to
this point? If not, we will move on to discussion of selection
of the National Endowment For the Arts in connection with the
Rosa Parks statue. You may proceed.
Mr. Hantman. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
In accordance with PL 109-16, a statue of Rosa Parks will
be placed in National Statuary Hall to honor her role as a
pioneer in the civil rights movement. The majority of the works
of art in the U.S. Capitol have been donated by outside
entities and have been accepted by Congressional authority,
generally by the Joint Committee.
The last full length statues were commissioned by the
Congress in 1870, and the most recent example of a joint
commission for a work of art was that for Martin Luther King,
Jr., the bust that was dedicated in 1986. The artist was
selected through a competition run by the National Endowment
for the Arts and the artist's contract was with the JCL.
Currently, there is an amendment to the 2007 leg branch
appropriations bill that would provide the JCL with the ability
to grant authority to the AOC to contract for a sculpture of
Rosa Parks. Once the legislation is passed, the AOC will enter
into a memorandum of understanding with the NEA, but the JCL
will remain the decision-making authority.
The approach we propose to take to commission the statue on
the advice and recommendations of the AOC, the Senate and the
House curators is to follow the general guidelines for
replacement statues to the National Statuary Hall collection
that were approved by the JCL in 2000.
With these guidelines and requirements in place, an open,
national designed competition would be held under the
administration of the NEA. A deadline would be established and
a proposal sent in by prospective sculptors would be screened
for completeness and suitability by the NEA. The
NEA then, in consultation with the JCL, the AOC, the Clerk
of the House and Secretary of the Senate, would set up an
outside advisory panel of approximately 9 people to include
experts on civil rights history, African American art and
history and portrait sculpture, as well as museum directors and
curators and one layperson.
At least five semifinalists would be selected by the panel.
The semifinalists would then be commissioned to create
maquettes, which would then become property of the U.S.
government. The maquettes would be displayed, evaluated by the
advisory panel, which would then make recommendations. The JCL
would then select an artist. A contract between the contractor
and the AOC would then be signed and a statue will be created.
Upon its completion, the JCL will approve the statue's
permanent location, and Congress will determine the date and
the location of an unveiling ceremony.
My office has submitted a detailed plan for the record, and
we look forward to receiving the committee's final approval to
move forward with the process upon passage of the fiscal year
2007 leg branch appropriations bill.
Chairman Ehlers. Any question or comment on this process?
Representative Millender-McDonald. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Ms. Millender-McDonald.
Representative Millender-McDonald. I thank you very much,
Mr. Architect, for your comments. It seems to me a thorough
understanding of the principle of placing Rosa Parks statue in
a place that is visible and that will be complimentary of the
work that she did.
Most people think that it was Dr. Martin Luther King who
started this. It was really Rosa Parks refusing to get up from
a bus that really catapulted the civil rights movement. So your
outside advisory panel is right in order to ensure that you
have experts who really know about the civil rights movement.
I was a young girl at the time, so I certainly have my
knowledge of it, but I applaud you for getting this outside
panel that will have a deep understanding of the civil rights
movement. And I would hope, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Architect,
that we do not have a statue that is depictive of Dr. Martin
Luther King. I do not like that sculpture because his hands are
all underneath some type of a panel or podium. This man was a
great orator, it should seem that his hands would be up in the
air someplace as opposed to tucked down in this base that is
there. And so I am hoping that perhaps we can get someone to
really do another statue of Dr. Martin Luther King that is
depictive of the outstanding American that he was.
So I am hoping that Rosa Parks sculpture would be one that
really depicts this lady, either sitting on the bus or
something that really connotes her outstanding contribution to
this country and the world. It is not just for African
Americans that these contributions were made, it was for all
Americans.
And so Mr. Chairman, I hope we approve this proposal, which
will supply an orderly process to select a sculpture and to
generate a magnificent statue of Rosa Parks for display in
Statuary Hall or wherever that final destination will be.
I commend the curators of the Capitol and of the House and
the Senate for their efforts here, and we need to move forward
on this. And that is my recommendation, thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you.
Yes, Ms. Lofgren.
Representative Lofgren. This is the first time I have been
involved in this, I don't know what the process is. Does the
committee get another look at this before--I was in local
government for a long time, and I learned the sad story that
delegating the art work to a committee can actually lead to
problems. And so I am hoping that we might get another look at
this before the whole process is done.
Mr. Hantman. This committee actually has the final say on
the selection.
