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Congressional office buildings

Capitol HillCongressional office buildingsUnited States Capitol
Aerial View of the House Office Buildings November 6, 2015 (23034001573)
Aerial View of the House Office Buildings November 6, 2015 (23034001573)

The congressional office buildings are the office buildings used by the United States Congress to augment the limited space in the United States Capitol. The congressional office buildings are part of the Capitol Complex, and are thus under the authority of the Architect of the Capitol and protected by the United States Capitol Police. The office buildings house the individual offices of each U.S. Representative and Senator as well as committee hearing rooms, staff rooms, multiple cafeterias, and areas for support, committee, and maintenance staff. The congressional office buildings are connected to the Capitol by means of underground pedestrian tunnels, some of which are equipped with small railcars shuttling users to and from the Capitol, which together form the Capitol subway system. Congressional pages are responsible for carrying packages and messages from the two chambers to the buildings. The three Senate office buildings are along Constitution Avenue north of the Capitol: Russell Senate Office Building (RSOB, completed 1908) Dirksen Senate Office Building (DSOB, completed 1958) Hart Senate Office Building (HSOB, completed 1982)The three House office buildings are along Independence Avenue south of the Capitol: Cannon House Office Building (CHOB, completed 1908) Longworth House Office Building (LHOB, completed 1933) Rayburn House Office Building (RHOB, completed 1965)A fourth building, the Ford House Office Building, which used to house the FBI's fingerprint records, sits a few blocks southwest of the others; it houses committee staff and administrative offices. A fifth building, the O'Neill House Office Building (previously known as "House Annex-1") was named after former Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill. The building was demolished in 2002. However, in 2008, Federal Office Building No. 8 (formerly the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration) was renovated, being renamed the O'Neill House Office Building in 2012. The building was transferred from General Services Administration to the Architect of the Capitol in 2017. It currently houses both House administrative staff as well as offices for the Department of Health and Human Services. The U.S. Capitol Complex also includes a Page Residence Hall and a Capitol Power Plant, both on the House side of the Capitol.

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Congressional office buildings
East Front Plaza, Washington

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N 38.889722222222 ° E -77.006388888889 °
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East Front Plaza

East Front Plaza
Washington
District of Columbia, United States
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Aerial View of the House Office Buildings November 6, 2015 (23034001573)
Aerial View of the House Office Buildings November 6, 2015 (23034001573)
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Library of Congress
Library of Congress

The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., that serves as the library of the U.S. Congress and the de facto national library of the United States. Founded in 1800, the library is the United States's oldest federal cultural institution. The Library is housed in three elaborate buildings on Capitol Hill. It also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is one of the two largest libraries in the world, along with the British Library. Its collections contain approximately 173 million items, and it has more than 3,000 employees. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages."Congress moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800 after holding sessions for eleven years in the temporary national capitals in New York City and Philadelphia. In both cities, members of the U.S. Congress had access to the sizable collections of the New York Society Library and the Library Company of Philadelphia. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century, until the early 1890s. Most of the original collection was burnt by British forces during the War of 1812. The library began to restore its collection in 1815. The library purchased Thomas Jefferson's entire personal collection of 6,487 books. Over the next few years, its collection slowly grew, but in 1851, another fire broke out in the Capitol chambers. This destroyed a large amount of the collection, including many of Jefferson's books. After the American Civil War, the importance of the Library of Congress increased with its growth, and there was a campaign to purchase replacement copies for volumes that had been burned. The library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to deposit two copies of books, maps, illustrations, and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections. Its development culminated between 1888 and 1894 with the construction of its own separate, large library, now known as the Thomas Jefferson Building, across the street from the Capitol. Two more adjacent library buildings, the John Adams Building, built in the 1930s, and the James Madison Memorial Building, built in the 1970s, hold expanded parts of the collection and provide space for additional library services. The library's primary mission is to research inquiries made by members of Congress, which is carried out through the Congressional Research Service. It also houses and oversees the United States Copyright Office. The library is open to the public for research, although only high-ranking government officials and library employees may check out (i.e., remove from the premises) books and materials.