[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 4, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6005-H6009]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER PLAZA AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2002
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5012) to amend the John F. Kennedy Center Act to authorize
the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a project for construction
of a plaza adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5012
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``John F. Kennedy Center Plaza
Authorization Act of 2002''.
SEC. 2. JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER PLAZA.
The John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 76h et seq.) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 12 and 13 as sections 13 and
14, respectively; and
(2) by inserting after section 11 the following:
``SEC. 12. JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER PLAZA.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Air rights.--The term `air rights' means real
property interests conveyed by deed, lease, or permit for the
use of space between streets and alleys within the boundaries
of the Project.
``(2) Center.--The term `Center' means the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts.
``(3) Green spaces.--The term `green spaces' means areas
within the boundaries of the Project or affected by the
Project that are covered by grass, trees, or other
vegetation.
``(4) Plaza.--The term `Plaza' means improvements to the
area surrounding the John F. Kennedy Center building carried
out under the Project and comprised of transportation
elements (including roadways, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes)
and non-transportation elements (including landscaping, green
space, open public space, water, sewer, and utility
connections).
``(5) Project.--The term `Project' means the Plaza project,
as described in the TEA-21 report, providing for construction
of a Plaza adjacent to the Center and for improved bicycle,
pedestrian, and vehicular access to and around the Center.
The term includes planning, design, engineering, and
construction of the Plaza, buildings to be constructed on the
Plaza, and related transportation improvements and may
include any other elements of the Project identified in the
TEA-21 report.
``(6) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
``(7) TEA-21 report.--The term `TEA-21 report' means the
report of the Secretary submitted to Congress under section
1214 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
(20 U.S.C. 76j note; 112 Stat. 204).
``(b) Responsibilities of the Secretary.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall be responsible for
the Project and may undertake such activities as may be
necessary to construct the Project, other than buildings to
be constructed on the Plaza, substantially as described in
the TEA-21 report.
``(2) Planning, design, engineering, and construction.--The
Secretary shall be responsible for the planning, design,
engineering, and construction of the Project, other than
buildings to be constructed on the Plaza.
``(3) Agreements with the board and other agencies.--The
Secretary shall enter into memoranda of agreement with the
Board and any appropriate Federal or other governmental
agency to facilitate the planning, design, engineering, and
construction of the Project.
``(4) Consultation with the board.--The Secretary shall
consult with the Board to maximize efficiencies in planning
and executing the Project, including the construction of any
buildings on the Plaza.
``(5) Contracts.--Subject to the approval of the Board, the
Secretary may enter into contracts on behalf of the Center
related to the planning, design, engineering, and
construction of the Project.
``(c) Responsibilities of the Board.--
``(1) In general.--The Board may undertake such activities
as may be necessary to construct buildings on the Plaza for
the Project.
``(2) Receipt of transfers of air rights.--The Board may
receive from the District of Columbia such transfers of air
rights as may be necessary for the planning, design,
engineering, and construction of the Project.
``(3) Construction of buildings.--The Board may construct,
with non-appropriated funds, buildings on the Plaza for the
Project and shall be responsible for the planning, design,
engineering, and construction of the buildings.
``(4) Acknowledgment of contributions.--
``(A) In general.--The Board may acknowledge private
contributions used in the construction of buildings on the
Plaza for the Project in the interior of the buildings, but
may not acknowledge private contributions on the exterior of
the buildings.
``(B) Applicability of other requirements.--Any
acknowledgment of private contributions under this paragraph
shall be consistent with the requirements of section 4(b).
``(d) Responsibilities of the District of Columbia.--
``(1) Modification of highway system.--Notwithstanding any
State or local law, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, in
consultation with the National Capital Planning Commission
and the Secretary, shall have exclusive authority to amend or
modify the permanent system of highways of the District of
Columbia as may be necessary to meet the requirements and
needs of the Project.
``(2) Conveyances.--
``(A) Authority.--Notwithstanding any State or local law,
the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall have exclusive
authority to convey or dispose of any interests in real
estate (including air rights or air space as that term is
defined by District of Columbia law) owned or controlled by
the District of Columbia, as may be necessary to meet the
requirements and needs of the Project.