Representative Lofgren. But we would get a mark up before--
--
Mr. Hantman. Yes. The NEA would select five finalists and
the maquettes, the small models of these, would come before
this committee for selection of the one that actually gets to
be implemented.
Representative Lofgren. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you for the comment.
Yes, Ms. Miller.
Representative Miller. Yes, very briefly. It is my
understanding there is about $300,000 in the appropriation
process, it may be a little more than that.
Mr. Taylor. 370.
Representative Miller. I have no idea how much a statue
like this costs, and I am not really that interested in it;
whatever it is going to cost, I know we are going to want to
fund it.
And I would also say this, many people think about Rosa
Parks as being from Alabama, but subsequently, she moved to
Detroit, Michigan and we called her Mother Parks. And last
October at her funeral it was an unbelievable event. And then
to have her lie here in state--the first woman, actually, I
believe, and the second African-American ever to do so, so it
is very appropriate that we do move forward in this and make
sure we fund it to whatever we need to do to recognize an
extraordinary American. Thank you.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you. And I would also mention for
everyone's information that this process was started by a
statue. And so much of what we are talking about is determined
in that initial piece of legislation, including placement. And
so if there are questions about that, look at it.
But I would like to hear input from all my members about
this as we go along, but also from you. I hope we see the
progress of it rather than--I have been precisely the same
position as Mrs. Lofgren at the local level. You cannot imagine
the horror of dealing with 20,000 angry constituents about how
their money has been spent, and so we want to be certain that
we are kept up to date as this progresses. Thank you.
On that, we need to go through a legal motion on this. I
move to allow the Architect of the Capitol to enter into an
interagency agreement with the National Endowment of the Arts
to run the selection process for selecting a group of
appropriate artists for the Rosa Parks statue. The JCL will
then be responsible for making the final selection from the
panel of artists, and the Architect will sign a contract with
the artist. The question is on the motion----
Representative Millender-McDonald. So moved, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Those
opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion carries.
Two other items that we have to cover, the first is the
Helen Keller statue, and I believe you have something to report
on that.
Mr. Hantman. Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank you.
The last update with regard to statues specifically
involves the proposed replacement of one of Alabama's statues,
as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, Jabez Lamar Curry with one of
Helen Keller. As you know, this would be the second replacement
statue. The State of Kansas recalled Governor Glick and brought
General Eisenhower into the Rotunda for us. And so that
essentially was the logjam that broke the dam, and now we are
seeing other States recommending replacement statues, and this
is the first of the next batch.
The JCL approved the proposal in September of 2001 and
approved the concept of depicting Helen Keller as a child at
the pump where she first understood the word ``water'' in May
2005. The committee has yet to give its final approval to the
design of the statue or the inscriptions intended to appear on
the pedestal.
Based on the expertise and advice of the AOC curator, I
recommend to the committee that modifications to the statue's
design and inscriptions be made before final approval is
granted. These changes would ensure that the statue is
consistent with others in the National Statuary Hall
collection. These recommended changes include increasing the
height of the pedestal, eliminating overhanging ivy and
reducing the number of ivy leaves projecting from the statue
which could pose a safety hazard. To modify and to reduce the
number of plaques on the pedestal to ensure that all
information would be seen, and to minimize use of colored
patinas to ensure that the statue can be easily maintained and
repaired.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you for that report. I just want to
make two quick comments on that.
First of all, I am concerned about the request to increase
the height of the platform because I thought one of the assets
of this statue, since it portrays Helen Keller as a child, one
of the major assets would be that the children visiting the
Capitol would see a statue of someone their size and someone
similar to them. And it seems to me that the higher the
pedestal, the less the children will regard this as a
compatriot, someone that they can aspire to be. And I just
wanted to pass on that comment.
As far as the ivy, that is a very tricky question, I am not
sure how they will solve that. One of my fictitious suggestions
is that we just plant ivy in a pot and change it every six
weeks. It would make it the most interesting statue in the
Capitol.
With that, we will turn to other----
Representative Millender-McDonald. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Ms. Millender-McDonald.
Representative Millender-McDonald. I, too, was concerned
about the ivy all around, but I was deeply concerned about a
woman who dared to be different, a woman who is recognized as a
woman for all of her contributions. I have a book here that
speaks to her meeting with numerous presidents and had a long
tradition of meeting with presidents from Grover Cleveland
through John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman was moved to tears by
this extraordinary woman.
