Speaker Bios

Washington DC 2019 Fly In

Caroline Cash, Chief of Staff for Congressman James ComerCaroline Cash has served as Chief of Staff for Congressman James Comer from Kentucky’s 1st District since November 2016. She is a native of Fancy Farm, and received a B.S. in Business Administration from Murray State University and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law. Before serving as Chief of Staff, Caroline practiced law in Lexington, Kentucky and worked for her family’s auction and real estate business based out of Fancy Farm.

Ashlee Vinyard, Chief of Staff for IN Congressman Jim BairdAshlee Vinyard serves as the Chief of Staff for Congressman Jim Baird from Indiana’s 4th Congressional District. A native of Fancy Farm, she received a master’s degree in Agricultural Communications from Texas Tech University and a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science from Murray State University. Ashlee leads Congressional staff in D.C. and Indiana, assisting constituents in west central Indiana, and advises Congressman Baird on important policy issues including agriculture, trade and health care. Ashlee has almost 15 years of experience on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining the Indiana delegation, Ashlee served as the Chief of Staff for Congressman Lamar Smith from Texas including as Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and Executive Assistant. She began her career in Washington as an intern for Congressman Smith.

Sarah Drake, Deputy Chief of Staff for MS Senator Roger WickerSarah Drake is currently the Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS). A native of Fancy Farm, Sarah was a Presidential Scholar and received her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from Murray State University. She began her Washington career in 2001 at the US Department of State. From 2001 to 2006, she worked for Bannerman & Associates, Inc., a D.C. firm with focus on Middle East issues. Sarah began her Capitol Hill career with Mr. Wicker in 2006 as a Legislative Assistant. She was promoted to Senior Legislative Assistant and her responsibilities included managing Mr. Wicker’s work in foreign affairs, global health, and trade issues, as well as the Environment and Public Works Committee. She became Deputy Chief of Staff in 2013. Sarah assists in both Senator Wicker’s personal office as well as the Commerce Committee.

“From Fancy Farm to DC”

Fancy Farm is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Graves County, Kentucky. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 458.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United

States. In 2019, D.C. had an estimated population

of 711,571, which makes it the 22nd most

populous city in the U.S.

Speaker Bios

Kris Denzel, Senior Director of International PolicyKris Denzel is responsible for promoting the Chamber’s international trade and invest-ment agenda, including bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements and negotiations under the World Trade Organization with the administration, on Capitol Hill and in the business community. Previously, Denzel was the Director of Government Affairs at the Organization for International Investment (OFII), a group representing the U.S. operations of leading global companies where he advocated on behalf of its members on international trade and investment issues. Denzel spent more than seven years working on Capitol Hill . He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts from the U.S. Naval War College.

Edward Mortimer, Vice President, Transportation and Infrastructure,

Ed Mortimer oversees the development and implementation of the Chamber’s transport-

Tation infrastructure policy and represents the Chamber on Capitol Hill as well as before

the administration and industry organizations. He also leads the Americans for Transpor-

tation Mobility (ATM) Coalition, a collaborative effort by business, labor, transportation

stakeholders, and concerned citizens to advocate for improved and increased federal

investment in the nation’s aging and overburdened transportation system. Mortimer was

previously with AECOM, an engineering and construction company, where he served

as director of government relations. Mortimer received a bachelor’s of arts in political

science from American University and completed an executive management program at Georgetown University.

U.S. Chamber of CommerceThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of more

than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. Members range from mom-and-pop shops and

local chambers to leading industry associations and large corporations. They all share one thing—they count on

the Chamber to be their voice in Washington, D.C.

Advocacy - The U.S. Chamber advocates for pro-business policies that create jobs and grow our economy. Key

issues range from smart tax policy and regulatory relief to legal reform and trade promotion.

Community - The U.S. Chamber offers access to the latest resources, information, and best practices in

advocacy and communications.

Leadership - The U.S. Chamber has a nationally recognized team of lobbyists, communicators, and policy

experts advance the business community’s interests.

History - For 100 years, the U.S. Chamber has driven the pro-business agenda in Washington.

Justin Lumadue, Executive Director, Congressional and Public Affairs Justin Lumadue serves as the Chamber’s chief lobbyist on financial services, trade, and travel and tourism. Lumadue played a leading role in the successful campaigns to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Previously, Lumadue was senior manager for policy and congressional communications at the Chamber. He coordinated overall communications with Capitol Hillon a wide variety of issues impacting the business community including trade, energy, labor, and taxes. A native of Pennsylvania, Lumadue received his B.A. in political science from Pennsylvania State University in 2005. He frequently speaks to business leaders, local chambers, other trade associations, and member companies to educate them on the Chamber’s priorities and legislative outlook.

