Mixed security found at federal buildings in Washington

While federal officials worry about anthrax arriving in the mail, some agencies are neglecting to pay attention to what's coming through their front doors. Despite a show of security outside many federal facilities following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and despite tightened mail-handling procedures after anthrax was delivered through the Postal Service to news organizations in Florida and New York and to Senate offices in Washington, it is surprisingly easy for non-employees to get inside many federal buildings. Reporters visiting congressional offices and the headquarters of a number of government agencies in recent days found that security procedures varied tremendously, in both process and effect. Reporters did not attempt to enter any buildings under false pretenses, but they did not volunteer to identify themselves as such unless they were asked. At the Department of Labor headquarters, for example, a reporter gained access simply by telling a guard he wanted to visit the library. After producing a valid driver's license and passing his bag through an X-ray machine that nobody bothered to watch, the reporter freely wandered the building and even visited the rooftop cafeteria overlooking the Capitol. Viki Reath, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which manages workspace and buildings for many agencies, said federal buildings remain under heightened security, but noted that many security improvements would be invisible to visitors and even employees. "We've installed more magnetometers in some buildings and we've taken other steps," she said, declining to describe them for security reasons. "Basically, we're telling people to report anything suspicious," she said. To be sure, security at many federal buildings has been visibly tightened. A reporter visiting a credit union in the Waterside Mall offices of the Environmental Protection Agency was required to produce a driver's license and a credit union membership card. Even then, a security guard escorted the visitor while she was in the building. At the Internal Revenue Service, a reporter was required to wear a bright orange badge identifying him as a visitor and was escorted at all times he was in the building. Here's what GovExec.com reporters found at a few agencies and congressional offices in Washington: Department of Labor Entering the building from its Constitution Avenue entrance, a reporter told the guard he was going to visit the library. The guard took a cursory look at the reporter's driver's license and asked him to sign in. The guard, who was talking to a group of visitors waiting for an escort to a meeting, paid little attention as the reporter signed in. At an X-ray machine, another guard did not bother to look at the monitor as the reporter's briefcase passed through. Inside the building, the vast majority of people in the halls wore identification badges, yet no one stopped the reporter, who had no visible identification or visitor's badge. The reporter roamed the halls freely, and even passed by the secretary's office before joining employees at the rooftop cafeteria--which overlooks the Capitol. Department of Housing and Urban Development At HUD, four security guards were stationed at the visitors' entrance, where a sign read "100 percent ID check." While a security officer looked on, a reporter walked through a metal detector and placed her bag on an X-Ray machine. Another security guard sitting at a desk asked for a picture ID and the name and phone number of the person the reporter was meeting. After confirming the reporter's business, the security guard told her to sign in and fill out a visitor's name tag. While HUD spokesman Jerry Brown says all visitors must have an escort when walking around the building, the reporter was not asked to wait for an escort. Instead, she rode the elevator alone up to the 10th floor, where the offices of the Secretary and most of his senior staff are located. Department of Transportation A single, contractor security guard is stationed at the entrance to the Transportation Department. The guard waives federal employees with government ID into the building, while all others are directed into a small waiting area and told to go through a metal detector and have their bags X-rayed before entering. A visiting reporter flashed his congressional and Defense Department press passes for entry, but was told he still must have his bags X-rayed and walk through the metal detector, which failed to pick up the keys in his pocket. He was not asked where he was going, nor was he required to sign in or wear any form of ID. No employees questioned him as he made his way to the eighth floor offices of a senior Transportation agency official. General Accounting Office Concrete blocks, or jersey barricades, protect the GAO's entrance on G Street N.W., while, inside, all visitors are required to sign in at the front desk, pass through a metal detector and put their bags through an X-ray machine. Employees must provide security officials with advance notice of visitors, and all visitors must be escorted while in the building. Environmental Protection Agency, Waterside Mall offices Guards were stationed both outside and inside all entrances to the building and parking garage at the EPA's Waterside Mall offices on M Street S.W. A security guard demanded that a reporter visiting the credit union produce a driver's license and a credit union membership card before allowing her to sign in. After she did so, another guard escorted her to the credit union, waited for her to conduct her business, and then escorted her back to the entrance, where she signed out and left the building. Internal Revenue Service A reporter entered the 10th Street entrance before one of three guards stopped him and informed him that it was an employee-only entrance, telling him to go the 12th Street entrance. At the 12th Street entrance, another guard stopped the reporter and told him that the 12th Street entrance was also for employees only. At the Constitution Avenue entrance, a guard directed the reporter to hand his bag to another guard, who cleared it through an X-ray machine, while the first guard checked the reporter's keys and cell phone, before sending him through a metal detector. After retrieving his bag from the second guard, the reporter proceeded to a reception desk, where he was required to produce a picture ID and sign in while the receptionist recorded the name, type of ID, work address and time. The reporter then had to pin on a bright orange 3x5 inch badge with a large letter "V" while he waited for an escort--who accompanied him through the building at all times. An hour later, the escort took the reporter to a different exit, where he handed his orange visitor's badge to a security guard and left the building. Dirksen Senate Office Building After putting a bag through the X-ray machine and placing a set of keys in a plastic tray on a wooden side table, a reporter passed through a metal detector before proceeding to a hearing room. There was no sign-in sheet, no identification check and, other than a few quick glances back and forth, no contact between the visitor and the Capitol Police guarding the entrance. The hallways of the Senate are open to anyone who clears a metal detector. Longworth House Office Building A reporter's bag, which included a cellular phone and a tape recorder, went through the X-ray machine without being hand-checked. No security guard asked for identification or inquired about the purpose of the visit. People, including members of Congress, walked around the check-in station altogether without submitting to a bag or body check. Rayburn House Office Building At the Rayburn House Office Building, visitors were required to walk through a metal detector and place their bags on an X-ray machine--standard procedure prior to the terrorist attacks. Security personnel did not ask any visitors for picture IDs or question them about their business in the building. Cannon House Office Building At the Independence Avenue entrance--which faces the Capitol and the Supreme Court--one security official watched as five people crammed through the metal detector and placed their bags on the X-ray machine. Although the guard kept a close eye on everyone, he didn't question any visitors or ask for any identification, even when one visitor set off the metal detector.