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 Ameri-
can’s new capital city, and they envisioned Pennsylvania
Avenue as a bold, ceremonial boulevard physically linking
•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 vi-
tality 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 Pennsyl-
vania 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, com-
muters, and tourists, adding to already severe air pollu-
tion, 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 Co-
lumbia, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments, which consists of representatives of local
governments throughout the Washington metropolitan re-
gion, urges the President to reopen Pennsylvania Avenue;
•HRES 125 IH
Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission, the Fed-
eral Government’s central planning authority in the Na-
tion’s Capital, established a task force to evaluate the im-
pact 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 re-
open Pennsylvania Avenue;
Whereas the Federal City Council and others have put for-
ward plans which would reopen Pennsylvania Avenue
while enhancing the security of the White House; and
Whereas the National Capital Planning Commission will rec-
ommend by July of this year a design to the President
and the Congress that balances security needs while en-
suring that Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White
House is accessible and open: Now, therefore, be it;
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the National Capital Planning Commis-
sion should adopt a plan that permanently returns Penn-
sylvania Avenue to the use of residents, commuters, and
visitors to the Nation’s capital and that protects the secu-
rity of the people who live and work in the White House,
and that the President should adopt and implement such
a plan.
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