Hearing Room of the Committee on
   Commerce, Science, and Transportation
            From 1909 to the late 1950's, today's Commerce Committee hearing room was a restaurant -- the Russell Dining Room (numbered SR-235).  Its decor consisted of marble walls, four chandeliers, wall sconces, and a fireplace.  According to a March 14, 1909, New York Times article, "The dining room [was] one of the ‘show places' of the building...one of the most beautiful in the country" [article includes a photograph of the room under construction].  Today, in the hearing anteroom, two electrical outlet covers labeled "Kitchen Panel" serve as reminders of this period.

            After the new Senate Office Building (now formally known as the Everett McKinley Dirksen Senate Office Building) was built, ready for beneficial occupancy in late 1958 and eating facilities opened therein, plans changed for the Russell Dining Room.  Construction began; the Russell Dining Room was converted to a modern-day hearing room (SR-231).  Rules Committee room-assignment plans dated in 1961 appear to indicate that the hearing room had been assigned to the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and, in 1977, display this room as a public hearing room (SR-235).  Offices of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation surrounded the public hearing room.  In 1983, the Rules Committee officially assigned space to the Commerce Committee in all three Senate Office Buildings, including hearing room SR-253.

            Food, conversation, and legislative pursuits...what used to be the Russell Dining Room underwent major changes in design and purpose over the years.  One thing remains unchanged: The room is still a central meeting place in the United States Senate.