[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 18, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H10178-H10179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  NATION'S CAPITAL PLAYS A ROLE IN MAINTAINING AN OPEN SOCIETY DURING 
                              TIME OF WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2001, the gentlewoman from the District 
of Columbia (Ms. Norton) is recognized during morning hour debates for 
5 minutes.
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor this afternoon to speak 
about a subject which may seem abstract, except that in wartime it is 
very real. We had a meeting with top White House officials, the Mayor, 
several city officials, business and labor officials and yes, some 
officials from here in the House to discuss maintaining an open society 
in a time of war.
  Mr. Speaker, we have got to make sure that the words ``open society'' 
do not become cliches. We have been tested recently. The test goes on. 
Are we able to fight a war even in the homeland and maintain the 
normalcy that the President admonishes us to maintain? Or will we, 
little by little, close down the society so that we resemble somebody 
else's society, a society we try not to be?
  Let us recall that this House was on the steps of this House on the 
evening of September 11 sending a brave message to the country and the 
world that we were going to keep this House open, that we could not be 
chased from the House and that they could not shut down democracy. It 
was one of the proudest moments probably in the 200 years that we have 
had a Congress. The importance, of course, there, was that it occurred 
in Washington and it occurred from the Nation's leaders. Then, of 
course, there was the anthrax scare, and we are still suffering from 
that. The House and the Senate took different paths. The House paid a 
price.

[[Page H10179]]

 But I think people still recognize that the leadership by example is 
coming from this House and the Senate and will continue to come from 
the Congress.
  The Christmas tree lighting which took place last week was the 
largest I have ever seen, and I am a native Washingtonian, occur from 
the Congress. I thank Speaker Hastert for his leadership in making it a 
bigger and better lighting and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) 
for his work in recognizing that this year, above all, we must make 
little events like lighting of the Christmas tree into big deals, 
because everybody is looking to Washington to see whether the war has 
canceled Christmas and to see whether normalcy really obtains.
  I want to thank the Sergeant at Arms of the House and the Senate and 
the Architect of the Capitol, who are called the Capitol Police Board 
for reopening tours of the Capitol. People stood in pouring rain on a 
Saturday morning when they heard by word of mouth that the tours were 
reopened.
  What is the importance of this event after event? I can tell you one 
thing, I do not intend to become the event planner for Washington or 
any other city, but the world is looking at us to see whether or not we 
know how to keep on keeping on. They cannot tell. They cannot get 
inside our heads. They can only tell by whether or not we continue to 
remain normal.
  The White House at first closed the Christmas tree lighting. When I 
called the White House and said, do you really have to do this, I 
appreciate that they rethought it and decided that all they had to do 
was bring the same glass that they used around the President at the 
inauguration and put that same glass out there and they could have the 
public come to the Christmas tree lighting.
  I want to make sure that this city is not closed down. If we close 
down this city, we close down every city in America. The Nation will 
look to see whether we run to our bunkers to see whether they should 
run to theirs.
  At the meeting last week with White House officials, I want to share 
with Members some of the suggestions we made that would help send a 
message that the Nation's capital is open and, therefore, America is 
open: Allowing people who were screened through their Social Security 
numbers to tour the White House; opening E Street which was closed down 
again after September 11 even though the Secret Service had agreed that 
E Street could be reopened once it was widened; allowing a circulator 
or secured bus for tourists to go right across Pennsylvania Avenue in 
front of the White House. If that does not send a message to those who 
think we are afraid. And funding the National Capital Planning 
Commission so that we have a citywide plan to do security compatible 
with our national monuments.
  Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that the White House allows District 
schoolchildren to be the first to see the White House Christmas tree 
decorations as a sign that this does remain an open and free society.

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