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America At War:
Heightened Alert
With Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.)
Friday, Oct. 12, 2001; 2 p.m. EDT
The FBI has warned Washington area police to be on special alert for truck bombs and announced it had "reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the U.S. and against U.S. interests overseas over the next several days.
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) will be online Friday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m. EDT, to discuss the heightened security measures.
The congresswoman said in a press release that she regretted vehicular restrictions around the Capitol complex but that her priority for preserving access for Metro buses and passenger vehicles -- the major traffic that uses Independence and Constitution avenues and other blocks near the Capitol -- had been asured.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Washington, D.C.:
What is being done to monitor vehicles parked in front of Metro stations in the District of Columbia, in light of the security warning issued by the Administration last night?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I have no idea what Metro is doing because there is no central coordination of how to respond to threats. I musst say thought that I have some confidence in Metro's security, given a recent hearing we had in the D.C. subcommittee which convinced me that if anything Metro is ahead of the federal government and the District of Columbia on modernizing security.
Washington, D.C.:
With all the focus on protecting the monuments in Washington, D.C., what is being done to protect D.C. citizens in residential neighborhoods? I'm worried that crime will increase as a result of lack of patroling in such areas.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: There was a reason to be concerned in the days immediately following Sept. 11 but most of the district police are back in our neighborhoods. I have introduced a bill today, however, to give the mayor of the District of Columbia the right to call up the National Guard in emergencies without going through the president. That may be one answer to these high alerts. However, we did have the National Guard on duty as well in the week or so after Sept. 11.
Washington, D.C.:
What do you think about these latest anthrax occurrences?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: These anthrax occurrences are turning out to be negative the last time I looked. I am comforted by the assurance of the HHS secretary Tommy Thompson that the country is prepared to respond to biological attacks. We need to be vigilant but to get back to normal, especially after receiving such assurances.
Alexandria, Va.:
You have been a friend of Israel for many years and I thank you for it. Are you hearing anything in Congress right now about a new U.S. initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute?
I am concerned that because of Sept. 11 President Bush might put forward a plan that is more favorable to the Palestinians than was President Clinton's December 2000 bridging proposals (for a Palestinian state, some border modifications, but no Palestinian "return" to land inside of Israel's pre-1967 borders.)
Eleanor Holmes Norton: The Congress is totally preoccupied with terrorism legislation and airport security. However, the president needs to focus on Israel and the Middle East situation in amore focused way because the inattention of the Bush administration for months has clearly helped feed the forces opposed to moderation in the Persian Gulf. I would like to see the president quickly pick up where President Clinton left off.
D.C.:
It seems like a fundamental failing on Sept. 11 was a question of who was in charge, the feds or the city? Has that been resolved? Is there a "disaster plan" somewhere that clearly lays out who does what?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: Following Sept. 11, I was able to get the district included in U.S. domestic preparedness legislatino as an equal partner at the table for planning coordination and execution. The truth is that nobody was in charge on Sept. 11 and the greatest failing was federal -- with no legislation in place, nothing in the air to protect the U.S. and no communication to the D.C. government or the D.C. police when federal employees were led out from work in near panic, causing terrified gridlock.
Fairfax, Va.:
Do you recommend, based on the current threats, that people living in Virginia and Maryland stay out of D.C. unless they have to come in for work? Do you have any reason to believe D.C. is more of a target then any other city?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I am certain that D.C. is the safest city in the country today. With precautions seen and unseen and unthought of in the past, I would recommend the opposite of our normal habits. Think of how people in Israel and Europe have lived for decades with terrorist incidents and I think we will have a model for how important it is to maintain normalcy or take your economy and normal way of life down yourselves.