``(B) Conveyance to the board.--Not later than 90 days
following the date of receipt of notification from the
Secretary of the requirements and needs of the Project, the
Mayor of the District of Columbia shall convey or dispose of
to the Board without compensation interests in real estate
described in subparagraph (A).
``(3) Agreements with the board.--The Mayor of the District
of Columbia shall have the authority to enter into memoranda
of agreement with the Board and any Federal or other
governmental agency to facilitate the planning, design,
engineering, and construction of the Project.
``(e) Ownership.--
``(1) Roadways and sidewalks.--Upon completion of the
Project, responsibility for maintenance and oversight of
roadways and sidewalks modified or improved for the Project
shall remain with the owner of the affected roadways and
sidewalks.
``(2) Maintenance of green spaces.--Subject to paragraph
(3), upon completion of the Project, responsibility for
maintenance and oversight of any green spaces modified or
improved for the Project shall remain with the owner of the
affected green spaces.
``(3) Buildings and green spaces on the plaza.--Upon
completion of the Project, the Board shall own, operate, and
maintain the buildings and green spaces established on the
Plaza for the Project.
``(f) National Highway Boundaries.--
``(1) Realignment of boundaries.--The Secretary may realign
national highways related to proposed changes to the Northern
and Southern Interchanges and the E Street Approach
recommended in the TEA-21 report in order to facilitate the
flow of traffic in the vicinity of the Center.
``(2) Access to center from i-66.--The Secretary may
improve direct access and egress between Interstate Route 66
and the Center, including its garages.''.
[[Page H6006]]
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 13 of John F. Kennedy Center Act (as redesignated
by section 2 of this Act) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) John F. Kennedy Center Plaza.--There is authorized to
be appropriated to the Secretary of Transportation for
capital costs incurred in the planning, design, engineering,
and construction of the project authorized by section 12
(including roadway improvements related to the North and
South Interchanges and construction of the John F. Kennedy
Center Plaza, but not including construction of any buildings
on the plaza) a total of $400,000,000 for fiscal years 2003
through 2010. Such sums shall remain available until
expended.''.
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Selection of Contractors.--Section 4(a)(2)(D) of the
John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C 76j(a)(2)(D)) is amended
to read as follows:
``(D) Selection of contractors.--In carrying out the duties
of the Board under this Act, the Board may negotiate any
contract--
``(i) for planning, design, engineering, or construction of
buildings to be erected on the John F. Kennedy Center Plaza
under section 12 and for landscaping and other improvements
to the Plaza; or
``(ii) for an environmental system for, a protection system
for, or a repair to, maintenance of, or restoration of the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,
with selected contractors and award the contract on the basis
of contractor qualifications as well as price.''.
(b) Definitions.--Section 14 of the John F. Kennedy Center
Act (as redesignated by section 2 of this Act) is amended by
adding at the end the following: ``Upon completion of the
project for establishment of the John F. Kennedy Center Plaza
authorized by section 12, the Board, in consultation with the
Secretary of Transportation, shall amend the map that is on
file and available for public inspection under the preceding
sentence.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Oberstar) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs.
Capito).
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Kennedy Center suffers from being isolated from the
rest of Washington, D.C.'s monumental core, and from limited,
confusing, and potentially unsafe points of entry. High levels of
congestion on the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway confound vehicular
traffic and various bridge ramps near performance times. Nearly 200,000
vehicles a day use the complex of roadways and ramps adjacent to the
center each day, and there are high accident rates at the foot of the
Roosevelt Bridge and the intersection of Virginia Avenue, 27th Street,
and the parkway.
H.R. 5012 authorizes the Secretary of the Department of
Transportation, in conjunction with the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts and the District of Columbia, to make pedestrian and
vehicular access improvements around the Kennedy Center.
In 1998, when the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
passed TEA-21, it authorized the Secretary of Transportation to
undertake a comprehensive study of ways to improve the flow of traffic
and access to the Kennedy Center. In 2000, the Department of
Transportation issued the Kennedy Center access study, which identified
five phases to improving access to the Kennedy Center. In that same
year, funding was made available for DOT to proceed with preliminary
project planning, environmental reviews, and design approvals.