Congressman James Comer (KY-1)1037 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-3115Upon his election to Congress in November 2016, James Comer came to Washington ready to fight on behalf of the people of the 1st Congressional District. He was reelected in 2018. Congressman Comer grew up in rural Monroe County and later attended Western Kentucky University to study his lifelong passion: Agriculture. Upon graduation in 1993, he entered the business world, taking out a loan to purchase his first farm and dive into his career. Today that business, Comer Family Farms, is one of the largest farming operations in south central Kentucky. After his first election in 2000, Congress-man Comer served six terms as a member of the Kentucky State House. Upon being elected Kentucky’s Commissioner of Agriculture in 2011, he promoted rural economic development by spearheading the successful effort to legalize industrial hemp and developed new branding initiatives for Kentucky farmers. Committees: Agriculture; Oversight and Government Reform; Education and Labor.

Speaker Bios

Senator Rand Paul167 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC, 20510Phone: (202) 224-4343Elected to the United States Senate in 2010, Dr. Paul has proven to be an outspoken champion for constitutional liberties and fiscal responsibility. As a fierce advocate against government overreach, he has fought tirelessly to return government to its limited, constitutional scope. Dr. Paul and his family live in Bowling Green, KY, where he owned his own ophthalmology practice and performed eye surgery for 18 years. He grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas, and attended Baylor University. He graduated fromDuke Medical School in 1988. Dr. Paul completed a general surgery internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta, GA, and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. In 1995 Dr. Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. Committees: Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP); Homeland Security and Government Affairs; Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3)402 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-5401U. S. Representative John Yarmuth represents Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives which encompasses the vast majority of the Louisville Metro Area. Now in his seventh term, Congressman Yarmuth serves as the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Since 2013, he has been the only Democratic member of Kentucky's congressional delegation. He has been recognized for his work to improve education, expand access to affordable health care, and revitalize manufacturing in Louisville. He was born and raised in Louisville. He is a former newspaper editor. He graduated from Yale University. Committee: Budget Committee.

Andrew Swafford, Director of Projects and Counsel, office of Senator Mitch McConnellAndrew Swafford currently oversees a portfolio that includes the federal budget, appropriations, water infrastructure and labor. Before joining Senator McConnell’s staff, Andrew worked in Louisville as an employment and labor litigation attorney. Andrew currently serves as a Judge Advocate in the United States Army Reserves.

Speaker Bios

Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-5)2406 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-4601Serving Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District since 1981, Hal Rogers has been elected to 20 consecutive terms representing the people of southern and eastern Kentucky, and is the longest serving Kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office. Focused on economic development, job creation, fighting illegal drug use and preserving the natural treasures of Appalachia, Rogers has a reputation for listening to his constituents and fight-ing for the interests of the region where he was raised. Nationally, as Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee from 2011 to 2016, he reduced the size and scope of government. Rogers led the Congress to reduce discretionary spending by a historic amount, cutting $126 billion in discretionary spending since 2010. With more than 30 years of experience on the Appropriations Committee, he has served on eight different subcommittees. Rogers was tapped in 2003 to lead the first Subcommittee on Homeland Security. Through this important role, Rogers fought to ensure our first responders received necessary funds to protect against terrorist threats; demanded tough answers from FEMA in the wake of federal responses to wildfires, hurricanes and flash floods; and insisted on enforcement of our country’s immigration laws and stronger border security. Committee: House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense

Congressman Andy Barr (KY-6)

2430 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-4706Andy Barr has served as the U.S. Representative for Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District since January 2013. He is a Member of the Committee on Financial Services and is the Chairman of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee. Congressman Barr is focused on strengthening Kentucky’s signature bourbon, equine, coal, agriculture and manufacturing industries and serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Horse Caucus. Congressman Barr graduated from Lexington’s Henry Clay High School in 1992, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1996, and received his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 2001. Committees: Financial Services Committee; House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts

Mr. Lynch managed the successful merger of the National Assembly of Local Arts

Agencies, where he had spent 12 years as executive director, with the American

Council for the Arts to form Americans for the Arts. Under his 33 years of leadership,

the services and membership of Americans for the Arts have grown to more than 50

times their original size. Under his direction, Americans for the Arts has become a

leader in documenting and articulating the key role played by the nonprofit arts and

culture industry, and their audiences, in strengthening our nation’s economy including

its signature study of the economic impact of the nonprofit arts community, Arts and

