Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 39 (Monday, April 3, 2000)

[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 39 (Monday, April 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1639-H1640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

AUTHORIZING USE OF CAPITOL GROUNDS FOR 200TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 279), as amended, authorizing
the use of the Capitol Grounds for the 200th birthday celebration of
the Library of Congress, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:

H. Con. Res. 279

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF EVENT TO CELEBRATE THE 200TH
BIRTHDAY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

The Library of Congress (in this resolution referred to as
the ``sponsor'') shall be permitted to sponsor a public
event, the 200th birthday celebration of the Library of
Congress (in this resolution referred to as the ``event''),
on the Capitol Grounds on April 24, 2000, or on such other
date as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate may
jointly designate.

SEC. 2. TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

(a) In General.--The event shall be free of admission
charge to the public and arranged not to interfere with the
needs of Congress, under conditions to be prescribed by the
Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol Police Board.
(b) Expenses and Liabilities.--The sponsor shall assume
full responsibility for all expenses and liabilities incident
to all activities associated with the event.

SEC. 3. STRUCTURES AND EQUIPMENT.

(a) Structures and Equipment.--Subject to the approval of
the Architect of the Capitol, the sponsor may erect upon the
Capitol Grounds such stage, sound amplification devices, and
other related structures and equipment as may be required for
the event.
(b) Additional Arrangements.--The Architect of the Capitol
and the Capitol Police Board are authorized to make any such
additional arrangements as may be required to carry out the
event, except that no arrangements may be made to limit
access to any public road on the Capitol Grounds.

SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIONS.

The Capitol Police Board shall provide for enforcement of
the restrictions contained in section 4 of the Act of July
31, 1946 (40 U.S.C. 193d; 60 Stat. 718), concerning sales,
advertisements, displays, and solicitations on the Capitol
Grounds, as well as other restrictions applicable to the
Capitol Grounds, with respect to the event.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette).
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 279 authorizes the use of the Capitol
grounds for the 200th birthday celebration of the Library of Congress
on April 24, 2000, or on such date as the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
jointly designate.
The resolution authorizes the Architect of the Capitol, the Capitol
Police Board, and the Library of Congress, which is the sponsor of the
event, to negotiate the necessary arrangements for carrying out the
events in complete compliance with the rules and regulations governing
use of the Capitol grounds.
The events will be free of charge and open to the public. April 24 is
the 200th

[[Page H1640]]