And so, as I go further into the book, we talk about her
visiting wounded soldiers at a hospital in North Carolina in
1945. Most of us--and perhaps while there is flattery about
continuing to say ``young women'' around this room, this is
where I best remember Helen Keller. And it seems to me that it
will be more prudent, I guess you might say, or certainly
should be thought about that we display her as a woman as
opposed to a child.
And I understand what the chairman speaks about in terms of
children, but a lot of her contributions, top fund raiser for
The Blind Foundation, many, many other contributions that she
has made to this society, an extraordinary American, it seems
to me that no boundaries to courage that you will find her more
as a woman who received degrees in different places.
Mr. Chairman, it just seems to me that while we are
awaiting the final decision from Alabama in terms of changing
the statue from Mr. Monroe Curry to Ms. Keller, it seems to me
fitting for that to happen. But of course, as my colleague from
California says, we have to make sure that full representation
of Alabama is on track. I am not sure whether they have made
the final approval of that, and you can answer that. But my
suggestion would be to have a picture of this extraordinary
American woman who dared to be different as a woman as opposed
to a child. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. I believe--well, I will have to ask you
what the role is of the Federal government versus the state.
But it is my understanding the state's specific request is that
they be allowed to portray her as a child; is that correct?
Mr. Hantman. That is correct, Mr. Chairman. In May of 2005,
in fact, that specific request came through the State, and this
committee approved that.
Chairman Ehlers. And does the Congress have a role in
choosing the statues, or do we generally accept----
Mr. Hantman. Each individual state basically chooses their
own sculpture and how they will portray the individual, how
they are honored, and this would be the first child, of course.
Chairman Ehlers. Perhaps you would like to express our
concern to the Alabama delegation.
Representative Millender-McDonald. Well, having been born
in Birmingham, Alabama, I will certainly revert back--though I
have lived in California for 51 years, I will revert back to
my--bring it up in Alabama and talk with them.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Please do that. And I didn't realize you
were born in Alabama. That means in another 50 years your
statue will replace----
Representative Millender-McDonald. I thank you very much,
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Ehlers. Well, we can now proceed--yes, Ms.
Lofgren.
Representative Lofgren. I understand the Architect's point
that this statue at this stature is going to look very out of
place; I mean, it doesn't look like--it doesn't have the
gravitas of the rest of the statues. And I understand our
position about children being able to see it, but I am
wondering if that issue could be addressed, it will go in the
new Visitors Center in all likelihood, because it is the last
one through placement so the children might be able to see it
well and allow it still to have the kind of presence that
matches the other statues. Is that a--I am just trying to
visualize----
Mr. Hantman. That is absolutely one of the issues. Most of
the statues in the collection are about 7 feet high and about
10 feet with the bases on it. This statue basically is 6,8"
high, and the statue itself is only 57 inches high.
So the concept of if it is part of a collection in the
hall, how does it have the gravitas, how does it have the
presence in the space while still accomplishing what the
chairman is talking about so that children can appreciate that?
We think that the 2-foot base is rather low at this point in
time, which is why the recommendation was made to increase
that.
Representative Lofgren. I think from my own point of view
that the draft letter that is before us is appropriate. And I
don't know if you want to do a motion or alteration of the
letter, but that is my opinion.
Chairman Ehlers. We can certainly proceed and keep
interacting with the Alabama delegation and their legislature
on this issue. Speaking for myself, I look much, much better as
a child than I do today. That is pretty obvious. Everyone would
smile at my childhood picture.
We have one other item, the National Garden, you are to
report on that?
Mr. Hantman. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to report that
the National Garden will be open to the public on October 1st.
To date, construction is 97 percent complete, the finishing
touches are underway in the Rose Garden, the Hornbeam Court,
the Lawn Terrace, and the Butterfly Garden. What you see before
you over here on this easel is a photograph taken earlier this
month. So when we talk about the Hornbeam Garden, we are
talking about this area here. And of course, this is the
conservatory building. The Capitol building is off to the top
left. We are talking about the lawn panel over here, the Rose
Garden, First Lady's Water Garden over here. This is the
regional garden coming through this area, with a bridge
crossing over it. So what we are seeing here, we already have
130 trees planted there. Much of the foliage is being put into
place.
So there are three areas really where work is ongoing. In
the regional garden, they are completing the boardwalk, the
amphitheater seating, and the fence installation. The
amphitheater is down over here, and we are using stone actually
from the east front expansion that was done back in 1959, stone
from that east front expansion will be on the amphitheater
seats over here. The boardwalk is 40 percent complete, the
fence is 50 percent installed, and gates will be installed once
the fence is completed.