Economic Prosperity V. He has also been instrumental in creating a strong portfolio of projects and information

about the transformative power of the arts in non-arts areas such as civic dialogue, social problem solving and

work with the Pentagon, West Point, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the arts and

military. Lynch earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Speaker Bios

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-2)2434 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-3501Congressman Brett Guthrie represents Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District. Congressman Guthrie graduated in 1987 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with degree in economics and went on to service as a Field Artillery Officer in the 101st Airborne Division – Air Assault at Fort Campbell. He earned a Master’s Degree from Yale University in Public and Private Management. Following his military service, he joined Trace Die Cast, the Bowling Green-based manufacturing business that was started by his father. He was first elected to public office in 1998. Congressman Guthrie represented the 32nd District in the Kentucky Senate. Committees: Energy and Commerce; Education and Labor.

Congressman Thomas Massie (KY-4)2453 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515Phone: (202) 225-3465Thomas Massie entered Congress in November 2012 after serving as Lewis County Judge Executive. He represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. During school, he invented a technology that enabled people to interact with computers using their sense of touch, and leveraged that technology to found SensAbleTechnologies, Inc., which raised over $32 million of venture capital, created 70 jobs, and obtained 29 patents. The hardware and software he developed is now used to design automobiles, jewelry, shoes, dental prosthetics, and even reconstructive implants for wounded soldiers. Committees: Transportation & Infrastructure (jurisdiction over roads, bridges, mass transit, railroads, aviation, maritime and waterborne transit); and Committee on Oversight and Reform. He also serves on the Aviation Subcommittee, the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, and the Subcommittee on Water Resources (locks and dams).

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell317 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510Phone: (202) 224-2541Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader. Elected to that position unanimously by his Republican colleagues first in 2014 and again in 2016 and 2018, he is only the second Kentuckian to ever serve as Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate. Leader McConnell previously served, again by unanimous vote of his colleagues, as the Republican Leader from the 110th through the 113th Congresses and as the Majority Whip in the 108th and 109th Congresses.

Leader McConnell also served in leadership as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. First elected to the Senate in 1984, Sen. McConnell is Kentucky’s longest-serving senator and was elected to a record sixth term in 2014. He graduated with honors from the University of Louisville College of Arts and Sciences, where he served as student body president. He also is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law, where was elected president of the Student Bar Association. Leader McConnell is married to Secretary Elaine L. Chao, the 18th U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Committees: Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Appropriations; and Rules and Administration.

Paul M. Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science, Department of EnergyPaul Dabbar serves as the Department’s principal advisor on fundamental energy research, energy technologies, and science, driving this mission through programsincluding nuclear and high energy particle physics, basic energy, advanced compu-ting, fusion, and biological and environmental research, and direct managementover a majority of the Department’s national labs and their world-leading user facilities. In addition, he manages the environmental and legacy management missions of the Department, addressing the U.S. legacy of nuclear weaponsproduction and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. In addition, Dabbar is the lead for technology commercialization activities for the Department and its 17 national labs. Prior to confirmation as Under Secretary for Science, Mr. Dabbar worked in operations, finance, and strategy roles in the energy sector. As a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, leading various energy business areas, he has over $400 billion in investment experience across all energy sectors including solar, wind, geothermal, distributed-generation, utility, LNG, pipeline, oil and gas, trading, and energy technologies, and has also led the majority of all nuclear transactions. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Dabbar served as a nuclear submarine officer in Mare Island, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, including deploying to the North Pole where he conducted environmental research. Dabbar received a B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and an M.B.A. degree from Columbia University.

Speaker Bios

Jennifer Woodward, Paducah Site Lead, Portsmouth/Paducah Project OfficeJennifer Woodard began her current assignment as the DOE-EM Paducah Site Lead in 2014. She has more than 20 years of experience in engineering and program/project management with DOE. As a federal official at the Paducah Site, she has served in multiple capacities, including Federal Facility Agreement Manager (FFA), Alternate Deputy Designated Federal Official to the Citizens' Advisory Board, Project Manager, and Contracting Officer's Representative. Her diverse background includes Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) cleanup projects, significant regulatory interaction and negotiation contractor procurement/oversight, project controls, budgeting, and community relations. She previously served as the Project Manager and Federal Project Director for a potential multi-billion-dollar disposal cell project for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Woodard holds a master’s degree in Occupational Safety and Health and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Robert Edwards, Manager, Portsmouth/Paducah Project OfficeRobert Edwards was appointed Manager of the Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office (PPPO)in 2016. He joined PPPO as Deputy Manager 2012. Located in Lexington, Edwards is

