§2201 Designation of Facility as Capitol Visitor Center; Purposes of Facility; Treatment of the Capitol Visitor Center

Summary

The building approved in 1999 is officially named the Capitol Visitor Center and is part of the Capitol. It must be used to make the Capitol safer for workers and visitors, to give visitors better orientation and learning about Congress and the Capitol, and for other purposes that Congress or the Senate and House committees decide. The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on Administration oversee the Visitor Center. Parts of the Visitor Center set aside for Senate expansion are treated as part of the Senate wing, and parts set aside for House expansion are treated as part of the House wing. Those two committees must also write rules for who uses the Congressional Auditorium and the nearby areas and must say which spaces count as those nearby areas. The Architect of the Capitol may enter loan agreements to place historical objects in the Exhibition Hall, but only after consulting the Senate Commission on Art and the House Fine Arts Board and getting approval from the two committees. That loan authority took effect on December 3, 2008. The usual rule that bans certain exhibitions does not apply to objects that are tied to the Visitor Center’s educational purpose, to items loaned before December 2, 2008 and approved by the Capitol Preservation Commission, or to items loaned under the Architect’s authority. A loan made before December 2, 2008 may allow swapping an item out for preservation with another that has a similar educational purpose.