United States Capitol

The **United States Capitol**, informally known as **Capitol Hill**, is the headquarters of the United States Congress, located in Washington, D.C.

## History

### Howard Stark's Charges of Treason

Howard Stark was accused of selling weapons and technology to enemies of the United States, and was summoned to the United States Capitol in order to face a committee headed by Senator Webster. Stark jokingly denied all accusations, saying that he did not sell that technology "knowingly", and selling it "unknowingly" was, by definition, something impossible to answer.

### U.S. Senate Armed Forces Committee

In 2010, Tony Stark was summoned to the capitol to attend a Senate Armed Forces Committee with the intention of obtaining the Iron Man armor for military application, using the development of similar suits over the world in retaliation as an excuse. Senator Stern, head of the Committee, tried to coerce Stark into handing over the Iron Man Armor as a weapon, but Stark refused, arguing that as the armor was not a weapon, but a high technology prosthesis, and that he and the armor were one and the same, the petition would be comparable to slavery or prostitution. Stern summoned Justin Hammer, one of Stark's business rivals and the current Department of Defense Weapons contractor, as an expert consultant. Hammer argued that the armor was a weapon of incalculable possibilities, and that although Iron Man had played an important role in diminishing global security threats, he is not enough to give people an adequate feeling of safety, and that he would not be able to prevent all potential threats to national security. Stern then summoned Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, who wrote a detailed report about the potential of the Iron Man Armor.

Rhodes was asked to read an out-of-context fragment of the report, where the Iron Man Armor was declared as a potential threat to national security, given that he did not operate as an official member of the United States Government. The next argument of the Committee were a series of images obtained and seemingly confirmed by intelligence officers that there were operative attempts to reproduce Stark's technology. However, Stark showed a video of some of the failed attempts, such as armors made by North Korea, Iran and Hammer Industries, in order to prove that their excuse of the development of similar suits over the world was not an imminent threat that required handing over the Iron Man armor. Stark finished his own exposition arguing that he served as a dissuasive, and that he had successfully privatized world peace. The public support for Stark made Senator Stern lose composure before postponing the session.

### Threatened by the Mandarin

While Vice President Rodriguez was working in the Capitol, he was informed by a member of his staff that the Mandarin was broadcasting another message from the Ten Rings. Rodriguez and the rest of his staff then watched, as the Mandarin presented Thomas Richards to them, who he promised to execute if President Matthew Ellis did not follow his instructions. Despite Ellis calling his phone as requested, the Mandarin shot and killed Richards, before continuing to taunt Ellis, as the staff in the Capital watched on in horror.

### Senate Hearings

#### Natasha Romanoff's Senate Hearing

In 2014, Natasha Romanoff was called to a Senate hearing concerning the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was first asked about the motivations of Steve Rogers, though she explained that the rests found at the Potomac River explained Rogers' point in a very eloquent manner. General S. Scudder asked how the United States of America was expected to maintain national security now that its most prominent intelligence agency had been destroyed; Romanoff argued what HYDRA was telling was lies, not intelligence, though the general replied she personally told many of them. Another member of the committee, Congressman P. Wenham, told Romanoff that many members of the committee felt that she should be imprisoned given her service record both for the country and against it. Romanoff defiantly replied that she was sure she wasn't going to be imprisoned, as the world was now a vulnerable place, but they were still the best qualified to defend it. She then got up and walked away from the committee hearing without letting them reply.

#### Maria Hill's Senate Hearing

Maria Hill was called to a Senate hearing concerning the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was asked about every minor detail the congressmen found in the reports to the point of annoyance, such as the purpose of the Fridge and its contents, or even the nature of the Man-Thing. After leaving the Capitol, Hill called Pepper Potts to describe how she could handle the CIA, the NSA, or the NRO, but how she felt the United States Congress was like a kindergarten.

#### Testimony of John Walker

In 2024, John Walker was summoned to the Capitol for a Senate hearing, following his murder of foreign national, in which he was stripped of the Captain America mantle, retirement funds, and benefits.

#### Pardoning Sharon Carter

At a special Senate hearing at the Capital, Sharon Carter was granted a full pardon back to the United States, with the Government Officialoverseeing the hearing. Carter was also offered her former position at the CIA, which she greatly accepted.