Naming of House and Senate Office Buildings and Rooms: Brief Overview

Naming of House and Senate Office Buildings and Rooms: Brief Overview

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September 4, 2018
Naming of House and Senate Office Buildings and Rooms:
Brief Overview
Various procedures have been used to designate the names

Senate Office Building
of House and Senate office buildings, as well as of rooms
and spaces within the Capitol Complex.

Russell
Dirksena
Hart
Year of
1909
1958
1982
The set of procedures used has varied depending on
building
whether the space is controlled solely by the House, solely
occupation
by the Senate, or by the House and Senate jointly.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress,
In general, the process for naming House and Senate
http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp; Official
buildings, rooms, and spaces is not governed by formal
Congressional Directory, 115th Congress, S. Pub. 115-7 (pp. 573-579);
rules or statute, but rather the precedents and historical
Congress.gov; and aoc.gov.
practices of the House and Senate.
Note: S.Res. 295 (96th Congress), agreed to December 3, 1979,
added the word “Senate” to the official building names.
Naming Office Buildings
a. Senator Dirksen previously served in the House (March 4, 1933-
As shown in Table 1, Senate office buildings have been
January 3, 1949).
designated through the adoption of Senate resolutions.
Table 2. House Office Buildings: Biographical
As shown in Table 2, the House designated each of its first
Information on Representative, Legislation Related to
three office buildings by law. The Ford and original O’Neill
Naming, and Building Occupancy Date (Part 1)
office buildings were designated through the adoption of a

House Office Building
House resolution, while the new O’Neill office building
was designated by law (Table 3).

Cannon
Longworth
Rayburn
Table 1. Senate Office Buildings: Biographical
Named for
Joseph
Nicholas
Samuel
Information on Senator, Legislation Related to
Gurney
Longworth
Taliaferro
Naming, and Building Occupancy Date
Cannon
Rayburn

Senate Office Building
Dates of
1873-1891;
1903-1913;
1913-1961
service in the
1893-1913;
1915-1931

Russell
Dirksena
Hart
House
1915-1923
Named for
Richard
Everett
Philip
Date of death November
April 9, 1931 November
Brevard
McKinley
Aloysius
12, 1926
16, 1961
Russell, Jr.
Dirksen
Hart
Naming
P.L. 87-453
P.L. 87-453
P.L. 87-453
Senate
1933-1971
1951-1969
1959-1976
vehicle
dates of
service
Date
May 21,
May 21,
May 21,
legislation
1962
1962
1962
Senator
January 21,
September 7,
December
enacted
date of
1971
1969
26, 1976
death
Additional
Voice vote
Voice vote
Voice vote
information
in House
in House
in House
Naming
S.Res. 296
S.Res. 296
S.Res. 525
and Senate
and Senate
and Senate
vehicle
(92nd
(92nd
(94th
Congress)
Congress)
Congress)
Year of
1908
1933
1964a
building
Date
October 11,
October 11,
August 30,
occupation
resolution
1972
1972
1976
agreed to
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress,
http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp; Official
Type of
Voice vote
Voice vote
Voice vote
Congressional Directory, 115th Congress, S. Pub. 115-7 (pp. 573-579);
vote
Congress.gov; and aoc.gov.
a. Date of initial occupation, with full occupancy the following year.
https://crsreports.congress.gov

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Table 3. House Office Buildings: Biographical
governed by rule or statute, but rather the traditions of the
Information on Representative, Legislation Related to
chamber. These procedures may vary over time.
Naming, and Building Occupancy Date (Part 2)

House Office Building
In general, Senate rooms and spaces in the Capitol have
been designated through the adoption of a Senate

Ford
O'Neilla
resolution. During a colloquy in 1981, both Majority Leader
Named for
Gerald Rudolph
Thomas Philip O'Neill, Jr.
Howard Baker and Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd
Ford, Jr.
(Tip)
expressed a view that Senate spaces should be named by the
entirety of the Senate, rather than a subset of its
Dates of
1949-1973
1953-1987
membership. Senator Byrd stated, “I think this is the
service in
property of all of the citizens and I think it should be the
the House
Senate itself which should have the authority to name a
Date of
December 26,
January 5, 1994
room after any Senator, living or deceased” (Congressional
death
2006
Record, March 12, 1981, p. 4247).
Naming
H.Res. 402 (101st P.L. 112-237 and P.L.
House rooms and spaces in the Capitol frequently have
vehicle
Congress)b
114-254
been designated through the adoption of a House resolution.
One room was designated through a vote of the Committee
Date
September 10,
December 10, 2016
on Appropriations. Rooms in House office buildings have
legislation
1990
often been designated by the House Office Building
enacted or
Commission, often at the request of a House committee.
agreed to
Additional
Voice vote
Designated as the
The great hall of the Capitol Visitor Center, which is space
information
Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
controlled by both the House and Senate, jointly, was
Federal Building by P.L.
named Emancipation Hall by P.L. 110-139.
112-237. Transferred
from the General
Comparison to Other Forms of Commemoration
Services Administration
For additional information on other forms of
(GSA) to the House of
commemorations, see CRS Report R43539,
Representatives by P.L.
Commemorations in Congress: Options for Honoring
114-254.
Individuals, Groups, and Events, coordinated by Jacob R.
Straus.
Year of
1975
2014/2017c
building
Additional Information
occupation
Additional information on each of the office buildings is
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress,
available from the Architect of the Capitol:
http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp; Official
Congressional Directory, 115th Congress, S. Pub. 115-7 (pp. 573-579);
 https://www.aoc.gov/house
Congress.gov; and aoc.gov.
 https://www.aoc.gov/senate
a. The original O’Neill House Office Building, which was
demolished in 2002, was also designated by H.Res. 402 (101st
Ida A. Brudnick, Specialist on the Congress
Congress). The current O’Neill building was formerly known as
Federal Office Building No. 8.
IF10969
b. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, the building was known
as House of Representatives Office Building Annex No. 2. The
former O’Neill building, also designated by this resolution, had
been known as House of Representatives Office Building Annex
No. 1.
c. Following a major renovation, the building reopened for
occupancy in 2014. Some House offices were located there, and
the building was transferred from GSA to the House in 2017.
Naming Other Rooms and Spaces
As stated above, the process for naming of rooms and
spaces controlled by either the House or the Senate is not

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Naming of House and Senate Office Buildings and Rooms: Brief Overview

Disclaimer
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