Security Tightens Around D.C. Tourists
By Sarah Sparks
WASHINGTON – The flight attendant comes on the intercom as the Delta Shuttle flight from New York’s LaGuardia Airport descends for its approach to the recently reopened Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. She reminds passengers to stay in their seats. “Please remember, if anyone stands up, for any reason, during the last half hour of the flight, the plane will be immediately diverted to Dulles Airport, and the rest of the passengers will be very irritated with you,” she says, a touch apologetically.
A man quips back, “Um, my house is actually closer to Dulles; would you all mind if I get them to take us over there?”
One month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, visitors are trickling back into Washington, but tightened security and restricted access to federal buildings have put a damper on those who don’t have business in the District of Columbia.
“We’re losing about $10 million a day,” said Rebecca Pawlowski, spokeswoman for the Washington Convention and Visitors Association. “Usually at this time we have about 70 to 80 percent occupancy in hotels; now it’s about half that. With the layoffs in hotels, the effects trickle down.”
Most of the loss comes from leisure travel, normally slowing at the end of summer and worsened by travel anxiety and tighter security precautions nationwide. Popular stops at the White House, Federal Bureau of Investigations, National Archives, Supreme Court and the Library of Congress have ceased their tours until further notice, and tours of the Capitol have been limited in time, scope and group size.
Nor can constituents turn to their members of Congress for special tours or tickets to the Capitol or White House. “As requested by the Capitol Police, our office is no longer giving tours of the Capitol to any person or group until further notice,” said Mary Tarr, office manager for John F. Kerry,D-Mass., in a letter to members of Kerry’s staff.
Stephanie Cutter, spokeswoman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said, “There’s been no change in daily operations – people can still come to see the Senator – but we don’t give tours. We need ID to make any movement, even if we are with the Senator,” Cutter said.
Lt. Dan Nichols, spokesman for the Capitol Police, said there has been an increase in police protection around the Capitol. “We have a much higher uniform police presence currently than we had even after Sept. 11,” he said.
The police have put up concrete barriers along the House side of the Capitol, closing it to traffic, and are searching the undercarriage and trunk of every vehicle that comes onto the grounds. “We are looking at short term and long term security enhancements throughout the Capitol complex,” Nichols said.
Those who are coming to D.C. now are mostly “patriotic tourists” who come to see the monuments on the National Mall, the tombs at Arlington Cemetery, and other historic sites, Pawlowski said. “Many people are coming because they feel a sense of patriotic duty.”
“It’s a good time, because there are no lines to speak of,” Pawlowski said, “and now I think it is important for people to see places like the Tomb of the Unknowns, especially the younger generation which has been spared war and conflict.”
Federal buildings are still open to people who want to meet with their members of Congress or hear debate on the House and Senate floors, Nichols said. Likewise, people can still make appointments to do research at the Library of Congress.
“People seem to be accepting the new security,” she said. “We haven’t lost a lot of large conventions – the Congressional Caucus came in late September and The Natural Products convention is here this week with 10,000 people.”
“It’s the little cancellations – 20 to 100 people meeting at one of the hotels – that have really added up and hurt us,” Pawlowski said.
