Hallway monitors bust a memorial to fallen heroes

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     Sometimes, Congress operates like a big high school, complete with hall monitors to keep the passageways clear.

     It may be hard to believe, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi approved a formal “hallway policy” in April for the corridors in the House office buildings. And, last week, the Architect of the Capitol sought to enforce the new policy by ordering the removal of a memorial display outside the office of Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.).

     The display outside Jones’ office in the Rayburn House Office Building honors Marines from Camp Lejeune who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     “Surely,” Jones said in a letter he fired off to Pelosi, “the new policy does not apply to memorials honoring U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

     Jones noted that the policy seeks the removal from hallways of such items as flags, equipment, furnishings, trash, and recyclable material. Although his memorial is constructed of materials that might fall under the policy’s definition of “furnishings,” Jones wrote: “It is inconceivable that these symbols of service for our Nation could be considered mere ‘furnishings.’”

     Jones said he ordered the memorial after Congress failed to act on a resolution he co-introduced with Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to establish an exhibit in the Capitol rotunda to honor the memory of service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert directed to Architect of the Capitol to design a modest memorial for placement in the Rayburn building’s foyer. But Congress did not approve the resolution and the memorial never materialized.

     “Many Americans from my district and others,” Jones said in his letter, “have stopped to view the faces of fallen Marines from Camp Lejeune displayed outside my office door, and have been deeply impacted by the display of their heroism.”