WASHINGTON – The mood in Maryland congressional offices was described as cautious but not panicked Wednesday, as House and Senate office buildings were ordered closed because at least 30 people tested positive for anthrax exposure.
The offices will remain closed for at least the rest of this week, leaving staffers scrambling to shift operations to district offices — which are grappling with heightened anthrax anxiety themselves.
Maryland delegation members said they will continue working and constituents should be able to reach them by e-mail or by phone, with calls to their Washington offices forwarded to their district offices.
The House has suspended business until Tuesday, while the Capitol complex is tested for anthrax, but the Senate said it will continue its business this week, even though offices will be closed.
“I think we feel pretty confident that the situation is under control,” said Rep. Albert Wynn, D-Largo. “Everyone is more alert; everyone is more conscious. This is not a major change nor a major disruption.
“We will be going about our business pretty much as normal,” Wynn said. “I would say that we’re in very good shape.”
Some Senate offices — including those of Maryland Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes — have been closed since Tuesday, after a letter containing anthrax was delivered to the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D- N.D.
Since then, thousands of Capitol Hill staffers and lawmakers, including Mikulski and Sarbanes, have lined up to be tested for anthrax and to get a precautionary three-day supply of medication.
More than 30 people, including 29 members of Daschle’s staff, have tested positive for exposure. Exposure to anthrax does not indicate the presence of an infection from the bacteria.
But officials said thousands of test results will not be available until at least Thursday morning.
While Senate leaders said they would not let terrorists scare them out of Washington, House leaders chose to err on the side of caution and recess until next week.
“The leadership jointly determined that it would be a good precaution to do a clean sweep of the Capitol,” said Rep. Connie Morella, R-Bethesda. “I’ll have to leave here at 7 p.m. (Wednesday), but I’ll be here until the very end.”
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Frederick, said it is prudent to close the Capitol so that necessary testing can take place.
“Frankly, there’s almost nothing that needs to be done in Washington that will be affected by waiting for a couple of days,” Bartlett said, adding that staffers will continue to work from home or district offices.
Morella said the anthrax attacks have incited more anger and astonishment on the Hill than panic.
“It’s also enhanced our resolve to show that we will not be intimidated,” she said. “They’re not going to get the better of us as a nation.”
All mail delivery to Capitol Hill offices has been halted since the discovery of the letter to Daschle’s office. Staff members at congressional district offices are also being careful with mail.
“The district offices have been told to use extreme caution,” said Cathy Bassett, a spokeswoman for Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Kennedyville. “We’ve been fully briefed on what to look for and how to handle suspicious packages.”
Bassett said the House leadership chose to “err on the side of caution” in the closing.
Safety is the top concern, said Stacey Farnen, a spokeswoman for Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville.
“I think there’s a feeling among the leadership that the priority is that the staff is safe and secure,” she said.
In addition to the Capitol cases of anthrax exposure, a Florida man has died from anthrax poisoning and three others — one in Florida and two in New York — have been infected with the bacteria. A total of nine cases of exposure have been found outside Washington, with cases reported in New York, Florida and Nevada. — Capital News Service reporters Carolyn Taschner, Melanie Starkey, Kristyn Peck, Jennifer Dorroh and Robyn Lamb contributed to this report.