[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20977]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 20977]]

                     AMERICANS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence) is


recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues are aware, trace elements of 
the anthrax bacillus were discovered in my office in the Longworth 
Office Building, along with the offices of two of my distinguished 
colleagues, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Baldacci) and the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Holt). Mr. Speaker, all of us have been busy, to 
say the least, since we received the call from leadership and security 
on Friday night, not only meeting with health officials, but security 
officials, and contacting constituents who came into contact with our 
office. It has been a busy time.
  But I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to announce proudly that another 
attack on our national government has failed. As a Christian believer, 
I begin my remarks today by giving thanks to God, who I believe 
protected my family and my staff from this unseen menace. In our 
family, we often say that the safest place in the world is to be in the 
center of God's will, and we believe that we had his protection. As the 
Bible says, ``It is good for me to be near God, I have made the 
sovereign Lord my refuge, I will tell of all your deeds,'' and thus I 
do so humbly today.
  To the people we serve in Indiana, our message today is simple. They 
should be confident. My family and my staff are well and show no signs 
of infection. We have all been treated, as has virtually every 
individual that came into contact with our office. This incident should 
not, Mr. Speaker, be cause for alarm but of encouragement. The system 
worked, thanks to the outstanding work of the Capitol Hill security, 
the CDC, and the Office of the Attending Physician, who I rise to 
commend today. We are requesting in all of our offices that anyone who 
visited our office from October 12 to October 17 see their physician 
and begin a prophylactic treatment of antibiotics over the next 60 
days.
  To the people who did this, whoever you are, you have failed again. 
You have failed to reach your target, and you have failed in a much 
more profound way, because by your actions you have steeled the resolve 
of every member of this national government whose duty it is to bring 
you to justice or to seal your fate.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, a word on behalf of the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Hastert), the Speaker of the House, and the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the minority leader, whose decision to close 
the House offices and commence this environmental sweep was so deeply 
maligned by many in the national media and even by some of our own 
colleagues in the U.S. Senate. On behalf of my wife, my children, 
Michael, Charlotte and Audrey, the nine full-time staffers in my 
office, from my heart to the bipartisan leadership I say thank you. 
Thank you for putting my family and my staff's well-being ahead of any 
concern about public relations or image.
  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, these times have fallen on broad shoulders, men 
and women willing and able to make the tough choices and stand by them. 
So I say to the troops in the field, our investigators at home, the 
postal workers who find themselves on the frontline of this domestic 
terrorism, and to the public at large, be encouraged. God has indeed 
put strong men and women in leadership of this national government for 
such a time as this. As it is written, fear is usless. What is needed 
is trust.
  Mr. Speaker, over this last weekend my family again learned that our 
national leadership and the leadership in both parties in this Congress 
is worthy of our trust in these difficult days, and I am grateful.

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