White House Press Corp Welcomed Back Into Refurbished, Rat-Free Briefing Room

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush are scheduled to welcome the White House press corps back to its newly refurbished digs in the West Wing on Wednesday morning. For the past 11 months, reporters have been working out of temporary quarters in the White House conference center, just west of Lafayette Square. It was the first time the presidential press corps had been stationed outside of the West Wing since 1902.

In the meantime, workers have been completing $8 million in renovations on the once ratty (in more ways than one), cramped and often overheated briefing room. Located in a part of the White House complex that through the years has housed a laundry, servant quarters, massage rooms and a pool built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the current briefing room was christened by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.

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