Political Quotes

“H.R. 4237, which we have just passed, is a bill that permits the District of Columbia to move forward with a financing plan for the purpose of building a new state-of-the-art convention center in downtown Washington. This bill authorizes the Washington Convention Center Authority, an independent agency, to issue bonds and waive the 30-day waiting period for the D.C. City Council enactment to go into effect. Its passage this evening is important so they can get immediate Senate consideration and be signed by the President, and we can be in the ground and starting construction the 1st of September. Our subcommittee has followed the effort to build a new convention center in downtown Washington with great interest. We think this is critical for the city to reestablish a tax base in downtown Washington, and working with the MCI Center, we will build, we think, a revitalization of the downtown area. Over time it is estimated that the situation only gets worse in terms of attracting tourism if we were to go with the existing center. The District of Columbia's existing Convention Center is now only the 30th largest in the country, and it can accommodate only approximately 55 percent of national conventions and exhibition shows. That is a serious blow to the District's economy. A new convention center will provide much needed jobs for the city, and an increase in locally-generated local tax base revenue. It will boost morale for the entire region.”