[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1141-E1142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION TO DEVELOP PLAN TO REOPEN PENNSYLVANIA 
                                 AVENUE

                                 ______


                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 20, 1996

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing a resolution to 
develop a plan for the reopening of Pennsylvania Avenue. This 
resolution, similar to a resolution enacted in the Senate last night, 
brings together and reconciles House and Senate approaches to the 
closing of Pennsylvania Avenue. At my request after the closing last 
year, the House D.C. Subcommittee held hearings on June 30, 1995, and 
again this year on June 7, 1996. At both hearings, truly devastating 
damage to downtown traffic and commerce was reported. The victims of 
the closing are pervasive--residents, commuters, tourists, and 
businesses. In effect, downtown D.C. is disjoined and disfigured. No 
large city today, healthy or not--and D.C. is insolvent--could absorb 
the enormous costs associated with closing the most important cross 
town street.
  Some in Congress had called for an immediate reopening of the avenue. 
Recognizing that this was impractical and impossible because of the 
obligations of the Secret Service written into law, I have sought ways 
to open the avenue while safeguarding the White House and to keep the 
Park Service from foreclosing the possibility. This has also been the 
view of D.C. Subcommittee Chair Tom Davis, who joins me as a cosponsor 
today.
  The bipartisan resolution we introduce today requires that all the 
relevant parties participate. Thus, this resolution is the most useful 
response to the closing. It depolarizes and depoliticizes an issue that 
has two important sides. It puts everyone to work on solving the 
problem, rather than facing off against one another, leaving the 
problem begging for attention. I appreciate the attention that the 
House and the Senate have given to the effect of the

[[Page E1142]]

closing on my district and on every American's capital city. I urge all 
Members to support this resolution.

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