The Capitol Visitor Center (CVC), which officially opened to the public on December 2nd 2008, was designed to enhance the security, educational experience, and comfort of those visiting the U.S. Capitol. The decision to build a subterranean facility under the East Front Plaza, largely invisible from an exterior perspective, was made so the structure would not compete with, or detract from, the appearance and historical architectural integrity of the Capitol. The cost of the Center, the most expensive addition to the Capitol since the Civil War, and the largest in the structure's more than 200-year history, was an estimated $621 million. The project was financed with appropriated funds, and $65 million from private donations and revenue generated by the sale of commemorative coins. This book examines the rationale and planning behind building the Center, the costs of the project, the pre-construction and construction phase of the Center, and a discussion of the on site security of the Center after September 11th. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.