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June 13, 2007
As House appropriators confirmed the legislative-branch funding bill by voice vote yesterday, naming the Capitol Visitor Center’s (CVC) main hall dominated the Appropriations Committee markup.
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), ranking member of the legislative branch panel, scored a victory when the committee agreed to call the space Emancipation Hall.
Wamp has been advocating for months to change the name from the Great Hall — already the name of the Library of Congress’s ornately decorated main hall. He chose Emancipation Hall to honor the slaves who helped build the Capitol. Wamp introduced the amendment last week in the subcommittee markup, but later withdrew it.
However, Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chairwoman of the legislative branch subcommittee, opposed naming the hall without using a process giving more people a say.
Obey suggested that members of the public be involved: “That hall does not belong to us, it belongs to the entire country,” he said.
Though she agrees that the CVC’s main hall should have a different name, Wasserman Schultz has argued that changing the name would waste $250,000 because the Architect of the Capitol (AoC) already has ordered signs. She offered an amendment that would bar the architect from taking further action until a final name is decided upon.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) spoke eloquently in favor of the name Emancipation Hall, saying it would be a “historical marker” and a “small step, but a significant step on our journey towards freedom.”
Other topics of debate were the proposed renovation of the former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) building and a “talking book” program for the blind.
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) introduced an amendment that would have transferred to the program $12.8 million marked for the FDA renovations.
Many members questioned the AoC’s ability to rehabilitate the building, citing the agency’s mismanagement of the CVC.
Defending the renovation of the FDA building, Wasserman Schultz offered a substitute to Kingston’s proposal that would transfer the money from the Government Printing Office to the talking books program, which would update books used by the blind from analog to digital technology. She said the renovations would be completed by the General Services Administration, not the architect.
She told The Hill the buildings are “deteriorating” and that if the “infrastructure continues to spiral downward,” members and their staffs would pay the consequences. Her substitute passed 34-26.
Introducing a joint amendment, Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) reached an agreement on the Open World Leadership Center, providing $6 million for the program and directing the program to be transferred to the Department of State. The State Foreign Operations panel would provide an additional $6 million to keep the program active.
The committee passed two amendments offered by Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.). One would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review tuition-reimbursement programs in the executive branch and the Capitol Police to determine the feasibility of similar programs in the House. Moran’s second amendment would allow the Library of Congress to begin reviewing copyrights of books in the Franklin collection, which have been translated into Persian and Arabic, the first step in possibly allowing the translations to be posted online.
Prior to the markup, the chief administrative officer of the House, Dan Beard, said he was particularly interested in Moran’s tuition-reimbursement amendment, saying improving benefits for House employees was of utmost concern.
The committee also passed an amendment offered by Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.) that would direct the Architect of the Capitol to review options for preparing plaques of offices that name past members who used the office space.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) introduced an amendment, which passed, directing Beard to purchase carbon financial instruments to offset carbon produced by House operations.
Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) submitted an amendment directing the GAO to write a report on the percentage increase in natural gas usage and costs associated with the “Greening the Capitol” initiative’s changes to the Capitol Power Plant. The amendment passed.
The bill appropriates $3.1 billion for legislative-branch operations. It is expected to hit the House floor next week.
This year’s appropriation does not include money for widows and heirs of deceased members of Congress. In fiscal 2007, they were given $330,000. Appropriators also removed language that called for a “60-ton snow-melting unit purchase.”
$310,000 was requested for it.
The bill also requires that the Capitol Police and the Library of Congress Police merge before Oct. 31.
In addition, the bill establishes an AoC Inspector General Office with seven employees.
Overall, Wasserman Schultz expressed contentment with the final content of the bill.
“I’m happy with it,” Wasserman Schultz said, “other than the differences we had with Emancipation Hall,” which will continue to be addressed.
To honor Wasserman Schultz’s work on the bill, Wamp distributed “Little Debbie” snack cakes prior to the markup.
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