One Nation Under Siege: Congress, Terrorism, and the Fate of American Democracy

2: Enunciators and BlackBerrys

2 enuncIators and BlackBerrys Congressional Office Administration Post 9/11 The Capitol Police, the janitors and maintenance workers, the grounds crews, the people who serve food, the secretaries, the Parliamentarians , the clerks, the young pages, our legislative and our committee staff, our field and caseworkers, and all the other dedicated and courageous people who make this place and our government run all deserve our thanks and our praise. With tears in their eyes, with sadness and with fear in their hearts, but with indomitable courage they came right back to work to serve this country we all love. —Representative Brian Baird (D-WA) On September 11, 2001, a massive coordinated terrorist attack on the United States threatened the Capitol Complex. All federal office buildings in Washington, D.C., were evacuated; Reagan International Airport was shut down; the Pentagon was ablaze; all monuments were barricaded; and rumors of bombs at the State Department, the White House, and the Capitol proliferated. As one Washington Post reporter suggested: “The news of the attacks and evacuation of federal buildings sent hundreds of office workers into the streets and created a frenzied atmosphere downtown. . . . Fire engines roared down streets, dozens of office workers milled in Farragut Square and K Street was jammed with cars at a time when most of establishment Washington usually would be in their homes.”1 On that day, members of Congress as well as the thousands of support personnel evacuated to safety. They returned to work the next day as the dust from the attacks was just beginning to settle. It later became apparent that the Capitol Complex possibly was spared from major Enunciators and BlackBerrys 53 devastation by passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania en route to Washington, D.C.2 In the fall of 2001, approximately 30,000 legislative employees worked on Capitol Hill. Covering approximately 274 acres, the Capitol Complex incorporates several important buildings, including: the Cannon, Longworth , and Rayburn House Office Buildings; the Dirksen, Hart, and Russell Senate Office Buildings; three Library of Congress buildings; two House annex buildings; and several others. On October 15, 2001, just one month following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a congressional staffer opened a letter containing anthrax spores in Senator Tom Daschle’s (D-SD) office . Anthrax was also discovered in the Longworth building as well as the Ford Building, which is responsible for distributing the mail. According to the Congressional Record, 6,000 legislative employees were tested for anthrax exposure, and 28 tested positive. More than 1,000 employees were given a sixty-day supply of Cipro, an antibiotic used to treat anthrax exposure; as a precautionary measure the various House office buildings were closed for seven to nineteen days, and the Senate office building closures ranged from six to ninety-six days.3 These events introduced dramatic structural and cultural changes to the U.S. Congress and the staff supporting it. This chapter explores the impact of environmental factors such as national crises on the institution of Congress, its members, staff, structure, and processes. Congressional staff suggest that post-9/11 security measures have focused on improving the physical safety of members and congressional staff. In the process, these measures also have directly impacted Capitol Hill communications , office coordination, staff responsibilities, constituent responsiveness , and staff job satisfaction. Legislative Staff Research regarding legislative staff previously has been limited to a few primary areas: types of staff, staff characteristics, staffing reform, and staff influence.4 Early staffing studies focused on the descriptive characteristics of congressional staff, including demographics and tenure.5 Research on staff soon turned to the influence of congressional staff on legislative output,6 on member decision making,7 and as manifested through partisanship.8 54 One Nation Under Siege Other studies dissect the individual offices of members of Congress, exploring the ways in which staff are utilized. Attention has been paid to the organization of staff in congressional offices9 as well as to the allocation of staff resources to legislative responsibilities, such as constituency responsiveness and policy development.10 Research has also focused on staff communication networks, paying particular attention to the informational exchanges in the legislative process as well as interoffice communication.11 While the centrality of legislative staff to the policymaking process is undisputed, surprisingly few studies focus on the administrative behavior of staff in personal offices of members of Congress.12 In terms of its staffing patterns, Congress as...