PEKIN ( 25News Now ) - Congressional papers do not automatically become available to the public when a member retires. They are the property of that member of Congress.

Several former U.S. lawmakers from Illinois have chosen to make their papers available to the public through Pekin’s Dirksen Congressional Center, which is celebrating five decades.

Fifty years ago, President Gerald Ford visited Pekin to dedicate the Dirksen Congressional Center. Richard Nixon also visited the center .

The center currently holds records for ex-U.S. Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois, and former Peoria Congressmen Bob Michel and Ray LaHood.

“If people want to come and do research on my career in Congress or my time at DOT, all my papers are here and available to people who want to look at them

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