Word: capitols
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...combination of high oil-company profits and high gasoline prices has led to much fulminating on Capitol Hill, mostly about refining bottlenecks that have brought near record prices at the pump. But the main reason gas prices are so much higher now than a decade ago is that crude has jumped from $10 per bbl. in 1999 to $64 today. And the fact that the world's biggest nongovernment oil company isn't going like gangbusters to find more of the stuff will have far more impact on future prices than the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act approved...
...short, the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) will be an impressive sight. And it better be, according to the project's many critics, who see its soaring costs and delayed completion as a symbol of Congress' gross ineptitude. The center's construction will cost at least $600 million and is at least three years behind schedule. It is now supposed to be finished by September 2008, but even that date will likely be pushed back. "This is a beautiful disaster," says Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schulz , a Florida Democrat and the chair of an ongoing House hearing on the center's progress...
...Plans for the CVC actually predate the first Iraq war. In the 1980s, a group of lawmakers envisioned it as a modest structure to hold visitors waiting for tours of Capitol Hill. The project stalled during the '90s because of cost concerns, but Congress signed on to the project in 1998 after a lunatic gunman killed two Capitol police, according to Rep. John Mica, a Florida Republican and longtime CVC supporter. Construction began in 2000 with a budget of $265 million and a completion date of 2004. Then came September 11 and the Anthrax scare on Capitol Hill. More security...
...Lawmakers disagree over why the center's construction is so delayed and expensive. Both Kingston and Wasserman Schultz say the job was just too big for Alan Hantman, the Architect of the Capitol until he retired in February. A spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol declined comment. But Kingston also blames poor management by Congress. "Members delegated this project to their staffs - there was no adult supervision," he says. "And the whole thing is an example of wants versus needs. Do we really need three more auditoriums in Washington? The largest cafeteria in Washington? A tunnel that links...
...Mica says the real problem is Congressional politics, not the Architect of the Capitol or a lack of oversight. "I could directly attribute the delays and cost overruns to members of Congress who couldn't make a decision, or made them and they weren't good," he says. For example, Mica says that Congress initially was going to reserve 160,000 sq. feet of undeveloped space inside the CVC facility for future office use. But in 2001, lawmakers realized it would be cheaper to develop the office space immediately. This change caused at least a year in delays, which...