please remain standing for the presentation of the colors by the united states armed forces color guard and our national anthem lord god you alone offer a promise that never disappoints and inspire hope always you alone build from  surprising life lets all who have worked to bring this multilayered dream to reality grant joy to your people as we dedicate the congressional visitor center planted underground made this seed now cracked open bring forth new life to capitol hill where religious and national traditions are enshrined by history where crafted architecture opens ever new dimensions to the meeting of freedom in your people made this place and are coming and going here bring greater understanding of the united states of america to the world and give you glory now and forever please be seated ladies and gentlemen the librarian of congress the honorable james billington majority leader reid members of congress and distinguished guests it is a great honor to participate in celebrating the historic opening of this magnificent facility not only will i measurably improve the visitor experience of our fellow citizens who tour the capital every year but also inspire and educate them about congress role that our system of government and its remarkable achievements over the past two centuries congress has always promoted citizen education from the land ordinance of seven hundred eighty five which set aside a square mile for the support of public schools in each newly surveyed township through them are all act which created our land grant universities on to the g i bill after world war two and through a multitude of subsequent programs congress has sought to create for the united states a well informed body politic even before it was built the capital's great rotunda it was called the hall of the people thomas jefferson described the capitol as the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people and he worked with this architect electrode to make it more inviting to the public by adding a grand stairway to its entrance now within this center the congress all of us all an inspirational and educational permanent exhibit filled with the choices documents of american history from the library of congress the national archives the congress's own archives the smithsonian institution and other cultural institutions it provides a splendid presented civics lesson within a glorious new structure that will make the capitol the icon of our republic more accessible to all of us than ever before this new visitors center that we dedicate today represents a far more expansive attempt to make the capital accessible to its citizenry and tells us all about the dedication of our congressman over the years to the welfare and liberty of our country for almost a century from eight hundred to one hundred ninety seven the library of congress grew inside the capitol and it will now again have a direct physical connection to the capitol through handsome new underground passage way through this capitol visitors center to the library is thomas jefferson building where jefferson's own library is now on display publicly congress purchase wide ranging collections for its own library and eight hundred fifteen of his remains committed to a knowledge based democracy and to defending our freedoms for almost two centuries what spectacle james madison can be more edifying or more reasonable than that of liberty and learning each leaning on the other for their mutual love and surest support it is exactly that kind of spectacle that we are all privileged to witness and share in  ladies and gentlemen the republican leader of the united states house of representatives the honorable john boehner well good morning everyone twenty one years after george washington laid the cornerstone of this capital america was in the midst of its second war with england in august of eight hundred fourteen five thousand british soldiers marched here to destroy the federal city and the buildings of the city they burned the navy yard they burned the white house and the unfinished house and senate chambers and the glow of the fire that night was so intense they could see it in baltimore we all know america story did not end that night we defeated britain we expanded westward and fulfilled the vision of our founding fathers and here on capitol hill the chambers were rebuilt and we went on to construct the capitol dome one of the marvels of architecture and the very symbol of representative government not only here but around the world but the lesson of august fourteenth august of eighteen fourteen was clear nothing good comes easy it took thirty eight years and two wars to truly gain our independence and took several generations in a bloody civil war to enslave very and when freedom for millions of american at millions of african americans and we marked the opening of the capitol visitor center it's important to note that this is the first edition to the u s capitol that was built to accommodate the needs of the people not just the members of congress and no to endure the long lines in the cold in the rain and the heat to tour their capital and let us also today honor the memory of detectives john gibson and jacob chestnut of the capitol  police it was their tragic loss ten years ago the family sparked congress and act on this long debated project i want to congratulate the architect of the capitol and the hundreds and hundreds of workers  worked to make this building possible i also want to name some my colleagues who were instrumental in this building being here former house and senate republican democrat leaders a former speaker of the house tom foley who began to think about