The John F. Kennedy Center Plaza Authorization Act of 2002 builds
upon these earlier efforts and authorizes the Secretary of
Transportation to enact many of the improvements recommended by the
access study, including the outcomes of a pedestrian plaza over the
Potomac Freeway and improving access between I-66, the Rock Creek
Parkway, E Street Northwest, 25th Street Northwest, and the Kennedy
Center.
The new plaza will be connected to the local street grid by E and
25th Streets Northwest, and will create approximately eight acres of
new land directly east of the Kennedy Center.
H.R. 5012 authorizes and directs the Mayor of the District of
Columbia to transfer the air rights and airspace necessary to complete
the project as determined by DOT. This has the support of the Mayor,
and the subcommittee received testimony from the District to that
effect at a hearing held on June 13, 2002.
Based on DOT testimony, the bill authorizes a total of $400 million
to undertake the recommended improvements. In addition, H.R. 5012
authorizes the Kennedy Center to construct buildings on the newly
created plaza with nonappropriated funds. The newly constructed
buildings will provide needed space for educational, rehearsal,
performance, and administrative functions, and become a part of the
living memorial to President Kennedy. Any private donations for the
buildings will be acknowledged in a manner consistent with existing
law.
The subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and
Emergency Management held a hearing on this important project in June,
and the project received the enthusiastic support of the Department of
Transportation, the government of the District of Columbia, and the
Kennedy Center. I support this legislation and encourage my colleagues
to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following material
regarding the project:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 30, 2002.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation, and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5012, the John
F. Kennedy Center Plaza Authorization Act of 2002.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Rachel
Milberg (for federal costs), who can be reached at 226-2860,
and Greg Waring (for the state and local impact), who can be
reached at 225-3220.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson,
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
congressional budget office cost estimate
H.R. 5012--John F. Kennedy Center Plaza Authorization Act of
2002
Summary: H.R. 5012 would authorize the appropriation of
$400 million to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to
plan and construct a new plaza in front of the John F.
Kennedy Center, and to improve access to the Center for both
pedestrians and vehicles.
Assuming appropriation of the authorized amount, CBO
estimate that implementing H.R. 5012 would cost about $135
million over the 2003-2007 period and another $265 million
after 2007. Enacting H.R. 5012 would not affect direct
spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures
would not apply.
H.R. 5012 contains intergovernmental mandates as defined in
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), but CBO estimates
that the costs would be significantly below the threshold
established in that act ($58 million in 2002, adjusted
annually for inflation). The bill contains no private-sector
mandates as defined in UMRA.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimate
budgetary impact of H.R. 5012 is shown in the following
table. The costs of this legislation fall within budget
function 400 (transportation).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of
dollars--
---------------------------------------
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Estimated Authorization Level 10 10 20 50 100
\1\............................
Estimated Outlays............... 3 7 10 40 75
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ H.R. 5012 would authorize the appropriation of $400 million over the
2003-2010 period. CBO estimates that $190 million of that amount could
be appropriated over the 2003-2007 period, with the remaining $210
million provided after 2007.
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R.
5012 will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2002 and
that the amounts necessary to implement the bill will be
appropriated for each year. Estimates of outlays are based on
information from the Federal Highway Administration, the John
F. Kennedy Center, and historical spending patterns of
similar projects. Based on information from the agency, CBO
estimates that DOT would plan and construct the plaza project
over the next 12 years. Current plans for the plaza include
space for two small buildings.
Pay-as-you-go considerations: None.
Estimated impact on state, local, and tribal governments:
H.R. 5012 would bypass the D.C. City Council's review and
approval of efforts to dispose of D.C. property for the
Kennedy Center Plaza project. In preempting the City
Council's authority, the bill contains an intergovernmental
mandate as defined in UMRA, but CBO estimates that it would
impose no duty on the city government that would result in
additional spending.
If necessary for the construction of the proposed Kennedy
Center Plaza, the District of Columbia would have to
reconfigure the city highway system. In addition, the
District of Columbia would have to transfer any property or
air rights required for the project, without compensation.
These potential requirements on the city also would be
intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA. Based on
information from the Federal Highway Administration and the
District's Department of Transportation, CBO
[[Page H6007]]
estimates that the costs of complying with these mandates
would be significantly below the threshold established in
that act ($58 million in 2002, adjusted annually for
inflation). Furthermore, the construction-related costs
resulting from the mandates would be funded by the federal
government.
