Despite House Closing, Maine Reps. Determined to Continue Their Work
By Dana Razzano
WASHINGTON – Maine Reps. John Baldacci (D-2nd) and Tom Allen (D-1st) have been given a historical recess from their work on Capitol Hill. For the first time in nearly 200 years, officials ordered the closing of the House Wednesday after at least 33 Senate personnel tested positive for exposure to anthrax.
Despite the House closing, Baldacci and Allen said they are determined to continue addressing the needs and concerns of their constituents.
“We will do our work and make sure the people know their government is at work,” Baldacci said. “[Continuing our work] will send a message to the world that we will not allow terrorists to succeed by frightening us.”
Allen said, “There is no added pressure to conclude the session” in light of the recent anthrax scares. “We need to do our work and take however long we need.”
Baldacci said he advised his staff, as a precautionary measure, to bring their work home and vacate their offices in the Capitol at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Baldacci said he would remain in Washington on Thursday morning for a scheduled municipal caucus meeting before returning to Maine in the late afternoon. Allen was scheduled to return to Maine Wednesday evening and said his Washington staff would work the remainder of the week from their homes.
“Weapon-grade anthrax is very serious,” Baldacci said of the type of anthrax believed to have been in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) that was opened on Monday. “We have to take precautions to make sure no one else is exposed to it.”
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said that the closing of the House would permit a “methodical sweeping” of the building by health officials to check for the presence of anthrax. The house is scheduled to reconvene next Tuesday.
Daschle said the Senate would remain in session Thursday, but Senate offices would be closed to staff members Thursday and Friday. Sen. Susan Collins’s staff was told to take their work home with them and be prepared to conduct business while the Senate was in session, said Felicia Knight, spokeswoman for Collins.
Baldacci said his interests are focused on the precautionary systems in place and resources available for a bioterrorist attack in Washington and in Maine.
“Our battle with terrorists is far and away the top priority for Congress,” Allen said. The government is working hard to figure out the kind of steps that need to be taken to minimize the risks to the American people, he said.
The unprecedented nature of the closing has been compared to the closing of the Capitol during the War of 1812, said Betty Koed, assistant senate historian. “In terms of an attack on the building, there are no examples [forcing its closure] we’ve come up with in the 19th or 20th centuries,” she said.
As of Wednesday evening, 29 staff members from Daschle’s office, two staffers from the office of Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and two Capitol Police officers have tested positive for anthrax spores.
Allen said the House physician indicated there was no reason why members or staff of the House should feel the need to get tested.
“Right now we are taking one step at a time,” Baldacci said. However, those steps, he said, are being taken in a “very calm, measured precautionary manner.”
