Good morning, Madam Chair, Mr. Latham and Members of the Subcommittee. I am pleased to testify this morning about the Capitol Visitor Center and to report to you the actions taken by our Office to ensure that the CVC is a safe facility, is fully accessible to visitors and staff with disabilities, and can open on time.
There are two points I would like to emphasize:
First, since our Office began its pre-inspection of the CVC in February, we have worked closely with CVC management to assure that potential health and safety hazards to visitors and staff are identified and abated in order that the CVC can be opened to the public in November. Although we cannot begin the final phase of our inspection involving operational aspects of the facility until staff and contractors who will be servicing the CVC have moved in during August, we are confident that none of the hazards we have identified to date will delay that opening.
Second, the standards we have followed in conducting our inspections are well recognized – OSHA standards and the OSH Act’s general duty clause, augmented by the National Fire Prevention Association’s Life Safety Code, the BOCA National Building Code, and other national consensus standards, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These are the same standards that this office applies during its biennial inspections of other legislative branch facilities.
On the first point, it’s important to keep in mind our statutory mandate: Under the Congressional Accountability Act, the Office of Compliance is charged with ensuring safe and healthful working conditions for employees in the CVC – including guides, Capitol Police and others. We are also required to assure visitors with disabilities full access to the CVC’s many features. The facility’s size, its underground nature, its location next to the iconic U.S. Capitol building – all contribute to the complexity and challenge of assuring the well-being of those who work and visit the CVC.
