Official tours of the U.S. Capitol resumed recently after a two-year break due to the pandemic.

Each week, thousands of visitors are once again escorted through the building as tour guides talk about its storied past. Visitors learn about the ornate paintings, the historic figures in Statuary Hall and facts the building itself, including the use of slave labor to construct it.​

But there is some history about this iconic symbol of democracy that tourists will not hear about.

What You Need To Know

  • Official tours of the U.S. Capitol resumed recently after a two-year break due to the pandemic, but they do not include information about the Jan. 6 insurrection
  • A spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol, which oversees the complex, said that tour guides are instructed to not discuss "current events," adding that there was "no special decision about Jan. 6"

  • Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican on the House Administration Committee, which helps to oversee the operation of the Capitol complex, told Spectrum News he is fine with Jan. 6 not being part of the tour script, but noted that guides “should” be allowed to answer questions about that day

  • Visitors interviewed by Spectrum News after their tours appeared divided about whether guides should be allowed to talk about the insurrection 

“We did notice that there was a lack of current events, like you could notice things that you saw on the news,” said Colleen Egan, a Kentucky resident visiting with her son Nathaniel.

The aftershocks of the Jan. 6 riot last year by supporters of then-President Donald Trump are still being felt in Congress and the nation’s politics. But the guides leading official tours of the building the rioters stormed — and in some cases defaced — are told not to mention the events of that day.

"There was one question asked about when it got rioted, and he said they just weren't allowed to speak on it," Kyra Stokes, a visitor from Virginia, told Spectrum News after the tour. "I wanted to know more about it still."

“I asked about, 'was the Crypt area the part that was breached?' Because I do remember hearing something about it on the news, and [the guide] said that he really wasn't able to discuss it, [that] if we got to start talking about this, then the tour would last ... I think he said three hours,” said Nancy Miknis, a tourist from Pennsylvania.

When the riot occurred in Jan. 2021, tours had already been suspended because of the pandemic. They resumed only this past spring as COVID-19 restrictions eased.

When asked why the topic of Jan. 6 was off-limits, a spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol — the federal agency that oversees the Capitol Complex — explained that tour guides are instructed not to discuss "current events."

"There was no special decision about Jan. 6," the spokesperson wrote in a statement emailed to Spectrum News. "It is simply that the tour focuses on the history of Congress and the art and architecture of the Capitol."

Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican on the House Administration Committee, which helps to oversee the operation of the Capitol Complex, told Spectrum News he is fine with Jan. 6 not being part of the tour script.

“The history of the United States Capitol is so rich and so deep that I think the real key is to stay focused in the history of the United States government and how the United States Capitol is really the people's house,” Steil said.

But Steil said, the guides “should” be allowed to answer questions about that day.

"If an individual has a question, I don't think we need to hide any history that occurred in the United States of America, good or bad," he said. "But I think the key is to not use a history tour of the United States Capitol as a mechanism to try to shove forward some type of propaganda."

Visitors interviewed by Spectrum News after their tours appeared divided about whether guides should be allowed to talk about the insurrection.

“I feel like people go on these tours to hear about the history of it,” said Victoria Munro, a tourist from North Carolina. “You're living it right now, you can watch the news.”

“I think they should be completely honest with everything,” Stokes said. “We're in a building about history, they should include current history.”