Estimated impact on the private sector: H.R. 5012 contains
no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Rachel Milberg; Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Greg Waring; and
Impact on the Private Sector: Jean Talarico.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the John F. Kennedy Center has long been envisioned and
has been created and established as a living memorial to the late
President Kennedy. It is also the Nation's premier cultural institution
for the performing arts.
The chairman of our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), is also a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Kennedy Center, and we both know from our participation
in the deliberations of the board that the center is this vibrant and
dynamic institution that it was envisioned to be. Every year over 5
million people visit, attend, enjoy, and are enriched by performances
at the Kennedy Center, particularly the Millenium State performances
that are free to the public and operate 365 days a year. They are
innovative performances that are available to all the people who come
to our Nation's capital for whatever purpose, travel or business,
leisure, and people come to enjoy those Millenium State performances in
ever-increasing numbers.
{time} 1430
But, unfortunately, the Kennedy Center is sort of cut off from the
rest of Washington, D.C. The original design of the center does not
envision the structure situated as it is today. I can remember when I
was working teaching language in Haiti in 1959 and 1960 through 1962,
reading, admittedly, with three weeks' delay, the news from Washington
and reading this grand design plan set forth by then-President
Eisenhower or by his administration for a center for the performing
arts in Washington, D.C., and this magnificent sweep of the structure
out over the Potomac River and looking back towards monumental
Washington. And, of course, the part east of the current location of
the Kennedy Center was then dilapidated buildings, all envisioned to be
torn down, no roadway where we now have one, and it was intended that
this would just connect Washington, D.C. and this new center for the
performing ars. That is not the way it worked out.
Funding constraints limited the original scope. The connection with
downtown Washington was not realized. The center's problems have
multiplied over the years. Attending nighttime performances means that
patrons either add to the District of Columbia's notorious rush hour
traffic jams or are reduced to a functional but not fully acceptable
and adequate shuttle system.
There are over 200,000 vehicles a day that use the complex series of
ramps and roadways that are adjacent to the Kennedy Center. There is no
pedestrian or bicycle access to the center from the east or from the
southeast, from the Washington, D.C. mall.
In many a time I have been driving along that avenue and watched as
pedestrians risk their lives running across 4 to 5, 6 lanes of traffic
at even heavy traffic times. That is just simply not acceptable. The
closest Metro stop to the Kennedy Center is the Foggy Bottom Metro stop
a half mile from the center, too far for a good many people to walk
comfortably and perhaps not entirely safe either. The center runs a
very successful shuttle bus, but there is a lack of frequency, a lack
of adequate signage to make it comfortable for walkers to find the
center. And, furthermore, this is a very historic neighborhood and
people ought to be able to enjoy it in some fashion other than rushing
to get from wherever they are parking to the Kennedy Center.
In 1998, the former chairman of our Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, Congressman Shuster, and I worked together to secure
funding in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, to
provide funds for the Department of Transportation to analyze methods
to improve access to the Kennedy Center. That study has been completed.
It has identified a number of proposed design and access improvements.
In particular, the study proposes going back to the original concept of
connecting the Kennedy Center with monumental Washington, as I call it,
that is the historic sweep of structures and monuments that are
testimony to the Nation's history and its evolution with the Kennedy
Center. This plan would build a plaza over the spaghetti bowl of
freeways, particularly the Potomac freeway, and would create 8 new
acres of public space, would connect E Street and 25th Street to the
plaza and reestablish the city grid; E Street to be changed at the
western terminus to link the center and the core of the city, and there
are proposed new connections between Rock Creek Parkway and the Potomac
freeway. There would be pedestrian paths, bicycle paths, transit
improvements to link the center to the heart of Washington, D.C. That
is how it should be. That is how this national cultural center should
function.
Based on this study, the bill we bring to the floor today, the
Kennedy Center Plaza Authorization Act, authorizes a cooperative
venture between the Kennedy Center, the U.S. Department of
Transportation, and the District of Columbia to improve access to and
from the Kennedy Center. It authorizes, as the gentlewoman from West
Virginia (Mrs. Capito) said a moment ago, $400 million to plan, design
and construct the proposed plaza in order to undertake the necessary
highway improvements to create this access to the center.
