Congressional Record, Volume 156 Issue 16 (Wednesday, February 3, 2010)

[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 3, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H480-H482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL APPOINTMENT ACT OF 2010

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 2843) to provide for the joint appointment of the
Architect of the Capitol by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the majority
and minority leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate, and
the chairs and ranking minority members of the committees of Congress
with jurisdiction over the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and
for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 2843

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 ``Architect of the Capitol
Appointment Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT AND TERM OF SERVICE OF ARCHITECT OF THE
CAPITOL.

(a) Appointment.--The Architect of the Capitol shall be
appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the
majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives
and Senate, the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives, the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House
of Representatives, the chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, the
chairs and ranking minority members of the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate, a
member of the Senate to be designated by the majority leader
of the Senate, and a member of the Senate to be designated by
the minority leader of the Senate.
(b) Term of Service.--The Architect of the Capitol shall be
appointed for a term of 10 years, and may be reappointed for
additional terms.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 319 of the Legislative
Branch Appropriations Act, 1990 (2 U.S.C. 1801) is repealed.
(d) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect
to appointments made on or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Daniel E. Lungren) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.

General Leave

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in
the Record on H.R. 2843.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2843, the Architect of
the Capitol Appointment Act. I thank the original cosponsors of this
bipartisan legislation, including Ranking Member Representative Robert
Aderholt of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee; Ranking
Member Zach Wamp, who I want to thank especially for initially
cosponsoring this legislation with me when he was the ranking member of
the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee; Representative Tom
Latham, who is also a former ranking member of the Legislative Branch
Appropriations Subcommittee--Mr. Speaker, maybe it's me, since I keep
losing ranking members on the other side of the aisle. And it has been
a pleasure to work with all of these gentlemen--Representative Robert
Brady, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, and his
ranking member, Representative Dan Lungren, and of course former House
Administration Ranking Member Vernon Ehlers.
This legislation effectively removes the appointment role of the
Architect of the Capitol from the executive branch, placing it in the
rightful hands of the legislative branch where it belongs.
Specifically, this bill provides for the joint appointment of the
Architect of the Capitol by House and Senate leadership, both majority
and minority, and the chairs and ranking members of each of the House
and Senate committees of jurisdiction--including the Committees on
Appropriations, House Administration, Senate Rules, and Transportation
and Infrastructure.
This is a long overdue change. The Architect of the Capitol serves a
legislative branch function and as such, he or she should be chosen by
the legislative branch. By making this change, we can simplify a
process that has caused unnecessary delays in choosing a permanent
Architect.

[[Page H481]]

