Congress Building Screening Facility
By JANELLE CARTER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Congress is building a facility outside the Capitol to screen tourists, implementing new procedures for opening lawmakers' mail and considering the use of National Guardsmen to secure the Capitol grounds.
The temporary screening area will be on the east side of the Capitol, where tourists now line up to enter the building. Currently, visitors go through metal detectors and their belongings are X-rayed upon entering the Capitol.
Eventually, tourists will enter the building through an underground visitors' center that has yet to be built.
The Washington Post, quoting unidentified senior congressional aides, said appropriators have prepared a Capitol security request ranging from $600 million to $667 million, about five times the current Capitol Police budget.
At a private session Friday for House members, which was not confidential, lawmakers received briefings from the CIA, the FBI, the Capitol physician and the House sergeant-at-arms.
Much of the session dealt with a new system for opening the huge volume of mail that flows into congressional offices. Lawmakers said they were asked not to describe the precautions but were clearly concerned after it was announced Friday that an NBC employee contracted a form of anthrax in the skin after opening an envelope that contained suspicious powder.
"I told my staff, `Don't open your mail Monday,'" said Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J. He instructed staff members to let the mail pile up until they could be instructed on the new procedures.
Andrews also said all members have been issued handheld computers since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to keep in touch with congressional leaders during emergencies.
In addition to the briefing for members, lawmakers said authorities conducted a conference call for their spouses last week to urge vigilance. Among the advice: remove all license plates with U.S. Congress designations.
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Alfonso Lenhardt said Friday that use of National Guard troops is under consideration because of strains on the Capitol Police.
The 1,250-member Capitol Police force has been working 12-hour shifts six days a week since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as authorities ratchet up security around the nation's seat of government. Officials have speculated that the Capitol would be a top target should another attack occur.
Lenhardt said the possibility of using the National Guard was only a temporary solution being considered to relieve overworked officers.
"What we're trying to do as much as possible is give the Capitol Police a little break, a little rest," Lenhardt said.
Freeing some of the officers' time will also give them an opportunity for the "training we need to do to answer this new threat and environment we are in," he said.
Further heightening the need to increase the force's manpower is the fact that some 117 officers are reservists. Should their units be called up as the U.S. continues to fight terrorism abroad, authorities said it would severely hamper their efforts.
"Every officer we lose means officers have to work additional hours," said Lt. Dan Nichols, spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police.
Increasing manpower is just one of the actions authorities are looking at around the Capitol. On Wednesday, authorities banned non-delivery trucks from a 40-block area around the Capitol. Also this week, crews began installing a non-shattering substance on the building's windows.
Shortly after the attacks, officials closed off several streets in the surrounding area of the Capitol complex. Employees were ordered always to wear badges, and new rules will have lawmakers undergo security searches when driving into the complex.
Evacuation procedures were also distributed, with occupants advised to leave the building immediately if there is an emergency.
Lenhardt said authorities remained committed to keeping the building open to the public.
"We want people to come," he said. "We have to balance security with a free and open opportunity for the people to see their government at work."
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