[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 141 (Thursday, October 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CONTINUING THE WORK OF THE SENATE

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I commend Senator Daschle for having us in 
session today. I think he has done the right thing. A great deal of 
work will get done that needs to be done and can be done quickly. 
Frankly, I believe we should be here. I hope we will very soon have 
these galleries open to all tourists. I hope very soon we can have the 
Capitol Building open to all tourists. I was in my office on Saturday. 
I came through this building and it was empty. I asked one of the 
guards why tourists are blocked out.
  I remember as a teenager coming to Washington for the first time with 
my parents, the thrill of going through this building, through the 
Smithsonian and the Library of Congress, because they were open to the 
American people, as they should be now. I have to think there are a 
whole lot of parents and their children who can't do that. I am on the 
Board of Regents at the Smithsonian, and I see that the number of 
visitors is going way down. That is free to everybody.
  It should not be that way. This is one of the most beautiful cities 
in the world, one of the best cities in the world. The people are among 
the best people anywhere. Washington should be a magnet not only for 
Americans throughout the country but visitors throughout the world. I 
want us back here. I have my staff squeezed into cubbyholes and my 
Capitol office and working out of their homes. We are all connected to 
the Internet and everything else. We are going to work throughout this 
weekend. We are going to get the terrorism bill finished, with the 
bioterrorism piece that I added here in the Senate and the Senators 
passed.
  All that is going to be done this weekend because very brave men and 
women, on my staff and others, are going to work straight through the 
weekend, but they are going to take 20 hours to do what they might do 
in 10 hours on other days because of all the disruptions.
  We have to set the example that the Senate is open and ready for 
business. We cannot ask some 18-year-old on duty in our armed services 
in Kosovo to stand sentry duty in the middle of the night next to a 
minefield and say: But U.S. Senators are not here.
  The distinguished Presiding Officer has been a Governor, and he is a 
Senator. He is here. I see my good friend from California who was mayor 
of San Francisco and stood there at a most difficult time. We are ready 
to go to work. We will go to work, and the Senate will continue to be 
the conscience of the Nation.
  I yield the floor.

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