responsible for managing the environmental remediation and deactivation and demolition (D&D) of DOE’s former gaseous diffusion plant sites in Portsmouth, Ohio and Paducah, Kentucky. In addition, he manages operations of the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project, which operates two plants at the Ohio and Kentucky sites. A career member of the Senior Executive Service, Edwards has more than 30 years substantive experience leading operations, engineering and program management efforts in highly complex nuclear and non‐nuclear programs. From 1998 to 2012 he held several positions at the Savannah River Site, including Director of the Office of Safety and Quality Assurance, Deputy Director of the Office of Safeguards, Security and Emergency Services and Director of the Nuclear Material Programs Division. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University.

Speaker Bios

Bob King, Assistant Secretary for Post-Secondary Education, Department of Education Bob King serves as Assistant Secretary for Post-Secondary Education. Prior to joining the Department, King was president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation and chancellor of the State University of New York system. King workedas a district attorney in San Luis Obispo, California, and Rochester, New York, before serving three terms in the New York State Legislature. He also served in the New York governor’s office as budget director and director of the Office of Regulatory Reform. King was appointed by President George W. Bush to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, where he served for nine years. He earned his B.A. from Trinity College and his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Michael Orlove, Director of State, Regional & Local Partnerships, and International Activities, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Orlove provides direction concerning the NEA funding and other assistance to the 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies, the six regional arts agencies, and local arts agencies across the country. Additionally, Orlove manages the agency's international activities. He was the Agency’s director of Artist Communities and Presenting &Multidisciplinary Works from 2012 to 2019. Born and raised in Chicago, Orlove spent 19 years as senior program director for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. He helped transform the Chicago Cultural Center into a prime downtown performingarts venue, as well as launched Chicago SummerDance and World Music Festival: Chicago, two staples in the summer festival season. Orlove also served as the directorof music programming in Millennium Park since its grand opening in 2004 and helped establish many of the program series in that venue. He has a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in performing arts management from Columbia College Chicago.

Lara Holman Garritano, Local Arts Agencies & Challenge America Specialist, NEAGarritano manages funding opportunities available to the more than 4,500 Local Arts Agencies across the country. With over 20 years of experience in the field, she has worked on arts and culture policy and programming in a variety of communities and capacities. Previously, Garritano was the Creative District Manager for downtown Colorado Springs inColorado. In working to obtain a state-certified creative district designation, she developedand managed programming that integrated arts and creativity into downtown’s economic and livability efforts. Prior to that, she served at 4Culture, a local arts agency in Seattle, Washington, in positions that ranged from managing grant funding programs to addressing agency-wide priorities as the organization’s first Communications lead. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

Tori Barnes, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Policy, U.S. Travel Association

Barnes joined U.S. Travel Association in 2017 to lead its policy outreach efforts. Previously

she had been with General Motors Company, where she most recently served as

Executive Director of Federal Affairs. Barnes joined GM in 2003, and managed a portfolio

that includes taxes, trade, fuel economy, transportation, health care issues and political

operations. Barnes is on the board of the Congressional Women’s Softball Game and coaches

the Members of Congress team, which plays an annual game against women in the press to

raise money and awareness for the Young Survival Coalition, an organization that works with

young women facing breast cancer. Barnes graduated from George Mason University.

Speaker Bios

Senator Roger F. Wicker555 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510Phone: (202) 224-6253Senator Wicker has represented the state of Mississippi in the U.S. Senate since 2007. Wicker is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He is the second-highest ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. His other committee assignments include the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Rules and Administration Committee. Wicker is co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and serves as Vice-President of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly. Wicker also serves as a member of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Congressional Board of Visitors. From 1995 to 2007, Wicker served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He started his career in public service in the Mississippi Senate representing Lee and Pontotoc counties. He also served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, retiring from the reserve in 2004 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He received his bachelor and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Committees: Chairman of Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works and Rules.

Lauren Brand, Associate Administrator for Intermodal Systems, Maritime Administration, Department of TransportationLauren Brand, a member of the Senior Executive Service, became the Associate Admini-strator responsible for Ports and Waterways programs within the Maritime Administration in 2015. Ms. Brand directs StrongPortssm, a national port infrastructure modernization program in excess of $1.7 billion – that includes TIGER and FASTLANE discretionary funds as well as other federal assistance. She is responsible for the continued development of America’s Marine Highway initiative and manages the Agency’s offshore energy licensing projects (the Deepwater Port Program). She also oversees the Secretary of Transportation’s Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee and their efforts to address strategic maritime issues across the nation. Ms. Brand has recently been appointed to the Bureau of Transportation’s Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group, a FACA Committee formed to develop relevant performance measures for the maritime industry in the U.S.; the Department of Transportation’s National Advisory Committee on Travel and Transportation Infrastructure; and is active in the Department’s Build America Bureau.

