Capitol fencing built after riot to cost at least $19 million through March as lawmakers debate future
WASHINGTON – A temporary system of fencing around the Capitol topped with razor wire and built as a response to the Jan. 6 riot is costing millions of dollars as lawmakers debate whether to keep it.
The fence's total cost through the end of March will exceed at least $19 million through the end of March, according to a House Democratic aide not authorized to speak on the record.
After the deadly riot, a 7-foot fence topped with barbed wire was erected outside Capitol building and a second, wider fence surrounds the larger Capitol complex, blocking members of the public or protesters from visiting areas that had normally been open to the public. National Guardsmen and police officers patrol the Capitol grounds, with some carrying rifles.
Capitol Police officials have said the fence is necessary to provide continued security for the Capitol following the riot, when law enforcement officers were overwhelmed by rioters. Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman has said the fencing may need to become permanent.
More: 'Colossal' breakdown: FBI warning not fully shared before Capitol riot; police lacked training, gear
Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton, who oversees the complex’s operations, told lawmakers Wednesday his agency had incurred $30 million in costs to cover the cost of the fencing and other security and maintenance expenses.
The aide clarified that $19 million of that total had gone towards the fence, with the remainder going towards funding employee support services, damage estimates, cleaning of the Capitol, support for the National Guard, and other expenses.
Blanton told lawmakers his agency's first assessment of damage to the building's interior and exterior was "was broken glass, broken doors and graffiti," but other historical statues, murals, benches, and shutters "suffered varying degrees of damage" from chemical irritants and fire extinguishers discharged in the building.
The $30 million is not the final amount required to cover the costs of security and repairs at the Capitol, Blanton said.
Telling lawmakers forthcoming expenses would be “unfunded,” Blanton said Wednesday additional funding would also be needed “should the elevated security posture of the campus extend past March 31." Congress is likely to act on additional legislation to cover the remaining costs, though the timing of the bill is unclear.
The fence has drawn the ire of lawmakers, many of whom want to preserve open access to the Capitol. Following an all-senator briefing Wednesday on Capitol security, many senators expressed resistance to keeping the fence.
“While we need to make the Capitol secure, we should not turn it into an armed camp….these buildings are owned, and are for the benefit of all Americans and they should be easily accessible to all Americans,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
And Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters, “They ought to tear these fences down and send them home today.”
Blanton was part of a group of officials testifying before a key House panel overseeing funding for congressional operations.
Blanton, who is part of a panel of officials overseeing the Capitol Police, told lawmakers what he had heard about the state of Capitol Police equipment leading up to the Jan. 6 riot was “heart-wrenching,” telling them about helmets “so old” that the “padding was rotting out of it.”
His testimony comes amid several congressional probes into the riot. The acting Capitol Police chief and the House’s top law enforcement official are testifying Thursday before the same panel, where lawmakers are expected to press them on their response to the riot.
Pittman, the Capitol Police chief, is set to tell lawmakers many Capitol Police officers were unsure whether they could use deadly force during the riot, and that their “less lethal munitions were not as successful in dispersing insurrectionists.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Capitol riot: costs of security fence to cost at least $19 million
