WASHINGTON - The Capitol Visitor Center has hosted 2.3 million people since opening a year ago on Dec. 2, 2008.

That's twice the number of people who visited the Capitol in the year before the visitor center existed. In the past, before the center's Exhibition Hall and Restaurant existed, people who visited the Capitol typically waited on line outside -- sometimes for hours -- for a tour. Now, visitors can make a reservation ahead of time for a tour, or they can even walk in and get on the next available tour.

The visitor center includes a 13-minute film about Congress and the building of the Capitol, and the 16,500-square-foot Exhibition Hall offers unusual artifacts and documents related to Congress and the Capitol.

The center premises include a 500-seat restaurant, gift shops and restrooms.

In December, the center introduced a new attraction: On Wednesdays at noon, curators, historians and educators from the Capitol, National Archives, and the Library of Congress are giving 15-minute talks about Congress and the Capitol. Lectures are free; no reservations required. The center plans to continue the 15-minute talks in 2010.

Also new is an audio tour of the visitor center's exhibition hall, available by using a cell phone, beginning at the plaster model of the Statue of Freedom, located directly in front of the entrance to the hall.

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