and talk about this project in the early ninety's congressman john mica from florida who when no one was talking about it he was i also want to thank you my colleagues example exact one from tennessee and jesse jackson jr from illinois who worked in in this very room emancipation hall this grand hall of the congressional visitor center will memorialize america's unrelenting fight to ensure freedom and equality to our nation's spiritual heritage inclusion clued in our national model a motto in god we trust the founding fathers pledged their lives their fortunes and sacred honor to build a new society one base not on the tyranny of kings but based on laws and divided power and when they wrote that that document which american declared her independence from britain they were careful to note that america was doing so with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence america today remains one nation under god as president lincoln visioned in the gettysburg address and we for fest in the present pledge of allegiance since  fifty one and this is story corps facility would be incomplete without similar acknowledgement of our spiritual heritage behind me a stand your original model for the statue of freedom that sits on top of our capitol dome and even though the civil war raged at times just twenty five miles from here president lincoln continued the dumbs construction the building of the dome became a symbol that this project that we call america will always continue no matter what the difficulties that are thrown our wedding the final pieces of the statue of freedom were put in place on december second eight hundred sixty three one hundred forty five years ago today fifteen months later on march fourth eighteen sixty five the people of washington gathered to witness the president lincoln taking his oath of office for a second term and it happened just above us thirty thousand people heard lincoln say with malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as god gives us to see the right let us strive to finish the work that we are in today in the midst of a very historic changes for our republic we begin a new era in the life of this magnificent capitol building made ever remain the symbol of democracy and may the light of freedom the giants from here burned so brightly that the glow is visible throughout the entire world ladies and gentlemen the republican leader of the united states senate the honorable mitch mccon would be a tough editor yet when p r long long showed jefferson an early draft of his plan for the new federal city jefferson made only minor edits and his most significant  probably seemed minor at the time in the space reserved for the new legislative building long followed had inscribed the words congress hall jefferson crosswords out inserted something different altogether in their place he wrote the word capital historians tell us that jefferson's fame rests in large part on his remarkable ability to find the right word at the right time this was no exception for him and for everyone else who is involved and carving out a grand new capital city from the wilderness along the potomac would symbolize to the entire nation and to the world a radical experiment in democratic self government to which jefferson and his comrades had pledged their lives their fortunes and their sacred honor invoking even in its name the democratic models and republican ideals of and to quiddity jefferson was making sure that no one missed the point but just in case anyone did miss the point george washington also do his part to underscore the significance of this building two years after jefferson gave the capital its name washington saw fit to consecrate it in an elaborate cornerstone laying ceremony at which according to one account the president along with the reverend a group of soldiers and patriots offered a solemn prayer to god for the prosperity of the people and for the growth of the capital and the nation and today we note with wonder and all the remarkable degree to which that prayer of our first president and the crowd that gathered with him here on september eighteenth  three has been fulfilled washington had passed away by the time congress first met here and november of eighteen hundred but when a quorum was finally achieved washington successor made another trip down  pennsylvania avenue to mark the event in remarks before congress john adams offered his congratulations and he offered a prediction the congress he said had  ed a residence not to be changed in one sense adams was right on target the permanent home of congress has not changed but in another sense he was wrong since the building itself has undergone so many changes over the years today we are on bail the latest like the constitution itself the u s capitol has been in madison's word the work of many heads and many hands by making it more accessible to the people for whom it was built it is our hope that jefferson vision is again fulfilled and washington's prayer is  ladies and gentlemen the majority leader of the united states that the  every summer night i would go in one of my assigned duties was to watch the military bands that came to play for tourists here in washington d c the president's own marine corps band of course was here they would alternate service organizations would come up here in the capitol on the east front of the council i have many fine memories of that assignment but the one i remember as much as anything he is every night with rare exception carl hayden would be wheeled in in his wheelchair and he would sit and listen to the performance carl hayden course is a legend having served in congress more longer than any