The Kennedy Center itself has offered to undertake the cost of
constructing the new buildings to be constructed on the plaza,
buildings that will house rehearsal halls, classrooms, and be an open
invitation to the public to actually come and see how rehearsals are
conducted. It would be a great opportunity for the public who come to
enjoy the arts in our Nation's capital. And I invite any of our
colleagues to come to the center or ask the Kennedy Center staff to
come and give them a presentation, a showing of the artists' rendition
of these structural changes because I think once Members see it, they
will be enthralled, captivated and excited by it, as I am, as the
members of the board of trustees, and as is the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the remarks of the
ranking member who always brings a background and perspective that
makes anyone who has not been fortunate to be in this institution as
long as he has understand the continuum of the work we are about and a
continuum is what we are about today. I also want to thank the
gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) for her hard work in
bringing this bill to the floor.
This bill is really part of a larger vision, and one does not have to
live here to have that vision. This is a small, compact city. There is
not a lot of room left for all of the buildings, not to mention all of
the memorials, that people would like to see in Washington. But there
is a big, relatively for this city, a big piece of land that could, in
fact, house much more to make the Kennedy Center the true national
performing arts center it was intended to be. But to even begin to
approach this vision, we have a lot of work to do on the basics, and
this bill is about the basics. This bill is not about the buildings. I
believe they will be constructed all with private funds. I have talked
with the dynamic new leader of the Kennedy Center. But there is part of
this work that is for government alone.
Its rough name is infrastructure. We have got to lay the groundwork
in order for the vision to rise. The mall is a work in progress. The
mall is always incomplete. So we should not be surprised that we are
always adding to the mall. That is as the Founders wanted it. They have
also wanted us to be careful about the mall. They did not want us to
put every little thing on the
[[Page H6008]]
mall. And one of the things I implore my colleagues to remember is that
the mall is perpetual. When generations we cannot even imagine are
here, the mall should be here, and one of the things we do not want to
do is just crowd the mall with the hubris of our generation, leaving no
room for anything else to go up. If we do that, we will have to do what
some of the European countries are doing. They are tearing down statues
in order to allow more to rise. I think we should just be careful what
we do.
I believe future generations will look at what this bill initiates as
part of the natural process of filling out the mall. And I very much
applaud the continuing attention that the Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure has given to the Kennedy Center and to the
completion of the work there, and especially to the fact that one
cannot get there from here.
The 25 million tourists who come to the District of Columbia may do
as I do as often as I can. I go on a race walk down the mall beginning
at 3rd Street. It is a wonderful way to get exercise. When we get to
the Lincoln Memorial, that is it, folks. If we want to walk, walk no
further, unless we want to take our chances going across highways. That
is not exactly what the mall had in mind. Indeed, cars cannot always
get there from here. It is as if, as we get to the Kennedy Center, it
was made for cars, not people, and not even for the arts.
Remember that the John F. Kennedy Center really reminds us of two
great presidents. The notion of a cultural arts center began with
President Eisenhower. Ultimately, when it was built, it was named for
the martyred President Kennedy, so it bears the imprimatur of two great
president and it inspires this body in a bipartisan fashion to move
forward to try to complete it even as generation after generation moves
forward with the mall to complete it or to make sure that it remains a
mall and remains in many ways clear.
The Congressional commitment to the plaza and to the center has been
clear, as the ranking member indicated, since Chairman Shuster was the
chair of the committee. And, therefore, I am sure he would take special
pride that we are moving forward with it today.
This is a cultural center with no bus service; cabs have a hard time
getting in and stopping; no metro; cut off from its neighborhoods along
the riverfront except one cannot get to the riverfront from the center;
isolated from everything around it. The very opposite of what a
cultural center is supposed to be. We are going to fix that.
I appreciate that the bill incorporates the District of Columbia,
which has the air rights, and the mayor and I have spoken about those
rights. There will be no problem getting whatever is necessary to make
sure that the many air rights are, in fact, dealt with.
