Anthrax scare shuts down House; Senate stays open

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., vowed to keep the Senate open for business Wednesday and probably Thursday, despite the incidence of anthrax exposure in Daschle's office that caused a partial closing of the Hart Senate Office Building. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, decided to shut down so that House facilities could be checked for anthrax contamination. Daschle, appearing at a midday news conference with Lott, Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and representatives of the Health and Human Services and the armed services medical corps, said legislative business would continue-with votes today and Thursday-even while health officials perform a sweep through the three Senate office buildings. He said staff will be "excused" from those buildings while investigators search for additional anthrax contamination. Daschle said there have been 31 "positive nasal swabs" to date, affecting 25 of his staffers and six Capitol Police officers. "The good news is that everyone will be OK," Daschle said, adding, "The situation is well in hand." Daschle would not comment on House Speaker Denny Hastert's decision to shut down the House. But Lott said, "I think we made the right decision to stay in session here in the Capitol," saying there was "no risk" in the building. Scott Lillibridge, coordinator of the HHS bioterrorism initiative, acknowledged that, in addition to the exposure in Daschle's office, an anthrax sample has been positively identified at a second site-the mailroom beneath the Senate office buildings. Noting that the Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies were now at work on Capitol Hill, Lillibridge said, "We will probably look at other sites" within the complex. Another health official said investigators were following the letter that contained the anthrax "backwards" to its delivery at the mailroom. Investigators also are examining the Hart building's ventilation system, which has been shut off since shortly after the letter arrived in Daschle's office. Daschle said the Senate Hart, Dirksen, and Russell office buildings would be closed Thursday, Friday and through the weekend to allow for a sweep which he called "precautionary." Daschle said he hopes they can be reopened Monday. As security officials prepared to empty the House portion of the Capitol complex for a comprehensive sweep for anthrax, House leaders urged calm and called the closure a temporary and prudent measure that would not prevent Congress from carrying out its responsibilities. House Speaker Hastert said Wednesday the House portion of the Capitol would be closed after the House completed an abbreviated floor schedule Wednesday afternoon to allow a "routine methodical sweeping" that is expected to last through Monday; members would return to work Tuesday. Hastert said the threat of anthrax would not prevent the House from completing its work this session. "It is not our intent to close up shop," Hastert said. "We intend to be here." Minority Leader Richard Gephardt said that a temporary break was necessary. "These are precautionary measures … to check the building," Gephardt said. "We need to be cautious. We need to be prudent." In bipartisan House meetings, Capitol physician John Eisold, and officials of the House Administration Committee, the House sergeant at arms office and the Capitol Police answered questions and briefed members and House chiefs of staff Wednesday afternoon on the situation. House Administration Committee ranking member Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said it was his understanding that immediate testing for all members and staff was unnecessary. "House physicians have indicated that testing is available to everyone but is not necessary," Hoyer said. Approximately 18,000 people work in the Capitol and House and Senate office buildings, a Hoyer aide said. "Nothing is 100 percent safe in life, but I am confident that everything they can possibly do is being done," said House Administration Chairman Robert Ney, R-Ohio. "We have to be cautious, but remain calm." Hoyer urged similar calm, saying: "Nobody's running. Nobody's fleeing." Speaker Hastert's office and staff were tested Wednesday when a staff member remembered previously opening a letter with handwriting similar to those on anthrax-laced letters mailed to Daschle and NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw. Security closed Hastert's fourth floor offices in the Capitol and staff were temporarily detained before they were tested and prescribed antibiotics. The letter at some point was placed in a "burn bag," which is routinely used to destroy confidential documents, but it was unclear when the letter was first handled.