Honor the officers

The coffins of Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson will lie in the United States Capitol Rotunda today, an honor usually reserved for presidents and generals. The two slain Capitol Police officers were neither, but they are heroes and fully deserve this considerable yet sadly inadequate measure of respect.

These two are not merely victims of the gunman who opened fire in the Capitol Friday — they knowningly placed their lives in jeopardy, they deliberately stepped in harm’s way. Officer Chestnut was shot and killed as he attempted to detain Russell Weston Jr. after Weston tried to evade a metal detector at the entrance. Detective Gibson was mortally wounded in a furious point-blank exchange of gunfire with Weston at the doorway to a congressional office. That only one other person was injured — a tourist who already is recovering from her wound at home — is not a miracle, it is a direct result of this bravery.

It is altogether appropriate that the Capitol was open to visitors Saturday and that, following today’s ceremony, Congress will be back in session, with its workings open to public observation. That openness, after all, is why Chestnut and Gibson gave their lives.

It is also appropriate, though, that Congress should move on the long-delayed plan to build a visitor center as another layer of security. Legislation authorizing the underground public entryway, both to provide an orientation for tourists and an additional opportunity for screening, has been stalled since 1991. As the estimated cost has soared — from $71 million to $125 million — so has, if not the number, at least the boldness or desperation of the deluded, like Weston, who apparently believe the nation is in the grip of an enormous government conspiracy that only they can thwart. They are entitled to their delusions; they are not entitled to seal Congress off from the people.

Some $25 million in private funds has been donated to the visitor center project. The remaining $100 million is a lot of money, but a small price to pay to ensure the public always has a seat in the Senate or House galleries. The alternative — to seal the Capitol off, as has been done with the White House — in unacceptable in a government of, by and for the people.

Important officials, from the president on down, will speak solemn words of gratitude today. Capitol Hill flags will fly at half-staff and flowers will pile up on its steps for many days to come. Keeping the nation’s most important public building open to the public is the most fitting tribute that could be paid to Officer Chestnut and Detective Gibson.