[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 105 (Thursday, July 30, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF THE JACOB JOSEPH CHESTNUT-JOHN MICHAEL GIBSON CAPITOL 
                       VISITOR CENTER ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 1998

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing the Jacob Joseph 
Chestnut-John Michael Gibson United States Capitol Visitor Center Act 
of 1998 (Chestnut-Gibson Act). I feel a special obligation to do so 
because I represent the District of Columbia in which the Capitol is 
located. I also introduce the bill because the residents of the 
District have a special relationship with the Capitol Police. In 1992, 
when there was a large spike in crime in the District, Congress passed 
the United States Capitol Police Jurisdiction Act, a bill I introduced 
authorizing the Capitol Police to patrol parts of the Capitol Hill 
residential community closest to the Capitol where various facilities 
of the Capitol are located. Capitol Police officers were not only 
willing; they were enthusiastic to use their excellent training and 
professionalism for the benefit of residents and the many tourists and 
visitors whose safety might be compromised by having to travel through 
high-crime areas in order to get to the Capitol.
  My bill authorizes the Architect of the Capitol ``to plan, construct, 
equip, administer, and maintain a Capitol Visitor Center under the East 
Plaza of the Capitol'' grounds. The primary purpose of the bill is to 
increase public safety and security. A second purpose is to provide a 
place to welcome visitors who are seeking tours, taking into account 
their health and comfort. To guard against excessive costs and to 
obtain quick action, the bill requires the Architect to consider 
existing and alternative plans for a visitor center and to submit ``a 
report containing the plans and designs'' within 120 days.
  I have supported a Capitol Visitor Center since it was first 
extensively discussed in 1991. During this decade of high deficits, the 
reluctance of Congress to appropriate funds for such a center has 
perhaps been understandable, until last Friday. No one knows whether 
Officer Chestnut or Detective Gibson or, for that matter, any other 
officer or individual would have been spared had a visitor center been 
in place. What we do know is that our nineteenth century Capitol was 
not built with anything like today's security hazards in mind. 
According to the Capitol Police and the United States Capitol Police 
Board, a visitor center would provide significant distance between the 
Capitol and visitors, and for a host of reasons they have documented, 
would make the Capitol more secure.
  Our foremost obligation is to protect all who visit or work here and 
to spare no legitimate consideration in protecting the United States 
Capitol. The Capitol is a temple of democracy and is the most important 
symbol of the open society in which we live. It is more so than the 
White House, in part because the President's workplace is also a 
residence and cannot be entirely open. However, the Capitol symbolizes 
our free and open society not only because it is accessible but also 
because of what transpires here. It is here that the people come to 
petition their government, to lobby and to persuade us, and ultimately 
to discharge us if we stray too far from their democratic demands. 
Thus, we neither have nor would we want the option to make the Capitol 
more difficult to access. After last Friday's tragedy, we have an 
obligation to demonstrate that security is not inconsistent with 
democracy.
  There is a second reason why this bill is necessary. Visitors are 
safe when they come to the Capitol, but the conditions they encounter 
do not ensure their health, convenience, and cordiality, nor afford 
them the welcome to which they are entitled. Members address 
constituents seated on stone steps outdoors. In the blistering heat and 
merciless cold of Washington, visitors wait in line outdoors to tour 
the Capitol. During this summer, the hottest on record in the United 
States, it has not been uncommon for tourists to faint during lengthy 
waits on line and then be rushed inside to be treated by our 
physicians. Even if the Capitol had not incurred a terrible tragedy, we 
would be in need of a more civil way to welcome the people we 
represent.
  I will seek cosponsors for this bill at once. I have not waited to do 
so because I believe a bill requiring plans for a visitor center is 
necessary to provide the assurance of safety and comfort the public has 
a right to demand. We must do more than try to recover from the shock 
of the invasion of the Capitol by a gunman. We must do more than mourn 
the irreplaceable loss of two fine men. We must do what we can and we 
must do it now.

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