[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 16, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E253-E254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




TRIBUTE TO STEVE LIVENGOOD FOR 25 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE U.S. CAPITOL 
                           HISTORICAL SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HALEY M. STEVENS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 16, 2021

  Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the contributions of 
Steve Livengood to the U.S. Capitol Historical Society and his decades 
of service educating the public about the history of this institution.
  Congress chartered the United States Capitol Historical Society 
(USCHS) to ``foster and increase an informed patriotism'' in our 
nation's citizenry. Steve Livengood is a leader in executing that 
important mission. Those across the Congressional community and around 
the country have benefited from Steve's expertise. For a quarter-
century, Steve provided continuing education and talks about the 
Capitol and Congress, giving briefings before every Presidential 
Inauguration, as well as offering background information and 
perspective to tourism professionals and the press. Additionally, Steve 
is considered the go-to expert on Capitol Ghosts and is one of the few 
people to publicly admit that he has seen the ghost of John Quincy 
Adams in Statuary Hall.
  Since 1996, Steve has served as a full-time Capitol tour guide, 
volunteer coordinator, and director of other public programs for USCHS. 
He led tours for notable entertainers such as Harrison Ford, Robert 
Duvall, and Martha Stewart; foreign dignitaries like the Attorney 
General of Italy, the President of Hungary, and at least one current 
crowned head of a prominent European country. Steve also guided tours 
for titans of industry such as the President of The Ford Motor Company, 
Indra Nooyi, President of PepsiCo, and several hedge-fund managers 
through the halls of the Capitol. When the Capitol was closed to public 
tours after the 9/11 attack, Steve organized the first regular public 
tours around the Capitol grounds to allow visitors an opportunity for a 
guided interpretive tour despite the building's closure.
  Steve's contributions to USCHS extend far beyond leading tours. He 
served as the co-organizer of the We the People Constitution Tour 
program for DC Public School students, which helps Washington middle 
schoolers experience the Constitution as embodied in the buildings and 
work of their city. Furthermore, Steve wrote the We the People 
Constitution Tour Program's Capitol script and personally led tours for 
upwards of ten thousand students over roughly fifteen years. When 
COVID-19 closed the Capitol to visitors, Steve helped to develop the 
Society's virtual learning series exploring the history of the Capitol 
and the Capitol Hill neighborhood--a series now attended by 
Congressional staff and alumni, as well as history buffs from around 
the country.
  Steve became a member of USCHS in 1973 and participated in many of 
their programs over the following two decades. His involvement 
increased dramatically in 1993 when he began serving as a USCHS 
volunteer tour guide. Fondly remembering the tours he'd given as a 
college student, Steve quickly became one of the most active tour 
volunteers for the Society. As the Society grew, Steve jumped at the 
opportunity to take a tour program position. Steve became the Society's 
first employee dedicated solely to organizing the tour program, later 
taking on such additional responsibilities as sales of USCHS calendars 
to Members' offices in the House and Senate.
  Steve Livengood's passion for the Capitol began when he was just 
twelve and his parents tasked him with planning an educational 
vacation. Over the next two years, he arranged for his family to visit 
Washington, D.C. During the trip Steve became so enamored with the city 
that he chose D.C. as his college home, attending American University 
to study Political Science and Government.
  While enrolled at American University, Steve leveraged a Kansas 
connection into volunteering with his Congressman Joe Skubitz. He spent 
Saturday mornings working on the second floor of the Cannon House 
Office Building doing such things as rubberstamping ``From the Office 
of Congressman Joe Skubitz, Kansas 5th District'' on copies of the 
official Capitol guidebooks to be distributed to constituents and other 
visitors.
  During spring break, the staff offered Steve a paid opportunity. From 
1965 until his graduation in 1968, Steve worked part-time in Mr. 
Skubitz's office and full time during the summer of 1967. His favorite 
task was giving tours

[[Page E254]]

of the Capitol building for constituents and visitors.
  After a short, involuntary tour in Southeast Asia, Steve ventured to 
Emory University where he received a Master's in recent social history. 
Along with his studies, he served as Speaker in the Emory University 
Student Legislature and student body Vice President.
  Steve returned to Washington in 1973 for his dissertation research, 
titled ``Scandals in the 1938 Senate Elections and the Passage of the 
Hatch Act.'' Steve worked for various groups organizing many programs 
and meetings on Capitol Hill for political and policy organizations 
before he came to work for the Society. Steve Livengood dedicated his 
career to the belief that the United States Capitol is the Temple of 
Democracy for the world, and that Congress is the most important 
example of how to implement a representative democracy. Steve Livengood 
proudly claims that the United States government serves as the best 
example of government for all of humankind. We salute his 25 years of 
service to the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and look forward to 
many more years of tours and public history lessons.

                          ____________________