other member of congress in the history of our country but back then in the early sixty's east front of the capitol was basically a parking lot blacktop with cars parked all over unusual and he thought he was going to become chairman of the health and human services subcommittee labor h h s subcommittee appropriations something went wrong we didn't get it well he was in line to be  i had in my mind sincerely ninety six she says we need to do something about this ugly use front of the capitol this beautiful beautiful building to be damaged by having this ugly thing on the east front had to be changed so we proceeded to see a little bit about that sir nichols was the subcommittee chair and we worked and to get the cars off the east from the parking lot and that was tough because that was a prime parking location but we were able to work and we finally were able to get all the cars off that well also it's there that the idea came that we should do something long term with a visitor center do something about it that would be in keeping with this beautiful capital and that's the short version of how the visitor center  started coming to fruition i didn't do it but i had something to do with it and there was a committee appointed and we worked on mad how we're what we're going to do with this and we were always going to be all done nationally by private monies that didn't go too well but we worked on it worked on it and but it went very slowly and this john boehner mentioned it wasn't until about ten years ago that two ca house outside of capitol and they saved the life of a number of congressional leaders and people in general but in doing so they're martyrs for the capitol it was at that time that we came to the realization that time was of the essence we had to do something about this with terrorism every place people trying to breach this building on every day that the security perimeter that had been set up here simply wasn't sufficient and that was when we got real serious about this construction but then nine eleven came along which changed things altogether how are we going to maintain this security this building with this huge construction project here well some great engineering feats took place a tunnel was dug it's not a mile long that long for all the construction equipment was brought into this facility so it could be checked to make sure it was secure and in the process they were hauling out of this building see sixty sixty five thousand truckloads big trucks of dirt just hole here there's now this but it beautiful slowly this facility here is really terrific for lack of a better way to describe it my staff has always said don't say this but i'm going to say it again because it's so descriptive because it's true leader boehner mentioned that trust wind up in summer and winter long winds coming into the capital in the summertime because the high humidity and how hot it gets here you could literally smell the tourists coming into the cap that may be descriptive but it's true well that is no longer going to be necessary people coming to this capital now will see in this fight is five acres it's a huge facility has almost two hundred thousand square feet its water driven the footprint of the capitol itself and as many as twenty thousand people a day will come into this facility to look at the capitol people coming in previously to take a tour of the capitol had to depend on the tour guides we have in the capitol and they're very good but really it's difficult to get the idea of what is in the capitol now we have a film it's thirteen minutes long  very very good that gives people the idea of what happens in this historic building that we're in it's a it's a facility that is allows people to have a place to go to the bathroom where many bathrooms here we have restaurants as you can see are people going to take it easy if they want to rush through it as they have in the past so two new years here are available there's going to be a wonderful experience for those people coming into the capitol and for the thousands of people that work in the capital and the members of congress is going to make it safe because security is the best possible anyplace in the world i realize how a member of the house and senate rufus children massachusetts has the has his words indoor and on the society the entrance exhibition hall directly behind me we've built no temple he said but the capitol we consult no common article but the constitution today the people's temple shines brighter than ever before your progeny ten thousand construction workers who worked long hard hours in this facility and countless others who contributed to this building you've earned a special reward to know that our children our children's children and your children  children's children will be those that one day walk the floors of which we now stand in gaze upon the statues and exhibits including that of nevada sara when i sara when michael was a terrific woman a wonderful woman you'll see her adorned right here in her indian costume her garment she's the first native american woman to have a book published her father was chief truckie letters and we have very few rivers in nevada but the truckee river is named after a grandfather her father's this town a whim a kind of ad named after him she was an educator a daring defender of human rights and there's no exhibition hall this this massive patient hall is all about so as children and grandchildren of many generations to come view this building they should feel a special connection to the place was built stone by stone and those years long from now the capitol visitor center will become home to statues americans perhaps