The central feature of the mall will be a pedestrian plaza over a
deck. It will transform the Kennedy Center itself. It will mean that
our constituents who come in very large numbers, and increasingly so
now that everyone understands that the capital of the United States is
the safest city in the world, better protected than any city in the
world, as the visitors come, they will be the first to understand that
there has been a transformation in this city, that the city is being
completed, that the mall itself is being extended, and that we are
opening the cultural life physically and in every other way to the
world and especially to our country.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill and to remain with us until
we see this plaza rise, and perhaps Members of Congress will be the
first to walk down the plaza and invite people from all around the
world to come to a cultural arts center made for the world and where
the world can now come and walk and see and have the kind of access
that was always intended.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from the District of
Columbia (Ms. Norton) for her very thoughtful, as always, constructive
and scholarly presentation and I am particularly touched by the
gentlewoman's reference to the mall as perpetual, yet evolving.
The arts, more than the Kennedy Center, the arts are perpetual. They
are what lift a Nation's spirits.
{time} 1445
I think history records more what our poets and our composers have to
say than what our generals have to do. We, especially in the aftermath
of September 11, need the arts to lift our spirits and to design the
future and to refocus our aspirations. Kennedy Center is part of that.
It was one of the very first cultural institutions in the United States
to have a response in art form to the events of September 11, and just
as important as it is to make the Kennedy Center accessible as the
National Cultural Performing Arts Center to all those 20 million plus
visitors who come to this Nation's capital, it also must be accessible
to the residents of the District of Columbia themselves, and connecting
the Kennedy Center through this plaza to monumental Washington will
make it far more attractive and far more available to the residents of
the District of Columbia themselves, and that is my fond hope.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I would like to thank my colleagues the gentlewoman from the
District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr.
Oberstar) for their very moving tributes to the Kennedy Center and also
to the beloved District of Columbia. I appreciate their hard work on
this.
I too believe the Kennedy Center is a jewel of our District of
Columbia, and to have access to the arts, the very vibrant programs
that are brought there daily, not only to the citizens of the District
and those of us who are here on a regular basis, but for the many, many
visitors I think is a wonderful project that will make generations to
come be able to enjoy all the many fine programs that the Kennedy
Center has put forth now and in the future.
Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I first with to thank Chairman LaTourette
for lending his support and providing leadership for this bill. Also
Chairman Young and Ranking Member Oberstar, trustees of the Kennedy
Center, have worked to establish broad bi-partisan support for the
bill.
This bill will authorize the Department of Transportation, the
Government of the District of Columbia, and the Board of Trustees of
the John F. Kennedy Center to enter into agreements to conduct
environmental planning, provide designs, and execute plans to improve
pedestrian, vehicular, and bicycle access to the John F. Kennedy Center
for the Performing Arts.
The Kennedy Center is currently isolated from the surrounding city
and its physical setting is inconsistent with its mission. A report
authorized by TEA-21 identified a number of conditions that impede
access to the Presidential memorial. There is no access from the east
for pedestrian, vehicles, or bicycles, the pedestrian link to the Metro
is too far away and poorly signed, pedestrian and bicycle traffic from
the south must cross hazardous roadways, very poor vehicular
connections exist between the freeway and the Rock Creek Parkway, and a
complicated series of ramps and exits exist to the south of the Center.
The study recommends a series of improvements to remedy the access
problem. The centerpiece of these improvements is a proposed plaza,
which will be atop a deck over the Potomac Freeway. This deck would
provide a new public space and stately approach to the Center from the
east. E St. and 25th St. would connect to the plaza, thus
reestablishing the local street grid. To the north of the Center new
connections would be built between Rock Creek and the Potomac Freeway
in the vicinity of K St. Overall, hazardous and congested traffic
conditions would be relieved.
The Board of Trustees of the Center has committed to raising private
funds to construct the building to be constructed on the plaza.
Currently the plan calls for two buildings for the plaza. One building
would be used as rehearsal space, classrooms, and for administrative
offices. It is expected the second structure could house and display
musical artifacts currently stored at the Library of Congress and the
Smithsonian.
I support H.R. 5012 and again extend my thanks to the Committee
leadership for their encouragement and support.
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentlewoman from West Virginia (Mrs. Capito) that
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5012.
[[Page H6009]]
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________