国会山

维基百科，自由的百科全书

国会山也就是通常说的国会大厦,指作为美国国会办公机构的国会建筑,美国国会是美国联邦政府的立法机构。它坐落在华盛顿特区国会山的顶部,国家街的东端。尽管地理上并不在华盛顿特区的中心,但是还是由于它的特殊地位而成为大家关注的焦点。

国会大厦是举世瞩目的美国民主政府的象征,1800年以来就是国会会议的召开地。国会议员聚集在此制定本国法律,总统在此宣誓就职并且宣讲每年的国情咨文。

大厦最初由威廉·索顿博士设计，该建筑以一个圆形大厅上的圆顶以及他的两翼作为标记。每一个翼作为一个议会的所在地：北翼是给参议院,而南翼是众议院。它是一个典型的新古典式建筑

目录 1 历史 2 Grounds 3 Art 4 Attacks in the Capitol 5 Security 6 House Chamber 7 Features 7.1 Artwork and National Statuary Hall 7.2 The Crypt 7.3 Flags 7.4 Bathtubs 7.5 Cat prints 8 Major events 9 References 10 See also 11 External links

[编辑] 历史

现在的国会大厦是美国历史上第五个美国国会大厦。在它之前有马里兰州安纳波利斯的马里兰州议院(1783–1784),纽约的联邦大厅(1789–1790)和费城的独立大厅(1790–1800). ,以及现在作为普林斯顿大学管理大楼的Nassau大厅,该大厅仅在1783由于没有拿到薪水的大陆军队叛变而临时将国会大厦由费城到位于新泽西州的普林斯顿时使用了4个月。

现在的国会大厦始建于1793年9月18日。乔治·华盛顿为它安放了基石,但是确切的安放地点现在却已经无法考证。其早期的建造由本杰明·亨利·拉特罗彼和查尔斯·布尔芬奇等人监制。当政府于1800年将其临时总部从费城迁到华盛顿特区时,等待他们的国会大厦仍是上尚未完成的砖石结构。

国会大厦的南翼于1807年竣工,供众议院使用。

[编辑] Grounds

The Capitol Grounds cover approximately 274 acres (111 ha), with grounds proper consisting mostly of lawns, walkways, streets, drives, and planting areas. Today's grounds were designed by noted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who planned the expansion and landscaping performed from 1874 to 1892. In 1875, as one of his first recommendations, Olmsted proposed the construction of the marble terraces on the north, west, and south sides of the building that we see today.

Olmstead also designed the Summer House, the open-air brick building that sits just north of the Capitol. Three arches open into the hexagonal structure, which encloses a fountain and twenty-two brick chairs. A fourth wall holds a small window that looks onto an artificial grotto. Built between 1879 and 1881, the Summer House was intended to answer complaints that visitors to the Capitol had no place to sit or water their horses and themselves. Modern drinking fountains have since replaced Olmsted's fountain for the latter purpose, but the horses ridden by the Capitol's mounted police unit can still occasionally be seen dipping into the original stone basin. Olmsted intended to build a second, matching Summer House on the southern side of the Capitol, but Congressional objections led to the project's cancellation.

[编辑] Art

The Capitol has a long history in American art. Beginning in 1856 with Italian-American artist Constantino Brumidi and his murals in the hallways of the first floor, Senate side of the Capitol. The murals, known as the Brumidi Corridors^[1], reflect great moments and people in American history. Among the original works are included Benjamin Franklin, John Fitch, Robert Fulton, and events such as the Cession of Louisiana. Also decorating the walls animals, insects and natural flaura indigenous to the United States. Brumidi's design also left many spaces open so that future events in American history could be added. Among those added are the Spirit of St. Louis, The Moon Landing, and the Challenger Shuttle crew.

Brumidi also worked within the Capitol Rotunda. He is responsible for the painting of The Apotheosis of Washington beneath the top of the dome, and also the famous Frieze of American History^[2]. The frieze is located around the inside of the base of the dome and is a chronological, pictoral history of America from the landing of Christopher Columbus to the Wright Brothers's flight in Kitty Hawk. The frieze was started in 1878 and was not completed until 1987. The Frieze was therefore painted by four different artists: Brumidi, Filippo Castoggini, Charles Ayer Whipple, and Allyn Cox. It is interesting to note that the final scenes depicted in the fresco had not yet occurred when Brumidi began his Frieze of American History.

