Friday, October 10, 2003

When someone says security, hold your checkbook. I love that quote. Amazingly, it came from a congressman. Describing a plan to build a $10 million underground tunnel between the US Capitol building and the Library of Congress, Rep. Jack Kingston thinks it's a bad idea. Originally planned to draw tourists from the Capitol to the seldom-visited Library, advocates now claim it's a security measure. Now, though, the tunnel's mission has changed: to that of a congressional escape route. Project officials revised the visitors' center plans extensively after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to strengthen the structure and improve the ventilation system. They also concluded that the tunnel could provide important protection to people fleeing the Capitol in case of, say, a biological assault. You also gotta love this description of the Library of Congress: Originally, the idea behind the passageway was to help the Library of Congress, never a huge tourist draw, tap into the Capitol's bounty of visitors. The library's lavish 1897 Jefferson Building features elaborate mosaics and carvings and a 23-karat gold-plated vestibule -- all of which once prompted former Russian President Boris Yeltsin to exclaim, "How did you get a building like this? You don't have any czars." Of course, Yeltsin made that comment before the current administration took office. 6:04:18 PM    Oh yeah? []

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