Because of the delays in this process, we have had an Acting
Architect in place since February of 2007. It is now February of 2010.
And Mr. Hantman, the immediate past Architect, was appointed following
a 2-year vacancy.
The Capitol campus is currently facing over $1 billion in deferred
maintenance. We've been working diligently over the last several years
to address that backlog, and the Architect has been very helpful in
coordinating and addressing that backlog, but we need to make sure that
we establish some permanence and some consistency. It's critically
important that a permanent Architect is selected so that he or she can
face these issues with an eye to the future.
It's our hope that this bipartisan legislation becomes law so that
Congress can play a direct role in selecting the right candidates for a
legislative branch position of significant importance like this one.
I ask for all Members' support in passing this vital legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very simple bill. It returns the authority of
managing our place to the Members of Congress. We are the legislative
branch. The Capitol is our House. It is not the purview or within the
province of the President of the United States. It seems strange, to
say the least, that we have a process by which we do not direct who it
is we establish as the person who is really the official caretaker of
the Capitol.
The Architect suggests that you sit in a room designing architectural
designs for the purpose of new additions and new buildings, and the
Architect would be responsible for that under his direction. But he
really takes care of this place. He is the top appointed official to
make sure that the House of Representatives, the United States Senate
and the entire Capitol complex runs.
And somehow, we have set up a situation in which there is input by
the House, input by the Senate, and the tiebreaker is the President of
the United States essentially, and that really doesn't make sense. We
don't choose who the chief usher of the White House is--and when I say
``chief usher,'' people don't realize that's the person who runs the
White House complex.
And so it just makes very, very good sense. And I congratulate the
gentlelady for bringing this to our attention, the gentleman, Mr. Wamp,
and the other cosponsors.
So I rise in support of this bill, which will, as we say, establish a
bicameral process by which we appoint the Architect of the Capitol. The
Architect has carried the responsibility of preserving and enhancing
the Capitol complex since construction on the U.S. Capitol began in
1793. Following the construction of the Capitol Visitor Center,
management and administration of that center was placed under the
purview of the Architect--further cementing the Architect's role in
support of the legislature and its operations.
So accordingly, it is, as I say, the appropriate process by which the
Architect is appointed by a bipartisan, bicameral process free of
decisionmaking responsibility by the executive branch. The appointment
process will be better aligned with the mission of the Office by
emphasizing the relationship between the Architect and the ongoing
legislative operations of the Federal Government.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).
Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the distinguished ranking
member for his time and all of the benefits that he brings to the House
of Representatives.
This reminds me of when I got here in 1995 and in the morning, you
would hear the strange noise as they would slide ice buckets down the
floor up to the door of your office. And many of us thought, What are
we doing paying people to deliver ice to our offices in 1995? And of
course we ended that practice because it was an antiquated practice.
And if you study the history of this, this is an antiquated issue
that has really never been resolved. The history of the Capital City
and the need for the President to be involved in the appointment of the
Architect of the Capitol that had responsibilities as we laid the city
out is an issue of long ago but not today.
So I want to thank the original author, Ms. Wasserman Schultz of
Florida--who I don't agree with much these days--but I certainly agree
with her a lot on this issue. And I thank her for her service because
she and I came side-by-side to get the Capitol Visitor Center finally
finished on time and with the revised budget. And it took extraordinary
cooperation and work, and we did that. And frankly, it was because the
legislative branch engaged in a very meaningful way to finally get our
arms around all of those change orders and all of the delays and
inefficiencies, and it just underscored the need for the legislative
branch to drive the process. And it was by far the largest challenge
that the Architect of the Capitol had seen in centuries, literally, to
do the Capitol Visitor Center. And it reminded us of how important it
is that we have in the House and Senate a cohesive and unified effort
to oversee the Architect and the Architect's work.
In no way is this about an Architect. As a matter of fact, Stephen
Ayers, the acting Architect, I think has done an outstanding job, and I
hope will be made permanent under this new legislation which gives the
legislative branch the total authority.
The gentlelady worked with me to make sure that the committees of
jurisdiction--including this very committee that brings this bill to
the floor today--is involved in the decisionmaking process so that it's
not just the leaders either. These committees have their hands in these
issues. There are bigger issues today in our country than this, but it
doesn't mean we shouldn't keep the trains running on time. That is what
this is, making sure that we're doing our job.
This is my 16th and final year here. I thank the gentleman from
California. I have called him the conscience of the Republican minority
today, and when he was in the majority I called him that because he was
here early, he left to go back to California, he came back here. He has
really provided extraordinary depth of knowledge and at times has been
the conscience of the Republicans in the Congress. Extraordinary man.
Ms. Wasserman Schultz is a tiger. This is one of those issues that
few people would grab the tiger by the tail, but she's that kind of
person.
So we're doing this because it needs to be done. We're doing it for
the legislative branch. We're doing it for efficiency and
accountability and responsibility, and I urge passage.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr.
Lungren and Mr. Wamp. I couldn't have said it better myself.
It is incredibly important that we be good stewards of the Capitol
complex and the facilities that we have the privilege to work in. It
still amazes me every day when I walk up to the Capitol or past the
Capitol when it's at night when it's all lit up or in the daytime. It's
a structure that everyone who sees it marvels at it.
And it's our responsibility as the leaders of the, essentially,
administrative committees that have responsibility for taking care of
and funding the needs of the legislative branch to make sure that we
are the ones that ultimately are held accountable and have the
opportunity to coordinate the appointments of the Architect of the
Capitol. It no longer makes sense--I am not sure that it ever made
sense--to have the President of the United States be involved in what
is essentially a legislative branch function, and it will make for a
more efficient process and will enable us to preserve these facilities
into the future for future generations.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
I hope we have a unanimous vote in favor of H.R. 2843, and then I
hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will see the wisdom
of this and join us in reasserting the proper role of the legislative
branch. And hopefully we can convince the President to give up this
responsibility that I am sure does not weigh heavily on him at the
present time.
This makes good sense. It ought to be accepted on a unanimous vote.

[[Page H482]]

Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2843, as
amended, a bill to provide for the joint appointment of the Architect
of the Capitol by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
President pro tempore of the Senate, the majority and minority leaders
of the House of Representatives and Senate, and the chairs and ranking
minority members of the committees of Congress with jurisdiction over
the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, and for other purposes.
I extend my thanks to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman
Schultz), Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on
Legislative Branch, and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Aderholt),
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, as well as the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady), Chairman, and the gentleman from California
(Mr. Lungren), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration,
for their cooperation and willingness to work with the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure on this bill.
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has a long and
productive association with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.
Under House rule X, section (r), the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure has jurisdiction over the Capitol Building and the House
and Senate Office Buildings, in addition to public buildings and
occupied or improved grounds of the United States generally. Over the
years, the Committee has worked with the Architect's office on
developing the Capitol Hill master plan, Capitol Hill Building fire and
life safety programs, parking studies, and most recently on
requirements in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L.
110-140) to ensure the energy efficiency of not only the House and
Senate office buildings, but also to upgrade the Capitol Power Plant.
This bill provides congressional leaders with authority to appoint
the Architect of the Capitol, and the appointments process includes
House as well as Senate leadership, both majority and minority.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2843.
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2843, is a bipartisan
initiative that would move the Architect of the Capitol selection
process entirely to the legislative branch. This legislation has been
amended from the version reported by the Committee on House
Administration to include two additional House and two additional
Senate Members. As amended, this legislation provides the following
with authority to select the AOC: The Speaker of the House, the
President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the majority and minority leaders
of the House of Representatives and Senate, the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on House Administration of the House
of Representatives, the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, the chair and
ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, the chairs and ranking
minority members of the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and Senate, a Member of the Senate to be designated by
the majority leader of the Senate, and a Member of the Senate to be
designated by the minority leader of the Senate.
Under the current system, the office of the Architect has been vacant
for nearly 3 years. The long delay in filling the position has been
exacerbated by the complexities and uncertainties of the current law,
and the involvement of the executive branch.
The Committee on House Administration believes that enactment of H.R.
2843 will streamline the selection process.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. And urging support of that, I
yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. I yield back the balance of my time.

{time} 1100

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz) that the House suspend
the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2843, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``To provide for the
joint appointment of the Architect of the Capitol by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the
majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives and
Senate, the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House
Administration of the House of Representatives, the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
of the House of Representatives, the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, the chairs
and ranking minority members of the Committees on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and Senate, and two other designated members
of the Senate, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

____________________