Within the Rotunda is also located eight paintings of the development of America as a nation. On the east side are four paintings depicting major events in the discovery of America. On the west are four paintings depicting the founding of the American Nation. The east side paintings include The Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert W. Weir, The Discovery of the Mississippi by William H. Powell, and The Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn. On the west side is The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne, The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning His Commission, all painted by John Trumbull, a contemporary of America's founding fathers and a participant in the American Revolutionary War. In fact, Trumbull painted himself into The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.

[编辑] Attacks in the Capitol

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire on members of Congress from the visitors gallery. In 1983, a bomb detonated in the lobby outside the Senate chamber. On July 24, 1998, Russell Eugene Weston Jr. burst into the Capitol and opened fire, killing two United States Capitol Police officers. He was later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.

[编辑] Security

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the roads and grounds around the U.S. Capitol Building have undergone a number of dramatic changes. Most notably, construction is well underway on the previously-mentioned underground, 3-level, 580,000 square foot United States Capitol Visitor Center by the east face of the Capitol. The overall project budget is $517 million.

The project had long been in the planning stages, but 9-11 provided the impetus to start work. Construction was begun in the fall of 2001. Security is expected to be enhanced by directing all visitors through the center. Critics charge that security improvements have been the least of the project’s expense; and, indeed, construction delays and added features by Congress continue to add to the cost. As of January of 2005, the Government Accountability Office estimated the completed cost at $559 million. The target date for opening to the public of December 2005 has come and gone, and the end of construction is hardly within sight. Citizens Against Government Waste have called it a Monument to Waste.

The Capitol Police have also installed checkpoints to inspect vehicles at specific locations around Capitol Hill,^[3][4] and have closed a section of one street indefinitely.^[4] The level of screening employed varies. On the main east-west thoroughfares of Constitution and Independence Avenues, barricades are implanted in the roads that can be raised in the event of an emergency. Trucks larger than pickups are interdicted by the United States Capitol Police and are instructed to use other routes. On the checkpoints at the shorter cross streets, the barriers are typically kept in a permanent “emergency” position, and only vehicles with special permits are allowed to pass.

Finally, structures ranging from scores of Jersey barriers to hundreds of ornamental bollards have been erected to obstruct the path of any vehicles that might stray from the designated roadways. Each of the poles is reported to cost $7,500.

[编辑] House Chamber

The House of Representatives Chamber is adorned with relief portraits of famous lawmakers and lawgivers throughout history.

In order clockwise around the chamber:

• George Mason
• Robert Joseph Pothier
• Jean Baptiste Colbert
• Edward I
• Alfonso X
• Pope Gregory IX
• Saint Louis
• Justinian I
• Tribonian
• Lycurgus
• Hammurabi
• Moses
• Solon
• Papinian
• Gaius
• Maimonides
• Solomon
• Pope Innocent III
• Simon de Montfort
• Hugo Grotius
• Sir William Blackstone
• Napoleon I
• Thomas Jefferson

[编辑] Features

[编辑] Artwork and National Statuary Hall

• The Capitol houses a variety of works of art, including the National Statuary Hall Collection comprising statues donated by the fifty states to honor persons notable in their histories.

[编辑] The Crypt

Under the Rotunda there is an area known as the Crypt. It was designed to look down on the final resting place of George Washington in the tomb below. At the request of his wife, Martha, however, Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, and as such the area remains open to visitors. The Crypt now houses exhibits on the history of the Capitol. A star inlaid in the floor marks the exact center of Washington D.C.'s four quadrants. Ten other presidents have lain in state in the Rotunda for public viewing, most recently Ronald Reagan. The tomb meant for Washington now stores the catafalque which is used to support caskets lying in state or honor in the Capitol. After the Capitol Visitors Center is completed, the catafalque will be on display for the general public to see when not in use.

[编辑] Flags

Up to four US flags can be seen flying over the Capitol. Two flagpoles are at the base of the dome on the East and West front. These flagpoles have flown the flag day and night since World War I. The other two flagpoles are above the North and South wings of the building and fly only when the chamber below is in session. Several auxiliary flagpoles, to the west of the dome and invisible from the ground, are used to meet Members' requests for flags flown over the Capitol.

