Increased Mail Security Throughout Congress
WASHINGTON-Connecticut Representatives were distressed but not surprised about the anthrax scare that has prompted changes in security and mail-handling procedures at the Capitol.
“If someone is going to attack a newspaper, even a tabloid, then it’s not much of a stretch to realize that they would not any compunctions about attacking a government official like Majority Leader [Tom] Daschle,” said Representative James H. Maloney (D-5th).
“Clearly, these anthrax attacks are deliberate and well-planned and necessarily have to be fairly well-financed, because anthrax is not something you can go down to Home Depot and buy,” he added.
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd) said her staff in Washington and her district staff are in talks with the House Sergeant at Arms about safety precautions. DeLauro also said there was a session for members Friday. “I think the Sergeant at Arms, the Capitol police, members, we’re all trying to make sure that all precautions are necessary, to essentially make sure that people who are here are safe, and that’s what’s critically important,” she said.
“These things are necessary precautions because we have a lot of folks who work up here, quite honestly, a lot of young people who are anxious to work for the federal government. And in addition to you having members here, you have a lot of staff,” she said. “Without these precautionary measures, we put these folks at risk, and that’s not something that we want to do,” DeLauro added.
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-6th) said she and her staff are going about their daily business but are on extra alert. “I tell my staff and I tell myself it’s very important to be observant and cautious,” she said. “And if there’s anything that you observe that seems out of the ordinary to report it and take action. And if we do those things then I think we’re all going to be as secure tomorrow as we were before Sept 11.”
Maloney said his staff attended a briefing Monday on how to handle incoming mail and were told that all mail deliveries will be pre-screened. He said, “My first reaction, of course, is concern for [Daschle’s] staff who have been exposed apparently to anthrax, and we’re all worried about them and concerned about them, and we are also concerned about other staff members on Capitol Hill who work so hard to get the mail opened and distributed.”
Maloney said the anthrax attack “is also a source of anger in that it is going to take additional personnel, it’s going to take additional money, it’s going to be an additional inconvenience, and all of those resources would be better spent on education or health care or tax relief.”
Lt. Dan Nichols, Capitol Police spokesman, said direct mail delivery to the Capitol would be suspended until “we have protocols in place and we have procedures in place and we have time to train the staff. á We’re going to work very diligently with the staff to put these protocols in place to ensure their safety.”
Memos have been sent to Senate and House offices to explain the new mail-handling procedures. The memos said the Postal Service would deliver all office mail to an off-site Capitol Police building a few blocks away from the Capitol for X-ray examination before delivery to the Capitol.
Maloney assured constituents that mail delivery would take at most a day or two more once the new procedure was up and running. “So, there will be no substantial delay as a result of this new screening process that will be put in place. But there will, on the other hand, be a very substantial improvement in the protection of the people who open the mail.”
Johnson said her concern is that communication flow between offices not be interrupted. “Personally, I think if they had given our Washington staff the same training they gave the district staff that that would be adequate,” she said. “It’s true that the threat is somewhat greater in Washington than in the [home] district, but not a lot greater, and the observations that they’re going to make are observations that we could’ve made. I’m not convinced that the centralized review of the mail is necessary in Washington, but my main concern is that it be fast.”
Authorities closed part of the eight-story Hart Senate Office Building Tuesday morning after confirmation that Daschle’s office, in that building, had received a letter containing anthrax. Nichols said the offices of 12 senators, including Daschle’s, were closed and that those who work in the building, including cleaning crews and police, would be screened Tuesday and receive Cipro, an antibiotic, to fight anthrax. “We are erring on the side of caution, erring on the side of prudence in how we’re dealing with this,” he said.
According to Nichols, Capitol tours have been suspended indefinitely but not in response to the anthrax scare. The tours, he said, are “an important part of the Capitol experience, and we want people to have that experience. We also want to make sure that it’s safe for all those who visit up here.”
“I’ve always been very excited about the fact that this is the most open capitol complex in the world,” said DeLauro, “but the fact of the matter is we need to take precautions,” she said.
Johnson said that closing the Capitol for tours was not a good idea. “I think it’s a shame that they [tourists] can’t take a tour of the Capitol. We vote in the Capitol every single day, and if I thought it was dangerous I wouldn’t do that,” she said. “I think as long as everyone knows they’re in the Capitol, and naturally the Capitol is a desirable target, á I think they should have a right to go in the Capitol and not be overly discouraged by those who have other opinions.”
DeLauro said Congress should continue on normal business. “We’ve got some serious pieces of legislation that we are dealing with, and I think we need to move to get them done, and that’s not because of safety issues,” she said. “I don’t anticipate the anthrax discovery will hinder that, but the fact is we ought to be moving quickly on the airport security bill, whether or not there was the anthrax scare, and we ought to be moving on an economic stimulus package; those things ought to be done.”
Johnson said Congress should take its time with legislation. “I think it’s better if we go about our work and just do it well,” she said. “That’s what everybody else in our society has to do. They have a responsibility to continue to their job and to do it well, and so do we. I don’t think rushing our job is a reasonable response.”
