This clear shot of the Capitol might become off-limits to film crews. Photo by owash

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton would like the U.S. Capitol and its surrounding office buildings to become more friendly toward visitors from Hollywood. In a letter to colleagues, she’s asking the legislative branch to ease up on its camera shyness and open up more areas to film and television production.

Back in January, the Architect of the Capitol settled a bit of uncertainty on the part of filmmakers who work in the District when it announced that Union Square, the 11-acre plot on the eastern side of the U.S. Capitol, would remain open to film shoots.

Still, the Capitol remains a tricky spot to film in a city that is already pretty tough for filmmakers. Union Square, which offers direct sight lines toward the dome from the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, was thrown into dispute late last year when a small bit of language inserted into a federal spending bill transfered authority over the square from the National Park Service to the Architect of the Capitol.

For a time, it was uncertain if the new bosses would clamp down on filming from this preferred vantage point, until an announcement from the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms gave the OK. Still, most of the Capitol campus remains off-limits to non-news film crews. In fact, there hasn’t been a Hollywood crew working inside the Capitol since Robert Redford’s 1994 drama Quiz Show.

In the letter sent yesterday, Norton asked Senate Rules Chairman Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Rules Chairman Daniel E. Lungren (R-Calif.) to “engage in a broader review of whether to allow permits for commercial photography and filming at a few additional areas outside of the Capitol and congressional office buildings.” Norton would like to see codified the decision issued in January by Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance W. Gainer, who oversees the Capitol Police, which issues film permits.

Norton argues that granting filmmakers permits to shoot from Independence Avenue on the south side of the Capitol or Constitution Avenue on the north side would be good exposure for the Hill, not to mention a possibility of luring in more production crews who, ideally, will hire locals and spend money in the District while working here.

The text of Norton’s letter:

Dear Chairmen Schumer and Lungren and Ranking Members Alexander and Brady:

I want to thank you for the attention that you have given to the commercial photography and filming policy for Union Square. We are very pleased with the Capitol Police Board’s recommendation and its ongoing work “toward making the [current] practices permanent under the new jurisdictional arrangement.” The priority that you have given to this matter, along with what we have learned from our own discussions with the affected agencies, convinces us that all parties understand the importance of, at a minimum, maintaining the status quo, which permits commercial photographers to take pictures of school children with the U.S. Capitol in the background and allows commercial films to incorporate footage of this symbol of American democracy.

However, we also believe that the transfer jurisdiction provides, for the first time in decades, an opportunity to engage in a broader review of whether to allow permits for commercial photography and filming at a few additional areas outside of the Capitol and congressional office buildings. There is no policy or security reason why commercial photography of the Capitol complex should be allowed at only one location, Union Square, particularly considering that permits are necessary. I request that other areas, such as the view from Independence Avenue on the House side, and from Constitution Avenue on the Senate side, be considered as well.

The vista of the U.S. Capitol is among America’s most iconic. Photographs of the Capitol, the seat of democracy, may be the best vehicle for telling the nation’s story. Most of the people of the world know us and revere our system of government largely through commercial photography and films of the Capitol, the one place that symbolizes U.S. democracy at work. The nation can only gain by putting our best face forward.

I therefore ask that a review be undertaken to explore whether the filming and photography policy should be expanded beyond Union Square. I ask that this request be considered as you draft legislation to codify the Capitol Police Board’s recommendation for Union Square.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton