Capitol Visitor Center opens

Following years of delays and skyrocketing costs, the Capitol
Visitor Center (CVC) officially opened its doors Tuesday.

House and Senate leaders largely ignored the $621 million price
tag and the nearly four years that it is over schedule as they spoke at the
center’s opening ceremony in the newly christened Emancipation Hall.

{mosads}The grand opening ceremony Tuesday morning was for staffers,
lawmakers and press only. Visitors have to wait until 1 p.m. to get their first
taste of the 580,000-square-foot marble, metal and glass structure.

CVC construction started in 2002 as lawmakers hoped to give voters
a more comfortable and educational introduction to the Capitol. Visitors had
traditionally been subject to long waits outdoors, where they were at the mercy
of the seasonal weather.

“Tourists line up in summer and winter,” said Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “In the summertime, because of the high humidity
and how hot it gets here, you could literally smell the tourists coming into
the Capitol.”

In addition to honoring the families of Jacob Chestnut and John
Gibson, two Capitol Police officers killed in the line of duty in 1998, lawmakers also
acknowledged the African-American slaves who helped build the Capitol.

Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Leader
John Boehner (R-Ohio) gave credit to Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Zach
Wamp (R-Tenn.) for taking the initiative and heading up legislation to change
the name of the center hall to “Emancipation Hall.”

“That day we talked about the fact that the Capitol was built by
slaves,” Pelosi said of working on the bill. “Today I want to talk about the
fact that it’s so appropriate that, though long overdue, this Capitol Visitor
Center is ready for 2009, which is the 200th anniversary, the bicentennial, of
the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator.”