[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19745]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                FIELD TESTS CONFIRM PRESENCE OF ANTHRAX

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I will use some of my leader time. I 
think this is an appropriate time to inform my colleagues about the 
events of the day, and I want to take just a couple of minutes to do so 
at this time.
  At about 10:15 this morning, a member of my staff opened an envelope. 
It became clear from the very beginning that the envelope contained a 
suspicious substance. My office notified the Capitol Police and the 
Capitol physician, who responded almost instantaneously. The tests were 
taken immediately. They call them field tests. Two field tests were 
taken on the scene. Both tests confirmed the substance was anthrax. I 
say ``confirmed'' advisedly because a far more sophisticated test is 
underway. We will not have that information available for approximately 
24 hours.
  Based upon the preliminary tests, members of my staff most directly 
involved were tested and given an antibiotic. The office was 
quarantined, and all mail from our office was returned. I immediately 
contacted the other leaders to inform them of the incident.
  The President happened to be calling at that point, and I informed 
him as well. I say the antibiotic is so effective it is 100-percent 
successful in killing the bacteria once that bacteria has been 
released. So we are supremely confident of our ability to deal with 
circumstances such as this.
  I must compliment the Sergeant at Arms, the Capitol Police, and our 
Capitol physician for their extraordinary response, organizationally 
and medically. I am very grateful to all of those who have been 
involved so far.
  The office has been quarantined and will not be open for several days 
as the office cleanup takes place. We have asked that all offices 
return all mail, and that is being done this afternoon. We will have 
meetings in our caucuses tomorrow wherein we will hear from the 
Sergeant at Arms, the Capitol Police, the Capitol physician, and others 
who will brief us about the specific ramifications of incidents such as 
this.
  I will say, however--it is very important to me, and I have talked to 
Senator Lott and to many of my colleagues--this Senate and this 
institution will not stop. We will not cease our business. We will 
continue to work.
  I am confident we can put in place practices that will minimize the 
exposure to any danger our staff may have to endure. I am especially 
confident about our ability to respond as we have today.
  So our work will continue. We will be in session tomorrow. I hope all 
offices will conduct their business as we would expect them to conduct 
it, with the exception of my office, until the inspection and the 
investigation and the cleanup can take place.
  I also want to express my heartfelt sympathy to my staff for what 
they have had to endure. I have been in contact with many of the 
families of my staff throughout the day, and while this has been an 
extraordinary experience for each of them, I am proud of the way they 
have handled themselves. I am proud of the attitude they bring even now 
to their work and to their mission, and I am especially proud of the 
fact that under these circumstances they have been so responsive, 
courageous, and upbeat.
  I simply want to encourage all colleagues to continue to conduct 
their work with the knowledge that we are taking every step and we will 
take additional steps as we become more aware of what can be done in a 
preventive way to deal with these circumstances in the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska, Mr. Murkowski.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair.
  In regard to the comments by the majority leader, when I left my 
office we had found a very strange envelope, which appeared with no 
postage, that was apparently left in the office with no identification. 
We contacted the Capitol Police and were advised there would be someone 
on the scene very soon.
  When I left the office, the police were in the office. They were 
waiting for the specialist to come over to identify the particular 
envelope. We were advised at that time we were No. 12 on the list of 
official notices that had been given to the Capitol Police relative to 
strange, unidentified postal packages or letters that have come in.
  I wish to emphasize we have no indication of what was in this 
particular article. It was not mailed. It did not have stamps. 
Nevertheless, I think it represents the precautions that are necessary 
to be taken.
  Again, I do not want to alarm anyone, but I commend the Capitol 
Police for the manner in which they came on the scene with 
instructions. I think all offices received instructions today on how to 
handle mail.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I may speak as in morning 
business for 15 minutes.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The 
Senator from Alaska is recognized for 15 minutes.




                          ____________________