The Rayburn House Office Building (RHOB) is a

congressional office building 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 ...

for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

neighborhood of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, between

South Capitol Street South Capitol Street is a major street dividing the southeast and southwest quadrants of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It runs south from the United States Capitol to the D.C.–Maryland line, intersecting with Southern Avenue. Afte ...

and First Street. Rayburn is named after former

speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

. It was completed in 1965 and at 2.375 million square feet (220,644 m²) is the largest congressional office building.

History

Rayburn was completed in early 1965 and is home to the offices of 169 representatives. Earlier efforts to provide space for the House of Representatives had included the construction of the

Cannon House Office Building The Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building", completed in 1908, is the oldest office building of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. A significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture, it ...

and the

Longworth House Office Building The Longworth House Office Building (LHOB) is one of five office buildings used by the United States House of Representatives. The building is located south of the Capitol, bounded by Independence Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, C Street S.E., and So ...

. In March 1955, House speaker Sam Rayburn introduced an amendment for a third House office building, although no site had been identified, no architectural study had been done, and no plans prepared. The area west of the Longworth Building on squares 635 and 636 was chosen, with the main entrance on Independence Avenue and garage and pedestrian entrances on South Capitol Street, C Street, and First Street Southwest. The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid in May 1962, and full occupancy began in February 1965.

Architecture

The

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol is the Federal government of the United States, federal Government agency, agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of t ...

J. George Stewart John George Stewart (June 2, 1890 – May 24, 1970) was an American architect and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Representative from Delaware and as Architect of the Capitol. He w ...

, with the approval of the

House Office Building Commission The House Office Building Commission is an entity within the House of Representatives of the United States that oversees the various functions of the House and its office buildings. These buildings are part of the overall United States Capitol C ...

, selected the firm of

Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson H2L2 (for three decades, officially Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson) is an architecture firm in Philadelphia founded in 1907 by Paul Philippe Cret as The Offices of Paul Philippe Cret. In 1923, John Harbeson became Cret's partner, along ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to design a stripped-down classical building in architectural harmony with other

structures. However, while the interior design of the other House Office Buildings retains decor one would expect to see in House Office Buildings (with cherry wood paneling, brass railings, and marble floors), the Rayburn building possesses design style parallel to that of the 1960s, with chrome push bars, clocks, and elevators, and space-age fluorescent lighting fixtures. The Capitol Subway System, an underground transportation system, connects the building to the

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

. Pedestrian tunnels also connect the Rayburn building to the Capitol and to the

. This system allows the Rayburn building to be connected to most of the Congressional office buildings on

via tunnel (the

Ford House Office Building The Ford House Office Building is one of the five office buildings containing United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives staff in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill. The Ford House Office Building is the only House Off ...

is freestanding and attached to no other structures by tunnel). For construction of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Congressional bill appropriated $2 million plus "such additional sums as may be necessary." Such additional sums eventually exceeded $99 million. Congressional leaders inserted a gymnasium into the building plans, a fact that was not publicly known at the time of construction. The gym is below the sub-basement level, in a level of the underground parking garage, and according to '' The Hill'', a newspaper focused on Capitol Hill, "features dozens of cardio machines outfitted with TV screens, an array of Cybex weightlifting machines and free weights." Also in the third floor basement is a shooting range run by the U.S. Capitol Police and a basketball court.

FBI raid

On May 20, 2006

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) agents raided the Rayburn Building office of Democratic Congressman William J. Jefferson in connection to an ongoing bribery investigation, marking the first time the FBI had raided the office of a sitting congressman. The raid led to members of both parties questioning the constitutionality of the action, and a subsequent hearing by the

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...

. The legality of the raid was challenged in court, where a federal appeals court ruled that the FBI had violated the

Speech or Debate clause The Speech or Debate Clause is a clause in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 6, Clause 1). The clause states that ''"The Senators and Representatives"'' of Congress ''"shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the ...

of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

by allowing the executive branch to review materials that were part of the legislative process.

2006 shooting reports

On May 26, 2006, at 10:30 am local time, there were reports of the sounds of gunfire in the garage of the building. The Capitol complex was sealed off, and staff in the building were told to stay in their offices after the building was put into

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

by the

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

. Some parts of the lockdown were removed, though other areas remained sealed. Congressman

Jim Saxton Hugh James Saxton (born January 22, 1943) is an American politician from New Jersey. A member of the Republican Party, he represented parts of Burlington, Ocean, and Camden counties in the United States House of Representatives from 1984 to 2 ...

was reportedly the source of the false alarm, after he mistook construction sounds in the garage for gunfire.

References

External links