Kirk Shaffer, Associate Administrator for Airports, Federal Aviation Administration, DOTKirk Shaffer, was reappointed by President Donald Trump and Secretary Elaine Chao as Associate Administrator for Airports in 2018. He served in this role previously between 2007-2009. Shaffer has more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneurial airport executive, advocate, and regulator. He manages an annual budget of $3.35 billion (which includes an operating budget of about $112 million), and is responsible for the Airport Improvement Program grants, which total around $7 billion annually, as well as two major research programs. He is also responsible for overseeing national airport safety and standards,planning, engineering, environmental processing, financial assistance and compliance programs for more than 3,320 public-use airports nationwide. He is the author of the Nation's first Letter of Intent securing a Federal funding commitment for an airport capacity project in advance of appropriations, thus inventing an airport infrastructure finance system, which now yields about $7 billion in safety, security, and capacity investment annually. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army and is Ranger, airborne, jumpmaster, and air assault qualified. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point; a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin; and a Master of Laws degree from The Judge Advocate General's School of the U.S. Army. He is also a private pilot.

Locations

Capitol Visitor Center The Capitol Visitor Center is the newest addition to the Capitol Complex. It was designed to make the U.S. Capitol more accessible, convenient, secure, and informative for millions of visitors each year. The Capitol Visitor Center grew out of the realization that while the Capitol evolved with a changing nationand the growing needs of Congress, in recent decades it failed to keep pace with the requirements of an ever-increasing number of visitors.

The proposal for a Capitol Visitor Center began to crystallize

in the mid-1970s with the issuance of the Architect of the

Capitol's report "Toward a Master Plan for the United States

Capitol." In 1991, Congress authorized funding for conceptual

planning and design of a visitor center. In 1995, the design report was issued. Changes in security needs, as

underscored by the tragic murder of two Capitol police officers in 1998, and other safety and accessibility

considerations required revisiting and revalidating the 1995 report. The updated plan was presented to the U.S.

Capitol Preservation Commission in October, 1999. Decisions by the Capitol Preservation Commission led to the

start of pre-construction activities in the fall of 2001. The events of September 11, 2001 necessitated additional

design changes and prompted Congress to provide the necessary funding to move the project into

construction.

The design located the Capitol Visitor Center below the East Capitol Grounds, so as to enhance rather than

detract from the appearance of the Capitol and its historic Frederick Law Olmsted landscape.

https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/about-capitol/about-capitol-visitor-center

U.S. CapitolThe U.S. Capitol is a unique structure, as it has been built in successive phases over the past two centuries. The estimated historical cost of the United States Capitol as of 2003 was $133 million. This includes the original building (the Rotunda and the north and south wings) as it stood in 1824 ($2.4 million), the cast-iron dome added in 1866 ($1 million), and the extensions (which house the present House and Senate chambers as well as office and support spaces) completed in 1867 ($8.1 million). Numerous additions, renovations and modernization efforts made throughout the years added another $122 million.

Improvements to the Capitol Grounds have an estimated historical cost of $33.8 million as of fiscal year 2003; these include such items as landscaping, sidewalks, and security features. This estimate does not include the addition of the newest addition to the Capitol, the Capitol Visitor Center, which was constructed after 2003.Note that these numbers are given in historical dollars spent and have not been inflated to reflect current-day replacement value.www.visitthecapitol.gov

Locations

Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., Washington, D.C.

The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world with more than 162 million items. The collections include books, sound recordings, motion pictures, photographs, maps, and manuscripts. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages."

Embassy of the People's Republic of ChinaThe Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the U.S.A., Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China to the United States. It is located at 3505 International Place, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Van Ness neighborhood. The Ambassador is Cui Tiankai, who was appointed in April 2013. When the US established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, a liaison office was first established in 1973. It occupied two adjacent former apartment buildings at 2300 and 2310 Connecticut Avenue NW and in 1979 became a fully-fledged embassy. These buildings were torn down in 2012 (except a 1922 façade on Connecticut Avenue) and are being replaced by an apartment house for Chinese embassy employees. The current building in the International Chancery Center was built in 2006-08 on a design by Pei Partnership Architects with I. M. Pei as consultant.