Norton to Hold Hearing on Naming a Major Hall of New Congressional Visitor Center (9/25/07)

Washington, DC-Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, will hold a hearing on H.R. 3315, a bill to name the great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) "Emancipation Hall," in honor of the contributions of slaves who built the Capitol, on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, at 2:00 PM in Room 2253 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Norton, a co-sponsor of the Emancipation Hall bill, has invited the primary sponsors, Representatives Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), and Zach Wamp (R-TN), to be hearing witnesses. Norton's subcommittee has jurisdiction over the naming and designation of public spaces in the Capitol building. Norton said that the "Temple of Liberty," as the Capitol was called, ironically was built by "negro hires," blacks who were essentially hired out to build the Capitol while their slave owners pocketed their "wages." Some of the owners probably lived in the District, where there was slavery until Congress abolished it nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. In June after touring the CVC, Norton held a hearing on the progress of CVC construction and problems which have delayed the $500 million project. The CVC is expected to be completed in the fall of next year. Norton has been active on the issue of the CVC, not only because it has become a necessity for the Capitol, but also because the new CVC is important for her emphasis on enhancing tourism here. The CVC is likely to be an important new tourist destination.

Congress appropriated funds for a new visitor center to increase security within the Capitol and to provide a safer and more comfortable gathering place for visitors, following the killing of two Capitol Police officers at a security checkpoint in 1998. Less than a week later, Norton introduced H.R. 4347, the Jacob Joseph Chestnut-John Michael Gibson United States Capitol Visitor Center Act of 1998, named after the slain officers. The bill provided for enhanced security within the Capitol grounds and for an appropriate place to welcome visitors.

More than three million people visit the Capitol each year. Beyond beefing up security, the CVC will reduce long lines to tour the Capitol and provide visitors with a more enjoyable and educational experience, including the untold stories of the construction of the Capitol, where today little remains on Capitol Hill that bears the imprint of slave laborers, not even a marker. Capitol historians have written books about the building and its construction, but the work of black slave laborers was left out of the history until recent years. "Naming a great meeting place in honor of slave labor in the new CVC is almost two centuries late, but will be a token of the respect these slaves never received," Norton said.

When completed, the landmark Capitol Visitor Center will have be an exhibition gallery, a 550 seat cafeteria, gift shops, and orientation theaters. At nearly 600,000 square feet, this project is the largest in the Capitol's 212 year history.