anniversary when President John Adams signed into law an act
establishing the Library of Congress, and appropriating the huge sum of
$5,000 for the purchase of the books. The celebration will include a
free concert on the Capitol grounds, and other events inside the
Library.
Mr. Speaker, I support this measure, I urge my colleagues to do the
same, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is a genuine pleasure for me to rise in support of
House Concurrent Resolution 279.
As my colleague, the gentleman from Ohio, mentioned, it authorizes
the use of the Capitol Plaza on April 24 for events commemorating the
bicentennial of the Library of Congress.
This institution is America's national library, the oldest Federal
cultural institution. It is the largest collection of information in
the history of the world. We are hopeful that this event will highlight
the important role that this library and all libraries play in our
democratic society.
As the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) mentioned, the Library of
Congress started with the magnificent sum of $5,000 authorized under
the act, signed into law by President John Adams. But by 1812, the
collection had grown to a phenomenal 3,076 books. However, during the
war of 1812, the library, along with other prominent Washington
buildings, was burned and the collection was lost.
In 1850, Thomas Jefferson, who then had the largest personal library
in America, sold his personal collection to the library for a modest
sum, a few thousand more than that. It was very important not only
because it helped restart the Library of Congress, but it changed the
nature of the collection. Prior to that, the Library of Congress was
very narrowly focused in terms of legal and historical topics, but
because Thomas Jefferson was truly a renaissance man and had a wide
sweep of volumes in a number of different languages that he had
collected in his travels and service to our country, it included
material on literature, and the nature of the library thus was
fundamentally changed.
I am proud to say that due to the diligence of our outstanding staff
and a little bit of luck, many of the original Jefferson volumes are
still present, available in the rare book room for viewing. I am proud
to say that it was a lot of fun just a week ago to view them once
again.
Today's collection contains 119 million other items, books,
photographs, maps, music, movies, manuscripts, microfilm, all viewed as
the world's premier collection of knowledge. Of course, it is housed in
the flagship building, I think the most magnificent in our Nation's
capital, the Jefferson Building, which we recently celebrated its
centennial in 1997 and its painstaking and loving restoration.
We are here today to celebrate the potential on April 24 for a long
series of events which shall include the unveiling of commemorative
coins and stamps, the opening of a major exhibit on Thomas Jefferson,
and a national birthday party consisting of free musical performances
open to the public.
I support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues, in joining me,
to celebrate it in renewing our commitment to this important
institution.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House
Concurrent Resolution 279 to authorize the use of the Capitol Grounds
for the 200th birthday celebration of the Library of Congress.
This public event will be held on April 24. The daylong celebration
will include musical performances and the opening of a major Library of
Congress exhibition on Thomas Jefferson.
As with all events held on the Capitol Grounds this event will be
free and open to the public. The Architect of the Capitol and the
Capitol Police Board will determine the conditions under which the
event will be held.
On April 24, 2000, the Library of Congress celebrates its
bicentennial commemoration. The Library was established as the
fledgling legislature of the new Republic prepared to move from
Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. On April 24, 1800,
President John Adams signed into law an act that appropriated $5,000 to
purchase ``such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress.''
The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored
in the U.S. Capitol, the Library's first home. The collection consisted
of 740 volumes and three maps.
A year later, President Thomas Jefferson signed the first law
defining the role and functions of the new institution. This measure
created the post of the Librarian of Congress and gave Congress,
through a Joint Committee on the Library, the authority to establish
the Library's budget and its rules and regulations. From the beginning,
however, the institution was more than just a legislative library. The
1802 act permitted the President and Vice President to borrow books; a
privilege that, in the next three decades, was extended to most
government agencies and the judiciary.
President Jefferson, a man who stated he could not live without
books, was a key architect to the Library that we know today. Jefferson
took a keen interest in the Library and its collection while he was
President of the United States from 1801-1809. Throughout his
presidency, Jefferson personally recommended books for the Library and
he appointed its first two Librarians.
In 1814, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned
the Capitol, including the 3,000-volume Library of Congress. In
response, Jefferson, then retired at Monticello, sold his personal
library, the largest and finest in the country, to Congress to
``recommence'' its library. The 6,487-volume library that Jefferson
sold to Congress, not only included twice as many books as the
destroyed Library, it expanded the scope of the Library far beyond the
bounds of a legislative library devoted primarily to legal, economic,
or historical works. The ``new'' Library contained books on
architecture, the arts, science, literature, and geography. It
contained books in French, Spanish, German, Latin, Greek, and one
three-volume statistical work in Russian. Anticipating the argument
that his collection might be too comprehensive, Jefferson argued that:
``There is, in fact, no subject to which a Member of Congress may not
have occasion to refer.'' As today's Librarian of Congress, Dr. James
Billington, recently pointed out: ``That statement has guided the
collecting policies of the Library of Congress to this day and is one
of the main reasons why the institution's collections have a breadth
and depth unmatched by any other repository.''
Today's Library contains nearly 119 million books, maps, manuscripts,
photographs, sound recording, and motion pictures. It has more than 18
million books, 30,000 newspapers, 4.5 million maps, and 12 million
photographs on its 530 miles of bookshelves. The Library collects
materials in more than 460 languages and has acquisition offices
throughout the world, from Rio de Janeiro to New Delhi.
There have been 13 Librarians of Congress since its inception, and
each Librarian has faced unique challenges. Throughout the 1990's and
into the new century, the challenge is adapting the Library to the
digital age. As it has throughout its history, the Library leads the
way. The Library has enhanced public access to the Library through the
National Digital Library. The Library's THOMAS system of legislative
information serves Congress and the public each day.
We join Dr. Billington in acknowledging how libraries have influenced
our lives, and we celebrate with him one of America's true national
treasures, the Library of Congress.
I urge all Members to support adoption of this resolution.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LaTOURETTE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I
yield back the balance of my time, and I urge the passage of the
concurrent resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 279, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof), the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution, as
amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________