Maine leaders vow to continue work

WASHINGTON – Maine Reps. John Baldacci and Tom Allen have been given a historic recess from their work on Capitol Hill. For the first time in nearly 200 years, officials ordered the closing of the House on Wednesday after almost three dozen Senate personnel tested positive for exposure to anthrax.

Despite the House closing, Baldacci and Allen said they were determined to continue addressing the needs and concerns of their constituents.

“We will do our work and make sure the people know their government is at work,” Baldacci said. “[Continuing our work] will send a message to the world that we will not allow terrorists to succeed by frightening us.”

Allen said, “There is no added pressure to conclude the session” in light of the recent anthrax scares. “We need to do our work and take however long we need.”

Baldacci said he advised his staff, as a precautionary measure, to bring their work home and vacate their offices in the Capitol at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

He said he would remain in Washington on Thursday morning for a scheduled municipal caucus meeting before returning to Maine in the late afternoon.

Allen was scheduled to return to Maine Wednesday evening and said his Washington staff would work the remainder of the week from their homes.

“Weapon-grade anthrax is very serious,” Baldacci said of the type of anthrax believed to have been in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle that was opened on Monday. “We have to take precautions to make sure no one else is exposed to it.”

House Speaker Dennis Hastert said that the closing of the House would permit a “methodical sweeping” of the building by health officials to check for the presence of anthrax. The House is scheduled to reconvene next Tuesday.

The unprecedented nature of the closing has been compared to the shutting down of the Capitol during the War of 1812, said Betty Koed, assistant Senate historian. “In terms of an attack on the building, there are no examples [forcing its closure] we’ve come up with in the 19th or 20th centuries,” she said.

Allen said the House physician indicated there was no reason members or staff of the House should feel the need to get tested.

“Right now we are taking one step at a time,” Baldacci said. However, those steps, he said, are being taken in a “very calm, measured precautionary manner.”