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The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block an architect from engraving "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington. The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Wisconsin, claims the taxpayer-funded engravings would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The House and Senate passed identical resolutions this month directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave "In God We Trust" and the pledge in prominent places at the entrance for 3 million tourists who visit the Capitol each...

MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin-based anti-religion group is seeking to block an architect from engraving "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington. The House and Senate passed resolutions this month directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave the national motto and the pledge in prominent places at the center, which is the entrance for tourists visiting the Capitol.

MADISON, Wis. – The nation's largest group of atheists and agnostics filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block an architect from engraving "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington. The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Wisconsin, claims the taxpayer-funded engravings would be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The House and Senate passed identical resolutions this month directing the Architect of the Capitol to engrave "In God We Trust" and the pledge in prominent places at the entrance for 3 million tourists who visit...

There’s not enough racial diversity among the congressional staff on Capitol Hill and activists want corrective action. “Given such poor numbers, let’s acknowledge that there is something broken about the process,” said Citigroup lobbyist Paul Thornell, a former aide to Al Gore and former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. He added that there are “few intentional strategies in place to promote minorities.” The solution, say critics of the status quo: fully embrace the so-called “Rooney rule,” named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. The rule requires that NFL teams interview at least one minority prospect when filling...

The staff on Capitol Hill is too white. That’s what a group of frustrated members, lobbyists and aides are claiming as they press congressional leaders to adopt a version of the so-called Rooney rule. The rule, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, has been credited with significantly increasing the number of African-American coaches in the National Football League. Even with the first black president and African-Americans and Hispanics wielding more power than ever in Congress, there are just two Senate chiefs of staff who are minorities. In the lower chamber, there are only five white lawmakers who have African-American...

WH bans all future photo-shoot flyovers with AF1 backup plane WH official tells Fox these flights have been banned but would not confirm a Wall Street Journal report that a planned flyover on May 5-6 in Washington, with the US Capitol as a backdrop, had been scrubbed.

Ronald Reagan became president at a time of recession: the early 1980s when the nation faced double-digit unemployment and a dire economic outlook. So it is only fitting that he return to Washington now, lawmakers said Wednesday as they passed a resolution giving California approval to put a Reagan sculpture in the National Statuary Hall Collection inside the Capitol building. Each state is allowed two statues in the hall. "Just as we find ourselves today struggling with hardship and conflict, Reagan was also confronted with a troubled economy and uncertain times," said Inland Rep. Ken Calvert, who has championed the...

The man "told officers that he had a delivery for President Obama so the officers began to question him further and he admitted to having a rifle in his truck," said Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Hill Police. The man, Alfred Brock, 64, of Winnfield, Louisiana, has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of unregistered ammunition...

WASHINGTON: A man who drove up to the US Capitol complex and told police he had a delivery for President Barack Obama was arrested by police after telling them he had a rifle in his truck, police said on Tuesday. The man "told officers that he had a delivery for President Obama so the officers began to question him further and he admitted to having a rifle in his truck," said Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the US Capitol Hill Police. The man, Alfred Brock, 64, of Winnfield, Louisiana, has been charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and possession...

Capitol Police say a man was arrested after carrying a rifle to the U.S. Capitol Tuesday and telling officers he had a delivery for President Obama. It happened around 4 p.m. at the north barricade of the Capitol. Investigators say the man drove up and said he had a delivery for the president, and after he was questioned he admitted to having a rifle in his vehicle. SNIP

A first time gesture for a presidential inauguration continues to set Obama's election apart. *In a first for presidential inaugurations, Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia joined Reverend Rob Schenck of Faith and Action and others. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, both based in Washington, DC, in a prayer service inside the US Capitol that included anointing the doorway President-Elect Barack Obama will pass through on his way to the platform to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20. "Anointing with oil is a rich tradition both in the Bible and in the...

From 1800 to 1801, the services were held in the north wing; from 1801 to 1804, they were held in the "oven" in the south wing, and then from 1804 to 1807, they were again held in the north wing. From 1807 to 1857, services were held in what is now Statuary Hall. By 1857 when the House moved into its new home in the extension, some 2,000 persons a week were attending services in the Hall of the House. 23 Significantly, even though the U. S. Congress began meeting in the extension on Wednesday, December 16, 1857, the first...

Congressional committees have agreed to include references to "In God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance to the newly opened Capitol Visitor Center thanks in part to efforts from the Congressional Prayer Caucus and Virginian Senator J. Randy Forbes...

Later on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R – S.C.) criticized the CVC design in a press release, charging “it fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America’s success.”

The annual tree lighting in December at the U.S. Capitol is representative of many things, including hope, faith, patriotism, Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during the tree-lighting ceremony on Tuesday. The speaker attended the event with the Montana congressional delegation, the state which donated this year’s Capitol Christmas tree...

The Capitol Visitors Center was supposed to open in time for the inauguration. And it will, just one inauguration later than expected. Originally projected to be unveiled upon President Bush’s 2004 inauguration, this grand, underground visitors center is slated for a Dec. 2 open house for members of Congress and the public. The long-delayed opening ceremony marks the 145th anniversary of the day the Statue of Freedom was installed atop the Capitol dome. The next day the regularly scheduled tours will begin — tickets are required and can be obtained through the CVC website, which will go live Nov. 14....

Pelosi to Light Capitol's Energy-Efficient Christmas Tree @ 5:10 pm by Hill Staff This year's U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will bring the gift of light–energy-efficient light–to Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office (D-Calif.) said Monday. Pelosi's office said the Speaker, joined by the Montana's congressional delegation and governor, will participate in a ceremony Tuesday, December 2 to light the tree, a 70-foot subalpine fir from a Montana national forrest. The tree won't be the only "green" component in the Christmas celebration, though. The tree will be decorated with energy-efficient LED lights, part of the Capitol's efforts to conserve energy. The...

E-mail down on Capitol Hill By Jordy Yager Posted: 10/10/08 12:35 PM [ET] House lawmakers and staffers were without access to e-mail Friday after a circuit breaker overloaded a House data center Thursday afternoon. Officials with the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) said they dispatched computer engineers Thursday night to resolve the failed service and expected the current e-mail outage to be resolved sometime Friday. They attempted to reinforce the “strained” system with new electrical equipment all morning Friday. The overload, which has not affected Internet service, occurred as the House has continued to add more servers to satisfy the increasing...