Public View of US Capitol Visitor Center Opening
Front Row Seat with C-SPAN Live Broadcast
Dec 2, 2008
The new underground U.S. Capitol Visitor Center opened its exhibits to the public today for the first time at 1pm/ET. The invitation-only opening ceremony was at 10am/ET.
Opening Ceremony Front Row Seat, Courtesy of C-SPAN
However, C-SPAN’s cameras gave the general public a front row seat with their live broadcast of the historic, hour-long event in its entirety, through the convenience of cable television.
Quick to share during his speech early in the opening ceremony, Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Senate Majority Leader said that up to 20,000 guests would be able to visit daily, enjoying many advantages which U.S. Capitol Visitors in the past could only imagine.
Green Construction
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shared green features in building the center, such as planting 85 trees on the site. She also compared the recycling of half Center’s construction waste with the 1797 building of the Capitol building itself when she said, “In 1797, the carpenters were told to keep the wood chips to heat the workers homes.”
Emancipation Hall breathes “Freedom Among Us"
The opening ceremony was held in Emancipation Hall. Representative John Boehner shared that Jesse Jackson (D-IL.) and Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) were credited with introducing Bill #3315 to name the room. Emancipation Hall was to be a reminder of the enslaved laborers who built the Capitol, and also the freedoms all people share as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation.
“Work of Many Heads and Hands”
To show the continuity of history, Minority Leander Mitch McConnell (R-KY) related the work of creating the Visitor Center to a quote of U.S. President James Madison’s 1834 letter about who deserved credit for writing the U.S. Constitution, “It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and many hands.”
As in all opening ceremonies, many were thanked and acknowledged for their part in making the Capitol Visitor Center a reality: all the behind the scenes 9,000+ workers who built it, Congressional Committee members, architects, and donors.
Acknowledging the Past
Reid was not shy about reminding attendees how long visitor issues needed addressing, sharing his own story from his days as a police officer in the 1960’s, assigned to events on Capitol Hill. He remembered watching Carl Hagen in his wheelchair, struggling to get to a place where he could see the military bands play at the East front of the Capitol.
Then he stressed the tragic turning point in 1998, when Capitol police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson were murdered, which called serious attention to visitor security issues at the U.S. Capitol. Rightfully, the officers were remembered and mentioned several times throughout the ceremony. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, ceremoniously ended her remarks by acknowledging the Chestnut and Gibson families, as distinguished guests of the opening ceremony.
Ringing Freedom’s Bell
In closing the ceremony with heartfelt prayer, Senate Chaplain Rev. Barry Black, Rear Adm. (Ret.) opened the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center to all the people for generations to come. He offered the Benediction in part with these words“. . . Lord, May our gratitude produce in us a commitment to ring freedom’s bell until it rings around the world . . . “
For Information about touring the Visitor Center & Capitol Hill see this article by Lynn Pritchett:
"Capitol Visitor Center is for the People: Free Admission in Washington DC"
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