not yet born who like the men and women in try and in  are shape are still young country in ways perhaps not yet i imagine ladies and gentlemen the speaker of the united states house of representatives the honorable  this in this grand emancipation hall we come together to reflect upon our history the history of our nation and the history of this remarkable united states capitol as our acting architect stephen a s can testify work on the capital has not ceased from the moment president washington late in the quarter laid the corner stone and seven hundred ninety three to this very day that dr billington reviewed some of that for us a more modest building suited to a fledgling republic go into the grand capital that is among the most recognizable structures in the world and it is a symbol of a small nation that struggled to break free of outmoded ideas and repression and became both a global power and the world's beacon of liberty i'm particularly excited about the fact that this grand hall is called emancipation hall and i join mr boehner in commending jesse jackson congressman jesse jackson and zach zach wamp for their leadership and bring legislation to the floor to name it so that day we talked about the fact that the capital was built by slaves today i want to talk about the fact that it's so appropriate that the long overdue this capitol visitor center is ready for that for two thousand and nine which is the two hundredth anniversary the bicentennial of the birth again as rain a reference to that above us here gratian of lincoln took place the reason it was inside was because it was so very very rainy those days of the proceeding his inauguration his second  l and the streets were mud so they were dirt to begin with but they were very muddy and and so all the people who came to the inauguration dressed for the muddy weather then as now came in their sunday finery it was a great celebration for them and because it was raining at the second on the veteran's day just a couple of weeks ago as as the lincoln recalled our obligation to widows and orphans of the civil war to honored those who made the sacrifice throughout our history but it was a pretty remarkable thing can you just imagine i think the spirit of those people still lives in these hall and that's why i'm so pleased that this grand hall is called  hall for all for this newest addition to the capital we appreciate the vision of past speakers and senate leaders and house leaders some of them are here some have been recognized but i want to acknowledge former majority leader session this is important to them and they came to washington for this occasion because it is a special one indeed and i think that all of our colleagues should be acknowledged for the role that they played in bringing this project to fruition we also want to thank the architectural firm the construction firm the over nine thousand workers and hundreds of employees of the architect's office many of them are with us today as well as the many donors who made this day possible thanks also to the many who worked hard to make the interpretation here of the educational of both educational and in lightning with this ceremonies close we will hand the keys of the c b c over to terry rouse who will oversee the facilities daily operations congratulations to terry terrible oversee a new capitol visitor center that incorporates many environmentally friendly and if it is to keep our reigning of the capit initiatives going yet even our efforts to be green and recycle are in keeping with at this building's history as far back as the winter of seventeen ninety seven carpenters working on the capitol were instructed to save their chips from the wood working to help heat the homes of the workers on the ground during the c d c s construction over fifty percent of the waste are recycled and the capitol grounds will even be greener than before with eighty five new trees planted to revive the vision of frederick law olmstead magnificent landscape plan this new addition to our my just majestic capital and bodies our nation's ability to adapt while preserving our essential american character as members of congress and visit is passed through the halls of congress we literally walk in the steps of the giant we are their colleagues colleagues with james madison henry clay sam rayburn o'neill so many others and we learn from their leadership as both members and visitors enjoy the educational benefits of the capital cities or center will be inspired to explore new pads and to write new chapters in our nation's history for that is the american way much has been said about the aspirations of our founders both in our declaring independence oh and mitch by the way thomas jefferson while he was a modestly edited the plans the architectural plans he was not he didn't like being edited himself he did not like that at all in fact in the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be self evident the others had suggested other words and the compromise was reached at the time but it was in the david mccullough's book about john adams he talks about how actually i'll tell you the story so he was unhappy about paying edited so he benjamin franklin said don't be unhappy about that everyone gets edited i'm a printer and i edit everyone's work said benjamin franklin he said this and then came to me and he said i want to make me a size for the front for my shop which is about i'm selling hats and i wanted to say whatever his first name is johnson we sell hats for fair price or something like that and so and had more words and invention and franklin made the sign and gave it to a minute said johnson with a picture of a house