IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 125

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the National

Capital Planning Commission should adopt a plan that permanently

returns Pennsylvania Avenue to the use of residents, commuters, and

visitors to the Nation’s capital and that protects the security of the

people who live and work in the White House, and that the President

should adopt and implement such a plan.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. NORTON, Mr.

KNOLLENBERG, Mr. PETRI, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. DOOLITTLE,

Mr. FRANK, and Mr. CLAY) submitted the following resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on Government Reform

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that

the National Capital Planning Commission should adopt

a plan that permanently returns Pennsylvania Avenue

to the use of residents, commuters, and visitors to the

Nation’s capital and that protects the security of the

people who live and work in the White House, and that

the President should adopt and implement such a plan.

Whereas in 1791 President George Washington commissioned

Pierre Charles L’Enfant to draft a blueprint for American’s new capital city, and they envisioned Pennsylvania

Avenue as a bold, ceremonial boulevard physically linking
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•HRES 125 IH

the United States Capitol building and the White House,

and symbolically linking the legislative and executive

branches of government;

Whereas Pennsylvania Avenue stood for 195 years and served

as a vital, unbroken roadway, critical to the economic vitality and commerce of the District of Columbia and the

surrounding region;

Whereas on May 20, 1995, citing possible security risks from

vehicles transporting terrorist bombs, President Clinton

ordered the Department of the Treasury and the Secret

Service to close temporarily the two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to vehicular

traffic;

Whereas the temporary closing is almost in its sixth year and

continues to significantly impede and congest traffic,

forcing costly and inconvenient delays on residents, commuters, and tourists, adding to already severe air pollution, placing additional financial burdens through lost

revenues on the District of Columbia Government, and

curtailing commerce;

Whereas while the security of the President and his family

and visitors to the White House is of obvious concern, the

need to assure the President’s safety does not conflict

with our principles of open and accessible institutions;

Whereas locally elected leadership, including the Mayor of the

District of Columbia, the Council of the District of Columbia, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of

Governments, which consists of representatives of local

governments throughout the Washington metropolitan region, urges the President to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue;
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•HRES 125 IH

Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission, the Federal Government’s central planning authority in the Nation’s Capital, established a task force to evaluate the impact of security measures around the White House and

national memorials and Federal buildings in the city’s

monumental core and to evaluate various proposals to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue;

Whereas the Federal City Council and others have put forward plans which would reopen Pennsylvania Avenue

while enhancing the security of the White House; and

Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission will recommend by July of this year a design to the President

and the Congress that balances security needs while ensuring that Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White

House is accessible and open: Now, therefore, be it;

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the National Capital Planning Commis3 sion should adopt a plan that permanently returns Penn4 sylvania Avenue to the use of residents, commuters, and

5 visitors to the Nation’s capital and that protects the secu6 rity of the people who live and work in the White House,

7 and that the President should adopt and implement such

8 a plan.

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