For the week of  October 24 - 30, 2001

Congress flinched

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Supposedly, leadership starts at the top.

Had other Americans followed the lead of the U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday, they would have run to the basement, thrown a blanket over their heads and refused to go to work.

The House adjourned and representatives left Washington, D.C., in the face of an anthrax attack. A letter containing anthrax spores had been discovered in the office of Sen. Tom Daschle, R-South Dakota, but members of the House feared anthrax spores may have entered air ducts.

The U.S. Senate took a different approach. Its members refused to adjourn, refused to leave town, because they were concerned about the message desertion would send to the rest of the country.

This was the better decision.

Turning tail and running, all the while telling the rest of America to go about its business, was disgraceful. The excuses don’t wash. One representative justified the action saying it was only for a couple of days and that the House had to close to protect the thousands of non-elected aides and other workers.

Horse feathers.

The House could have dismissed workers, removed members to another location and remained in session. Claims of not being able to continue work without staff support were ridiculous. The question in this case wasn’t productivity. It was courage in the face of attack.

The New York Times didn’t stop the presses when it received an anthrax-laced letter. NBC, ABC and CBS didn’t cancel news broadcasts when the offices of their news anchors received the same. The Wall Street Journal, whose Manhattan headquarters were evacuated during the attack on the World Trade Center, didn’t miss an issue.

The U.S. Postal Service hasn’t shut down even though two postal workers died after contracting the worst form of anthrax. Postal workers continue to report to work even knowing there’s no fast fix for contaminated mail.

Members of Congress let the terrorist attacks get to them. They panicked. They succumbed to fear.

They are back to work this week. That’s where they should stay.

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