Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Anthrax letter sent to Senate majority leader
By Alan Fram
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A piece of mail sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle tested positive for anthrax on Monday as the bioterrorism scare that has raised anxiety across the country reached the halls of Congress.

The letter, which contained a powdery substance, was dispatched to an Army medical research facility at Fort Detrick, Md., for further examination after a pair of preliminary tests in Daschle’s office came back positive, said Capitol Police Lt. Dan Nichols.

The Fort Detrick findings wouldn’t be available until Tuesday, officials said.

President Bush, disclosing the letter to Daschle’s office, told reporters “there may be some possible link” between the spate of anthrax incidents across the country and Osama bin Laden, whom administration officials say was behind the Sept. 11 airline hijack attacks.

“I wouldn’t put it past him, but we don’t have any hard evidence,” Bush said.

Daschle was in the Capitol and was not exposed to the letter, which was opened in his other office a block away in the Hart Senate Office Building. Aides who may have been exposed to the letter were tested and being treated with the antibiotic Cipro as a precaution, said Dr. John Eisold, attending physician in the Capitol.

“They are innocent people caught up in a matter for which they have nothing to do,” a somber-looking Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters at a news conference outside the Capitol. “I am very, very disappointed and angered.”

Nichols said a criminal investigation was under way.

The Daschle letter — and similar scares in other congressional offices — prompted a halt to all mail deliveries in the Capitol and raised the angst there. Many lawmakers, aides and other employees already were nervous about working in a building that could be a high-profile target for terrorists.

In Trenton, N.J., Postal Inspector Tony Esposito and FBI officials said the letter to Daschle was postmarked in Trenton on Sept. 18, the same date and postmark on a letter that infected an NBC employee in New York last week.

Officials also were testing a female mail carrier and male maintenance worker in Trenton who reported possible symptoms of anthrax, Esposito said.

Elsewhere Monday, postal inspectors said some anthrax spores were found in the Boca Raton, Fla. post office that handled mail for American Media Inc., the tabloid publisher that lost a photo editor to anthrax.

Also, in Ottawa, part of Canada’s federal legislature buildings were shut down after a worker opened an envelope containing powder and developed a rash. Officials said the powder was being tested.

The letter to Daschle’s office was only one of several anthrax scares at the Capitol on Monday. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said his aides reported a suspicious letter and were told by Capitol Police that their report was the 12th of the day.

Aides to House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., were quarantined in their Capitol suite for about 30 minutes as officers examined and removed a letter that had an international postmark and no return address. The aides said they were told the letter was not dangerous.

“I think it’s safe to say everybody has a more heightened concern about these things now,” said Elizabeth Stanley, spokeswoman for Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., whose office received a stained envelope that police examined and found safe.

Daschle said about 40 people were in his office when the letter was opened. It was initially unclear how many may have been exposed and were being treated. The senator said his office was being quarantined while officials awaited test results, and it would be closed for several days while it is cleaned.

The preliminary test, which looks for genetic markers, has a high rate of false positives. One federal official cautioned that further testing is needed to confirm the letter included anthrax.

Staff members of Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., were tested for anthrax as a precaution because they work next door to Daschle’s office. All tested negative, an aide said.

Amid the activity, the Senate convened as scheduled Monday afternoon.

“This Senate and this institution will not stop,” Daschle said on the chamber’s floor. “We will not cease our business.”

But it was far from business as usual. Congressional security officials asked all lawmakers’ offices to immediately stop opening mail and let postal workers take it back for further screening.

“Even though all mail is undergoing additional security screening, please pay attention to all mail delivered to your office, particularly heavily taped mail,” Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, a House Democratic leader, wrote in an e-mail to colleagues.

Last week, Senate Sergeant at Arms Alfonso Lenhardt instituted new procedures to check all incoming mail “for potentially harmful agents,” a memo said. All mail is already x-rayed.

The memo also urged aides to look for suspicious signs while handling mail, including handwritten addresses, oily stains and rigid envelopes.

The Hart building’s ventilation system was turned off for a while, possibly as a precaution, but was back on by mid-afternoon.