Lawmakers press for renovations after tile injures officer

House lawmakers want building renovations expedited after a portion of the ceiling in the Cannon House Office Building fell and struck a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

The officer was treated for an arm injury and released from the hospital.

“We have some deferred maintenance around this place that can be deferred no longer,” said Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), ranking member of the House Administration Committee.

“There’s a lot of work we have to do with the buildings here and I think one of the things that surprises me at times is that we spend a lot of money making sure other structures are good in other jurisdictions and taking care of their infrastructure and we don’t do enough around here.”

{mosads}Capitol officials stressed that the 4-by-6-foot section of plaster that fell on the officer was more than 100 years old, and that the structural integrity of the room was intact. The Cannon Caucus room, built in 1903, is home to numerous dinners, receptions and special occasions each year.

“Upon investigation, it was determined that the plaster, which cascaded down in small pieces, had aged, weakened and detached,” said Eva Malecki, spokewoman for the Architect of the Capitol’s (AoC) office.

“There doesn’t appear to be a particular cause for its detachment other than the age of the plaster in the 100-year-old Cannon House Office Building. Much of the plaster is original to the building.”

{mosads}Thursday’s incident reminded lawmakers that the repairs to the office buildings, which the overseeing AoC has asked to fund, can no longer be put off.

“It’s really unfortunate that that occurred and we should have done some of these investments on these facilities earlier — they’re in bad shape,” said Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas), a member of the Appropriations Legislative Branch subcommittee, which recently provided for a $60 million trust fund to be designated solely to building repairs. The Senate is expected to take up its version after the July 4 recess.

“I’m glad that we’ve put some resources there so we can make it happen. I just hope it doesn’t take as long as it did to do the [Capitol Visitor] Center,” Rodriguez said.