Is Congress fleecing itself?

Chip Reid Correspondent • Profile

WASHINGTON - Critics call it the "Pig Dig," a massive construction project they say is pigging out on federal tax dollars right in Congress' back yard.

The Capitol Visitor Center, now 85 percent complete, will be three stories, with state-of-the-art theaters, a great hall, even a 450-seat auditorium.

The goal of the center? Tighter security and an improved learning experience for millions of tourists. The problem, critics say: It's wildly over budget and years behind schedule.

"We've created this Taj Mahal on the Capitol grounds!" says Steve Ellis with Taxpayers for Common Sense. "[It's] a boondoggle."

In 1995, it was projected to cost $100 million and be ready in 1999. But the digging didn't begin until 2002. By then, the cost had ballooned to $265 million, and kept growing and growing and growing. The latest estimate is nearly $600 million, and the visitors center won't be ready until late 2007, at the earliest.

Just last week some members of Congress gave the project their Golden Drain award. The qualifications? 

"Pitiful oversight, exploding costs and embarrassing results," says Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.

Critics say there's little question who's at fault. "I think Congress should get the lion's share of the blame," says Ellis.

OUR CONTINUING SERIES ON WASTE, ABUSE   Suite deal for sports fans   TV to Cuba: A campaign or a waste? Did Iraq contractor fleece American taxpayers? Federal charity drive in tax trouble Medicare cancer project scrutinized Know somebody getting fleeced? Click to e-mail us.

Ellis says Congress has tacked on hundreds of increases in spending, from new office space to security upgrades, to yet another tunnel for emergency escapes.

Defenders of the project often point to the Capitol itself. When the dome was built in the 1860s, the final price tag was $1 million — ten times the original estimate. There was a flood of criticism then, too, but it all stopped when they saw the final product.

So might the criticism here end after it's complete? Depends on whom you ask.

"It is the Capitol building, a national monument, so in that respect it's worth it," says one D.C. visitor.

"A half billion, for what?" asks another.

For a project that some say spiraled out of control — right under Congress' nose.

MORE FROM NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS

Nightly News with Brian Williams Section Front

War decision looms over Obama’s trip   6 Fort Hood victims laid to rest   U.K. stampede injures dozens   Ida’s remnants batter East Coast   Free health clinic attracts scores in Big Easy   Spoils of Madoff’s felonious feast auctioned   Palin: VP nod ‘didn’t come as a huge shock’   First lady adding color to Japanese politics   World domino toppling record falls   Bike restorers bring joy, inspiration Nightly News with Brian Williams Section Front   Add Nightly News with Brian Williams headlines to your news reader: