§2201 Designation of facility as Capitol Visitor Center; purposes of facility; treatment of the Capitol Visitor Center

Summary

Designates the building built under the Capitol Visitor Center project as the Capitol Visitor Center and says it is part of the Capitol. The Visitor Center must be used to improve security for people who work in or visit the Capitol, to make visits more educational and easier to understand, and for other uses Congress or the two oversight committees decide. The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration will oversee the Visitor Center. The extra spaces set aside for the Senate and for the House are part of their respective wings. Those two committees must jointly make rules for the Congressional Auditorium and the nearby areas and must say which areas count as nearby. The Architect of the Capitol may make loan agreements to put historic items on display in the Exhibition Hall, but only after consulting the Senate Commission on Art and the House Fine Arts Board and with approval from the two committees. That loan authority takes effect on December 3, 2008. A usual loan restriction does not apply to objects in the Exhibition Hall if they are tied to the Visitor Center’s educational purpose and were under loan agreements made before December 2, 2008 and approved by the Capitol Preservation Commission, or if they are covered by the loan authority above. A loan made before December 2, 2008 may allow an object to be removed for preservation and replaced with another object that serves a similar educational purpose.