[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 98 (Thursday, June 15, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1264]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CONVENTION CENTER 
      PRECONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1995

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 15, 1995
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill which 
authorizes the District to do the preliminary work for the convention 
center, which, during this period of fiscal crisis, will be a major 
revenue raising source for the District of Columbia. The bill will 
allow the District to use funds raised through hotel and restaurant 
taxes designated to support this project. Much to its credit, the hotel 
and restaurant sector came forward on its own to suggest this new tax 
on themselves to finance the center. No existing District operating 
funds are committed under this bill.
  Mayor Barry and the city council have assigned a very high priority 
to the new convention center because of its revenue-generating 
potential at a time when the city is in acute financial distress. They 
are anxious to have this bill introduced and moved quickly.
  These funds will enable the District to do vital preconstruction 
work, including environmental studies and architecture and design 
studies. The District will be able to move forward and build the new 
convention center, returning the District to competitiveness in the 
convention and tourism market. Without a new center, the District will 
be unable to attract the increasing numbers of large conventions 
seeking to meet in the metropolitan region and the substantial 
disposable income these conventions bring to the city.
  I am particularly pleased that Representative Tom Davis, chairman of 
the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, has agreed to be an 
original cosponsor of a bill that invests in the District's economy.


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