Free Republic

The U.S. Capitol's Visitor Center is the quintessential public-works project. It began as a modest proposal in 1994: Build an underground area where tourists could get out of the elements while they wait in line to tour the Capitol. From its $70 million beginnings, however, it mushroomed into a three-story, 580,000-square-foot monstrosity that is three-quarters the size of the Capitol itself. Ostentatious only begins to describe the center, which has been dubbed "Congress' tribute to itself." It includes a TV studio where members may record messages for the folks back home, two theaters, an auditorium and an exhibition hall, and...

Following years of delays and skyrocketing costs, Tuesday’s opening of the $621 million Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) was marked by more controversy and criticism. At a morning dedication ceremony, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) offhand comment about how the taxpayer-funded center meant he and other lawmakers would not have to smell sweaty tourists raised eyebrows. By the afternoon, a Republican senator had claimed the center was godless, while a budget watchdog raised familiar arguments about the project’s wasteful spending. That followed poor reviews of the center’s architecture in two newspapers. House and Senate leaders largely ignored the four years...