[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 105 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    THE CAPITOL OF THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President, an interesting and informative essay on 
the history of the U.S. Capitol came to my attention recently. I would 
like to take this opportunity to share it with my colleagues.
  Having housed the U.S. Congress for 195 years, the Capitol is only 
one of the most treasured and beloved buildings in Washington. Few 
people are more familiar with the history of the Capitol than Mr. 
Cornelius Heine, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Capitol Historical 
Society, who wrote the essay. I am pleased to be able to share his work 
with my colleagues.
  There being no objection, the essay was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                    The Capitol of the United States

                        (By Cornelius W. Heine)

       Symbol of a nation, of its resolve, of its people and its 
     hopes for the future, the Capitol of the United States of 
     America rises majestically upon a hill in the center of the 
     city belonging to every American citizen. The location of 
     that Federal City was approved by Congress in 1790 in 
     accordance with the Constitution of the United States. The 
     site for the building was chosen in 1791 by the planner of 
     the city, Major Charles Pierre L'Enfant. The cornerstone of 
     that Capitol was laid by President George Washington on 
     September 18, 1793.
       Following the design of Dr. William Thornton, the North 
     wing was the first section of the Capitol to be completed in 
     1800, just in time for the national government and the 
     Congress to move from Philadelphia to the new Federal City 
     along the banks of the Potomac. On November 22, 1800, 
     President John Adams addressed the Congress as it assembled 
     in the Senate Chamber of the Capitol.
       It was 1807 before the companion South Wing, also 
     constructed of sandstone from Aquia Creek, Virginia, was 
     completed for the House of Representatives. prior to that 
     time the Senate and the House, as well as the Supreme Court 
     and the Federal Commissioners, appointed by the President, 
     were all housed in the North Wing.
       Once the Congress had taken up residence in the Capitol, 
     the building began to grow steadily by additions. The 
     Capitol's growth paralleled the progress of the expanding 
     nation. By 1865, as President Abraham Lincoln delivered his 
     famed Second Inaugural Address, the Capitol appeared much as 
     it does today, complete with a cast iron Dome topped by the 
     Statue of Freedom.
       The Capitol has been the home of the Congress of the United 
     States for 195 years. After the burning of the Capitol by the 
     British during the War of 1812, Congress was required to meet 
     in temporary quarters (located where the Supreme Court 
     building now stands) until the building was restored by 1822 
     largely under the direction of the architect Benjamin Henry 
     Latrobe. Not only did the Capitol, with its solid 
     foundations, and the American form of government both survive 
     the fire of 1814, but the building and the institutions it 
     houses have since weathered every military, constitutional 
     and domestic crisis that has confronted the nation.
       A cavalcade of momentous historic events, each of which 
     altered the course of the nation and some even the world, 
     have occurred within the walls of the Capitol. Such was the 
     time a hushed House chamber heard President Franklin 
     Roosevelt say ``Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date that will 
     live in infamy, the United States of American was suddenly 
     and deliberately attacked by the Naval and Air Forces of the 
     Empire of Japan.'' Those dramatic words pushed the United 
     States and its citizens into a world war which thrust upon 
     them the mantle of world leadership.
       The Capitol has been a great stage upon which the 
     compelling drama of the nation's political history has been 
     played out, the place where the nation faced every 
     conceivable crisis. But in addition to the crises, the 
     Capitol has been the scene of the day-to-day march of 
     democracy in the place where the Congress, the instrument to 
     carry out the principles of the Declaration of Independence, 
     has represented the American citizens. It has been the place 
     where the people have had their part under the Constitution 
     in framing the laws which have shaped America's destiny and 
     their own lives in a government ``of the people, by the 
     people, and for the people.''
       Architectural monument, treasure of art and working home of 
     the Congress, the Capitol stands today as the embodiment of 
     all the dreams of the American people as they seek progress 
     with justice for all--a goal represented in the sculptural 
     grouping above its central portico known as ``The Genius of 
     America.''
       And so to the Capitol, the Nation's crossroads, comes the 
     steady flow of Americans from every walk of life. In their 
     Capitol, these citizens observe their government at work; 
     they walk the same hallowed halls and corridors as have 
     presidents, statesmen and their elected representatives for 
     almost 200 years. These millions of Americans feel the aura 
     of the building itself and the spirit of the nation in which 
     they, as citizens, play such integral roles. For it is they 
     who are the lifeblood of the nation. It is their inner will 
     and spirit which continues to fuel the engine of democracy on 
     its forward journey in the Capitol.

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