[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 159 (Friday, November 16, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11994-S11995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COMMENDING THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE KEPT THE SENATE SAFE AND RUNNING 
                          IN A DIFFICULT MONTH

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, yesterday marked 1 month since the letter 
containing anthrax was opened in my office. Being at ``ground zero'' in 
the largest bioterrorism attack ever on U.S. soil has been unsettling 
and frustrating for many of us. As our Nation prepares to celebrate 
Thanksgiving, though, there is much for which we in the Senate family 
have to be grateful.
  On a personal note, I am deeply grateful that the members of my staff 
who were exposed to anthrax continue to be in good health and good 
spirits and they continue to come to work every day, inspiring our 
entire staff with their courage and dedication. I am grateful, as well, 
that the other members of our Senate family who were exposed also 
continue to be in good health. I am grateful to the doctors and 
scientists who have worked long hours to protect Americans from this 
threat, not just on Capitol Hill, but in Washington, Trenton, New York 
and even as far away as Kansas City.
  I am particularly grateful to a special group of people who have kept 
the Senate safe and running during this unprecedented time. At the top 
of that list is Al Lenhardt, the Senate's Sergeant at Arms, and his 
staff. If there was ever a case of the right person, in the right job, 
at the right time, it is Al Lenhardt. On September 11, Al had been 
Sergeant at Arms for exactly 1 week. I don't believe he has taken a day 
off work since then. The first Saturday morning after the anthrax 
letter was opened, he was at work in the Capitol, surrounded by 
scientists and investigators. He had been at work until

[[Page S11995]]

late the night before. That morning, someone asked him: ``If you had it 
to do all over again, do you think you'd still take this job?'' Without 
a moment's hesitation, he replied: ``Absolutely. To be in a position to 
serve your country--what better job could there be?''
  Al Lenhardt is helped in that job by an equally dedicated staff. In 
addition to keeping us safe, for the last month, the men and women of 
the Sergeant at Arms Office have played an indispensable role in 
keeping the Senate running. Only once before--when the British burned 
the Capitol in 1814--have so many Senators been displaced from their 
offices. The staff of the Sergeant at Arms Office and the Rules 
Committee have been faced with a huge logistical challenge, and they 
have responded amazingly.
  Senator Dodd and the Rules Committee Staff Director, Kennie Gill, 
deserve special thanks for the amazing job they did relocating 
displaced Senate offices. Since October 18, Kennie, the Rules Committee 
staff and the Sergeant at Arms' Office have set up 129 temporary 
offices within the Capitol, in the Russell and Dirksen Buildings and at 
Postal Square. They re-established our computer network.
  This one task alone involved dropping 650 new LAN lines, laying over 
a mile of copper cabling, and nearly half a mile of fiber cabling, 
creating 216 new network protocol addresses for temporary PC locations, 
opening 73 routers between Senate offices and creating a new Senate 
fiber network. In addition, Rules Committee and Sergeant at Arms staff 
attached 700 PCs and 110 printers to the Senate computer network. They 
have kept our telecommunications system up and running by connecting 
nearly 600 new telephone lines, 200 new voice mail boxes and 64 fax 
machines.
  Members of the Rules Committee and Sergeant at Arms staffs, and the 
vendors who support them, have worked for weeks straight without a day 
off. They have worked nights and weekends, putting in thousands of 
hours of overtime. They have refused to allow the largest bioterrorism 
attack in our Nation's history to stop the work of the Senate, and for 
that we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
  The 1,400 men and women of the Capitol Police force are also working 
a lot of overtime. Since September 11, they have all been putting in 
12-hour days, 6 days a week. That is a minimum. Sometimes they pull 
double shifts. They work through colds, weekends, holidays, and their 
childrens' birthdays. They remain at their posts, alert.
  If you had asked me a month ago whether the Senate could carry on in 
the middle of a bioterrorism attack, with 50 Senators locked out of 
their offices, I might have been a little skeptical. But Al Lenhardt 
and his staff, Kennie Gill and her staff and the men and women of the 
Capitol Police force have shown us that anything is possible. Together, 
they have kept the Senate safe and operating in these anxious times. We 
are grateful to them all.

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