Posted on 10/23/2001 7:01:54 AM PDT by grimalkin
WASHINGTON, Oct 23, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- The House Minority Leader said Tuesday it was time to stop parsing words about the type of anthrax found on Capitol Hill and in nearby postal facilities, calling it "weapons grade material" and a sophisticated product.
Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., emerged from a morning meeting with President Bush to tell reporters: "This is weapons grade material. This is serious material and we've got to err on the side of caution."
Gephardt said he believes the investigation of anthrax found on Capitol Hill and at the nearby Brentwood postal facility keys on a mail sorting machine that puts pressure on letters as it processes them for delivery. He said such pressure could allow anthrax bacteria spores to escape through the minute holes in the envelope paper.
"The machine, I think was the critical factor," he said. "I've been saying for some time we've been dealing with a sophisticated product. I think we've got to stop parsing words and being anything other than accurate about what it is."
Gephardt's comments are yet another flip-flop on the anthrax debate. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, as well as other congressional leaders, have said in the past week the anthrax was "garden variety," without any indication of being altered to make it a weapon, because it was responsive to antibiotic treatment.
The Capitol was open for business Tuesday, however House and Senate office buildings remained closed as security officials continue to sweep for anthrax spores. Anthrax has been confirmed in the Hart building office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., in the Hart mailroom, in the mailroom of the Ford building and at the Brentwood mail facility that serves Capitol Hill.
Two Brentwood postal workers are hospitalzed at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va., with inhalation anthrax infection. Two other Brentwood postal workers have died and their cases are strongly suspected to be anthrax, but final test results were pending. Twenty-eight congressional staff members on the Hill have been exposed to anthrax, according to Capitol Police Lt. Dan Nichols, the number unchanged for days despite the testing of more than 5,000 people.
A number of other individuals are being watched for flu-like symptoms that suggest possible infection, authorities said. Washington Mayor Anthony Williams said a central reporting system for patients with anthrax-like symptoms was set up through the district's public health system.
At least 10 people have been diagnosed with anthrax infection -- in New York, Florida, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey. Four -- two in Florida and two in Washington -- have come down with the more deadly inhaled form, while the rest have the type that is contracted through cuts or abrasions on the skin. Robert Stevens, 63, the photo editor for American Media's Sun tabloid in Boca Raton, Fla., died of inhaled anthrax infection Oct. 5 and remains the only confirmed fatality.
While the Brentwood postal facility and an airmail postal site near BWI Airport remained closed Tuesday while workers check for additional anthrax spores, in South Florida, the Postal Workers Union said it is planning to sue the U.S. Postal Service and perhaps postal officials to force them to test its 3,300 members.
"Why are the postal workers the first to touch this mail and the last to be tested?" asked Judy Johnson, president of the union local.
Health officials said only tiny amounts of anthrax spores were found in three Palm Beach County mail facilities that serve American Media.
Health officials said there have been no new infections of postal employees and there is no cause for further testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has pulled out of Boca Raton because outbreak there appears to have run its course.
But state officials said there may be more exposures of American Media employees as the results of retests of 300 employees come in.
"Before the event is over, we'll probably have additional numbers of people we believe were exposed," he said. "The numbers will grow as we go into the final phases of the operation."
They may not be in danger, however, because they are already undergoing treatment with antibiotics.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency continued surveying the three-story building for anthrax spores as it prepares for the agency's first "bio-cleanup." The EPA generally deals with oil and chemical spills.
The EPA said $500,000 has been cleared from its Superfund program to finance the cleanup, but the amount needed has not been determined.
The Coast Guard has sent a strike team to help, and the Florida National Guard is also sending civil support team members.
And his request that others stop parsing words--Wow! How insightful! How timely! But Clinton is gone and it is time for Gephardt, among others, to get the message that it is the idea, the meaning of the words, that count--not the legalese.
Once more, like a little more gas for that fire, Dick?
Did anyone else notice that he seemed to be very red in the face after his breakfast with Dubya?
That this stuff was weaponized has been obvious to anyone who has rudimentary cerebral function for at least a week despite th best efforts of the administration and their FR Shills.
Perhaps the anthrax sent to Daschle met the first definition but none so far has apparently met the second.
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