General site work, specifically the gravel pathway, is
about 40 percent, blue stone curbing about 80 percent, and the
placement of the donated soil is 85 percent complete. In
addition, we awarded a separate contract for the sidewalk work
in April, and work is progressing along Independence Avenue and
also up 3rd Street over here.
The National Garden and the Capitol Grounds Sidewalk
Project teams are coordinating their efforts to ensure there
are no project disruptions.
According to the contract, the construction is scheduled to
be complete on August 15th. The planting and landscape is
occurring in conjunction with the ongoing construction, thereby
allowing us to be remain on schedule for the planned opening.
Contractual communications have been exchanged, addressing
changes and completion dates, and the potential for the
assessment of liquidated damages after a full review with the
contractor.
Mr. Chairman, we will soon be coming full circle on this
project. It was on October 1, 1988 that PL 100456 was signed,
authorizing the Architect of the Capitol to construct a
National Garden to be funded solely by private donations raised
by the National Fund For the U.S. Botanic Garden.
This project is the first public/private partnership
project for the AOC, and we are immensely proud of this
partnership's success as we carry out our mission.
This project has been an amazing collaboration, and the
stage is being set for a beautiful grand opening, thanks to the
members of this committee, the Congress, the National Fund, the
sponsors, the contractor and the AOC staff.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you for that report. Are there any
questions? Yes, Ms. Lofgren.
Representative Lofgren. I have a suggestion that I think is
completely compatible with what you have outlined. Recently--I
think yesterday as a matter of fact--a volunteer from a non-
profit organization called Open Parks came to visit me, and I
raised this issue in when we had the Smithsonian before us as
well--their goal is to make Wi-Fi access available throughout
the Mall and even up here. And I was, as we were talking
earlier about the digital collection and accessing what we have
in the Library, I was thinking wouldn't it be great if we could
have free Wi-Fi also in this library, and people could access
parts of the collection that relate to this.
So I am wondering if you would be willing to sit down with
this nonprofit--if there are other nonprofits, I don't want to
discriminate against them either--so that we could have a free
Wi-Fi service in this park. And I think there is a goal. And I
want to talk to the Chairman about other opportunities to make
sure that visitors to the Capitol can access all the
information on our rich history while they are here online.
Mr. Hantman. We are certainly always interested in
enriching our visitors' experience; we would be more than happy
to explore any possibilities out there.
Chairman Ehlers. Might I just mention, our staff has done a
fairly extensive study of this issue. And I personally, as a
techy, think it is a great idea, but there are also some
problems involved. So I would like to suggest that your staff
and our staff sit down and hash this out.
I think it is a policy issue that is not going to go away,
and I would like to find some suitable solution; but it is not
obvious what a suitable solution is.
Representative Lofgren. Well, I would welcome that, Mr.
Chairman, in the hoping that we can move forward.
And I think actually the ability to put Wi-Fi in, it is not
constrained by--there is no need to slow this up. It is a small
addition, it is compatible with what you have got, so thank you
very much.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you.
Any further questions? Any further comments, Mr. Hantman?
Mr. Hantman. I thank you very much for the opportunity to
share these issues with you. As you started off up front, the
issue of trying to work through the statues for the CVC and the
rearrangement of the statue collection in the Capitol is an
important one, and I look forward to working with you to
resolve them, and work with the states involved as well.
Chairman Ehlers. Thank you. That concludes our business,
although I am going to ask some of you to stay so please don't
rush off, but that concludes the business before the Joint
Committee today.
I certainly thank everyone who has worked hard for this. I
personally think this is one of the most productive meetings of
the JCL that I have participated in for some time, and we got a
lot accomplished.
I want to thank Senator Stevens and his staff as well for
their work in helping us prepare for this, I just regret that
the Senators were unable to be here, but their staff is here
representing them, and so I am sure they will be briefed on all
these issues.
I ask unanimous consent that members have 7 calendar days
to submit material into the record, and for those statements
and materials to be entered into the appropriate place in the
record. And without objection, the material will be so entered.
So ordered.
I ask unanimous consent that staff be authorized to make
technical and conforming changes on all matters considered by
the committee at today's meeting. Without objection, so
ordered.
Having completed our business for this meeting, the meeting
is hereby adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:06 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]
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