The United States Capitol Guide Service is a guide service charged by the United States Congress to "provide guided tours of the interior of the United States Capitol Building for the education and enlightenment of the general public, without charge for such tours." It exists under 2 U.S.C. ยง 2166.
Created in 1876 in honor of the United States turning 100 years old, the Capitol Guide Service is subject to the direction, supervision, and control of a Capitol Guide Board consisting of the Architect of the Capitol, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives. These same three officials also make up the Capitol Police Board. Key Guide Service personnel include a the Director, four Assistant Directors, as well as a large number of regular guides.
Personnel of the Capitol Guide Service may also be transferred to the United States Capitol Police force at the discretion of the Capitol Guide Board to provide ushering and informational services, and other services not directly involving law enforcement. This sometimes happens during major events, such as presidential inaugurations and Lying in State ceremonies.
The Capitol Guides operate out of facilities located on the south side of the United States Capitol. Visitors are processed through the South Visitor Facility which includes security screening and then directed into the Capitol, itself, via a walk around the west front of the building to enter through a west terrace door. Behind the South Visitor Facility is a trailer, which serves as the temporary rest area and locker facility for the guides. Upon the opening of the Capitol Visitor Center(CVC), both buildings will be destroyed and all guide related operations will occur within the visitor center.
Read more about United States Capitol Guide Service: Rate of Tours, Uniform
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, capitol, guide and/or service:
“... when we shall have our amendment to the Constitution of the United States, everyone will think it was always so, just exactly as many young people believe that all the privileges, all the freedom, all the enjoyments which woman now possesses were always hers. They have no idea of how every single inch of ground that she stands upon to-day has been gained by the hard work of some little handful of women of the past.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)
“In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“The traveler to the United States will do well ... to prepare himself for the class-consciousness of the natives. This differs from the already familiar English version in being more extreme and based more firmly on the conviction that the class to which the speaker belongs is inherently superior to all others.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“A woman with her two children was captured on the steps of the capitol building, whither she had fled for protection, and this, too, while the stars and stripes floated over it.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)
“If we can find a principle to guide us in the handling of the child between nine and eighteen months, we can see that we need to allow enough opportunity for handling and investigation of objects to further intellectual development and just enough restriction required for family harmony and for the safety of the child.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)
“A man’s real faith is never contained in his creed, nor is his creed an article of his faith. The last is never adopted. This it is that permits him to smile ever, and to live even as bravely as he does. And yet he clings anxiously to his creed, as to a straw, thinking that that does him good service because his sheet anchor does not drag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)