[编辑] Bathtubs

In the basement of the Capitol building in a utility room are two marble bathtubs, which are all that remain of the once elaborate Senate baths. These baths were a spa-like facility designed for members of Congress and their guests before many buildings in the city had modern plumbing. The facilities included several bathtubs, a barbershop, and a massage parlor.

[编辑] Cat prints

At the crypt level in the small Senate rotunda between the main rotunda and the Old Senate Chamber, there are cat prints embedded in the cement floor. In the center of the room is a circular cast iron plate about 1.5 feet in diameter. It has an open design so one may safely walk on it but still see through. Beneath this used to be a gas tank which fueled the lamps around the building. Years after the Civil War, this tank exploded, destroying that floor. It was replaced with cement, which was made to look like stone. As the cement was drying, a cat ran through it, leaving footprints. This cat was left over from a program set up just after the Civil War. During the War, much of the Capitol Building was used as a hospital and where there are sick humans, food is needed, and this aided in a new population of pests in the Capitol as never before seen so the answer to the problem was to let cats roam free throughout the building to help with the problem. This cat was left over from that program. It turns out that it was one of the last living and was a surprise to be seen in the first place. The prints are next to one of the northeast pillars in this rotunda, right next to the exit from the Old Supreme Court Chamber. Look at the right angle and the prints will become visible.

[编辑] Major events

The United States Capitol, as well as the grounds of Capitol Hill, have played host to major events. Every year since 1990, people gather on the west lawn on the Sunday before Memorial Day for the National Memorial Day Concert, broadcast on PBS.

Every July 4, people gather on Capitol Hill to celebrate Independence Day.

Among the major events the United States Capitol has hosted:

• Presidential inaugurations
• Americans lying in state. Among them:
  • President Abraham Lincoln (1865)
  • President James Garfield (1881)
  • President Warren Harding (1923)
  • President William Taft (1930)
  • President John F. Kennedy (1963)
  • General Douglas MacArthur (1964)
  • President Herbert Hoover (1964)
  • President Dwight Eisenhower (1969)
  • Senator Everett Dirksen (1969)
  • Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover (1972)
  • President Lyndon Johnson (1973)
  • Vice-President Hubert Humphrey (1978)
  • President Ronald Reagan (2004)
• Americans lying in honor:
  • Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson (1998), the two officers killed in the 1998 shooting incident (Chestnut was the first African American ever to lie in honor in the Capitol)
  • Civil rights icon Rosa Parks: the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the Capitol (2005).

[编辑] References

• Associated Press （2005） - Capitol slave labor studied - Washington Times - 於2006February 18zh-tw:造;zh-cn:采訪。
• White House Historical Association （Date unknown） - 1790s—African Americans - Timelines - 於2006February 18zh-tw:造;zh-cn:采訪。

1. ↑ AOC.gov
2. ↑ Frieze of American History
3. ↑ United States Capitol Police (2004-08-02). Increased Security on Capitol Grounds. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
4. ^ ^{4.0 4.1} Lyndsey Layton and Manny Fernandez，Street Closing Irks D.C. Leaders: Checkpoints Set Up Near World Bank, IMF and Capitol，The Washington Post，2004-08-03。於2006-09-26檢閱。

[编辑] See also

• Architect of the Capitol
• Congressional Subway
• U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954)
• U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1998)

[编辑] External links

• Capitol Visitors Center
• United States Capitol Historical Society
• Architect of the Capitol
• National Capitol Columns at the United States Arboretum
• WashingtonPost.com: Protection vs. 'the People's House'
• Cupolas of Capitalism Gallery - United States Capitol (1 of 8)
• U.S. Senate: Visitors Center Home
• Temple of Liberty: Building the Capitol for a New Nation via Library of Congress
• "Examining the Capitol dome," in Civil Engineering Magazine, October 2000
• Arbor Friends, Spring 1999: Take the Tram Tour for a Taste of the Arboretum's Pleasures
• Balloon View in 1861 of Washington D.C. showing Construction of Capitol during the beginning of the American Civil War.
• Photo collections of US Capitol Building

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