that was his way of saying even the the person who originated the idea in the merchandising needs to be edited they were great we were blessed with our founders imagine them magine their courage a wrote this declaration of independence edited it co edited it a stab wishing and dependence from the strongest nation in the world at the time predicated on a principle that was so new the equality of each and every person and then they when they won as a wrote of a constitution making us the freest people in the world thank heavens they made it amendable and then at the same time they designed the great ages so confident where they and what they were doing that they said it would be for the ages their optimism about declaring independence and sacrificing everything their confidence their faith in god their faith in themselves the face in the future the faith in this country was something unknown before and they predicated all of that on the fact that each generation had a responsibility to make the future better for the next because that's what would perpetuate this great democracy and over time it became known as the american dream and people flocked to our shores and with their optimism and their determination and their confidence in the future and their insistence that they would make the future better for their families they made america more american they still do because of that confidence in the future and so honoring that tradition of our founders honoring their vision and the aspiration of the american people aspirations of the american people as well as honoring the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform we have a responsibility as we go forward and posing i wanted knowledge also the chestnut and gibson families mrs chestnut mrs g and so with that reverence for our history and dedication to progress made this temple of democracy continues to be a place where people of diverse backgrounds and opinion can find common gap ground for the common good another young president of change john f kennedy and his inaugural address as we go forward let us make sure that god's work will truly be our own thank you good morning fifteen years ago i stood in the poetry office of the library of congress and looked across the way at the capitol building i was new to washington and so what i saw was not only that building but i did see those self same tours that senator reed mentioned wandering by and in the parking lot there was a statue a beautiful but a dirty statue which was lady freedom that we see the replica behind us here she was due for an overhaul and i thought that that was so appropriate that freedom get in the cage and all of bruising up that this poem began to happen and so it occurred that later in that year in one nine hundred ninety three in the fall i first read this poem on the steps of the capitol building the occasion was the two hundred anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the capital and the reinstallation of the state of the statue of lady freedom to her place atop the capitol dome lady freedom among u don't lower your eyes or stares straight ahead to where you think you ought to be going don't much her oh no not another one get a job fly a kite go bury a bone with her old fashioned sandals with her leaden skirt with her stained cheeks and whiskers and heaped up trinkets she has risen among us in blunt reproach she has fitted her hair under a hand me down cap and spruced it up with feathers and stars slung over one shoulder she bears the rainbow with layers of charity and  all of you even the least of you don't cross to the other side of the street you don't think another item to fit on a tourist's agenda consider her drenched gave her shining bra she who has brought mercy back into the streets and will not retire politely to the potter's field having assumes a thick skin of this town it's gritted exhaust it's sun scorch and believe year she rests in her weathered plumage big boned resolute don't think you can ever forget her don't even try she's not going to budge no choice but to grant her crown her with sky for she is one of the many and she is each of us and labor that made this moment possible we rejoice at the opportunity that thousands will had to become better acquainted with this monument of freedom the united states capital lord may our gratitude for the beauty of this place and this out produced in us a commitment to reign freedom's bed until it is ferd around the world find giving it also deepen our relationship with you the source of all true freedom we pray  your sovereign name amen ladies and gentlemen please be seated to mark this historic occasion visitors now have a respectful and dignified way to enter the people's house and i invite everyone here today and all americans to come and explore all the visitor center and the united states capitol have to offer a project of this magnitude requires the skills and talents of thousands of dedicated professionals and as i stand here today i thank you and i'm very proud to be part of such a wonderful team i thank you for your kid mitt meant and your talent and persistence and getting this job done and everyone involved in this project knows that we've built a capitol visitor center for which all americans can be proud and for those of you in the audience today i now invite all of you to join me in the exhibition hall located behind me and behind this beautiful model of the statue of freedom this hall is full of intriguing and innovative exhibits that have recently been called the most significant exhibit in washington d c in a decade and now in conclusion please join me in touring our new capitol visitor center thank you