Woodley Park, D.C.:
Hello Rep. Norton,
I both live and work in the District, and I'm very concerned about the ramifications of turning our city into a fortress in order to make it only marginally safer. I am opposed to additional street closings, there are enough in our downtown area, and those ubiquitous concrete jersey barriers are turning our once-beautifull streetscapes into a sea of ugliness. I understand the need for security, but wouldn't attractive bollards like those around Lafayette Park be more appropriate? I'm not even talking about temporary barricades hastily thrown up during the current crisis -- the jersey barriers have surrounded the Washington Monument for a couple of years now while the Park Service does nothing to replace them with something more aesthetic. Ditto for the ones around the Sherman Monument, to the south of the Treasury Department. I'm hoping that you and the Mayor and Council will resist when the Secret Service proposed closing off more streets or add ugly barriers to additional locations. Also, could you please put some heat on the Park Service regarding the Washington Monument? Thanks very much.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: The fortress environment around Washington is anathema to the beauty of the city and everything the nation stands for. Fortunately, the idea of more attractive and even fewer barriers is not only on the table but likely to occur soon. The National Capital Planning Commission is close to finishing a study of how to protect the city with only such barricades as necessary without dehumanizing it and making a great and beautiful city into an ugly military fortress.
Brattleboro, Vt.:
Wouldn't giving D.C. statehood improve the
abilities of local people to have control
over their safety?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I certainly think so. Overlappping jurisdiction in times of emergency spells trouble. If D.C. were a state it would have full and complete authority to protect itself from local emergencies and natural disasters without going through the president. Meanwhile I've had to put a special bill in to do just that today, givin the mayor the authority to call up the National Guard while, of course, the president would retain the same power he has in the 50 state s to nationalize the state National Guards in times of emergency.
Arlington, Va.:
Given the real possibility of panic, I think it would be helpful if you and other public officials reminded people that anthrax is not transmissible person-to-person, that gas masks are not a protection against it, and that stockpiling antibiotics and self-medicating not only will not protect people against anthrax infection, but will cause unpleasant side effects and increase resistance to those antibiotics. The best protection is calm and reasonable responses to the many, many reports that have begin to come in and will continue to.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I can only say "Amen" to your thoughtful statement and to recommend that all of us take heed.
Washington, D.C.:
What do you know about the incident this morning at 5th and Indiana Ave. involving a suspicious package that was detonated.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I don't have information about a particular suspicious package but it is standard practice to detonate such packages. Almost 100% of the time, they are briefcases, food or some other package left absent mindedly by an unthinking person.
Washington, D.C.:
Are the police patrolling highly populated neighborhoods? I am a bit scared at night when everything is so quite and then you hear so many sirens. Also, can you please tell the police to not put their sirens on when it's not necessary. The sirens are making everyone panic ... especially at night. Thank you.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: Good suggestion on the sirens but I hope that they are not being used unnecessarily. I will check. Neighborhoods are being patrolled as before Sept. 11.
Washington, D.C.:
Good Afternoon, and thank you for taking questions.
A return to normalcy is what we have been hearing these past weeks, and to be honest very hard to embrace, because what is normal has forevered changed. You are right to point out that people in Israel and Eastern Europe live in dangerous conditiions and go about their lives best as they can and do not give in to fear, but, they are also more prepared in ways of how to address violence and protection, at least in Israel. Will the District consider holding town meetings by ward to listen to resident's fears and help them think proactively about facing danger?
Eleanor Holmes Norton: True, we are at the beginning and Europe and the Mid East is more practiced at being secure and normal at the same time. I intend to hold a town meeting to allow district residents to voice their fears but better than that, to hear from experts what should be feared and what is not to be feared.
Washington, D.C.:
On Sept. 11th, Mayor Williams released District Government employees several hours after the Federal employees were released. Many main thoroughfares were blocked off by the police, creating gridlock. Many of us who work in close proximity to the Capitol, Congress, Union Station, etc. are literally sitting ducks, should they be attacked.
Does the District have, or has created an emergency plan that focuses on communication of eminent danger to employees, and a release and evacuation plan, that will reduce the likelihood of victimization of its employees in a similar incident?
If the District has a plan, it was not implemented on Sept. 11th -- employees were not communicated with regarding the potential dangers, nor were we evacuated from government buildings.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: I too live on Capitol Hill and neither D.C. nor for that matter the federal government had any plan in place for evacuating employees or anybody else. Lots of work has been done since. D.C. has already submitted a plan to the Congress and is now working with our neighbors on a regional plan and will shortly be at the table with the federal government for joint planning pursuant to a provision I have been able to get into the domestic preparedness legislation that has already been reported out of committee in the House.
Eleanor Holmes Norton: It's a pleasure to live in a region and for that matter, in a country, where a public official can receive such thoughtful and intelligent questions and statements. Thank you.
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