New Capitol Visitor Center Distorts American History, Scrubs Religious References

How the New Capitol Visitor Center Distorts American History
by Gina L. Diorio

While the media trains its cameras on the bailout proceedings on Capitol Hill, another fierce battle is being waged just a few feet away. A battle over our nation’s past, it has profound ramifications for our future. Yet, thanks to the mainstream media’s overwhelming lack of interest in telling the story – or perhaps overwhelming interest that the story not be told – most Americans will never hear it.

The clash is over the glaring historical omissions of the soon-to-be-opened Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The largest undertaking in the history of the Capitol, the visitor center spans 580,000 square feet and is located entirely underground beneath the east side of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Upon completion, the CVC will house exhibition galleries, theaters, and a host of amenities designed to welcome and inform the millions of individuals who visit the Capitol each year.

But far more important than what the CVC includes is what it leaves out: namely, references to the rich religious history both of the Capitol Building itself and of our nation as a whole.

For example, take the CVC’s presentation of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Ordinance, written to govern US Territories north and west of the Ohio River, was passed on July 13, 1787 by the Confederation Congress. The text as posted on the Library of Congress’s website, specifically states, “Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” Jump ahead 220 years to the Capitol Visitor Center, and this text has suddenly been shortened to “…schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” While some might argue this is an insignificant edit, in reality it omits explaining the foundational reason that schools and education were to be encouraged.

An even more blatant censorship, however, exists in the omission of the phrase, “In God We Trust” in the CVC’s rendering of the inside of the House chambers. While our national motto (and yes, “In God We Trust” has been our national motto since President Eisenhower signed the law making it so in 1956) appears prominently in the actual House Chambers behind the speaker’s platform, in the CVC’s depiction, the phrase is conspicuously absent.

And these are not the only examples. Religious omissions and/or factual inaccuracies also turn up in the CVC’s presentation of Article 7 of the Constitution and in its account of regular church services being held at the Capitol.

While the media has largely ignored this blatant rewriting of American history, it has not gone completely unaddressed in Congress, and Congressman Randy Forbes is spearheading an effort in the House to restore the facts to the Capitol Visitor Center. On September 18, he issued a statement announcing that 108 Members of Congress had signed a letter to the Architect of the Capitol “expressing their concerns with the incomplete historical content in the Capitol Visitor Center regarding our nation’s religious history.”

As the Architect of the Capitol takes his marching orders from Congress, whether Congressman Forbes’ effort will be successful is yet to be seen – and Americans’ flooding the House switchboard (202-224-3121) and Speaker Pelosi’s office (202-225-0100) in support of Congressman Forbes efforts may determine the ultimate outcome. One thing, however, is clear: it is unconscionable that Congress is spending over $600 million in taxpayer dollars to misrepresent our nation’s history and heritage to millions of visitors each year from the United States and abroad.

President Kennedy once said, “… a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” By censoring the truth, Congressional leadership is showing not weakness but fear – fear of the truth about our nation’s history and fear of what that truth in the hands of Americans would mean for today.

“President Kennedy once said, “… a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” By censoring the truth, Congressional leadership is showing not weakness but fear – fear of the truth about our nation’s history and fear of what that truth in the hands of Americans would mean for today.”

-While the sentiment is good...coming from a Kennedy, that is a laugh and a half.

“Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” Jump ahead 220 years to the Capitol Visitor Center, and this text has suddenly been shortened to “…schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” While some might argue this is an insignificant edit, in reality it omits explaining the foundational reason that schools and education were to be encouraged.

I just wonder....would they jump to be so cavalier with regards the Second Amendment?

It is written in exactly the same way;
A preamble followed by the operative clause. Writings from those times were in many instances the same. Meaning that the operative clause is grammatically and logically independent of the preamble.
To wit, preambles cannot negate operative text.

Now, imagine if those who wish to scrub history in this manner, applied the same bias on The Second Amendment of our Constitution. It would now read, in its entirety;

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

I'm ok with that.

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