An Attack of the Jitters : Capitol Hill Is Taking Terrorism Threat Seriously, Even If It Means Having a Pan of Lasagna Checked by the Bomb Squad

After the House sergeant-at-arms issued a warning that the U.S. Capitol is the “No. 1” target in America for terrorist attack, suddenly every piece of mail, every knock at the door, every pan of lasagna has become suspect.

Capitol security will be at its highest level when President Bush delivers his scheduled State of the Union address tonight in the House chamber, according to Sergeant-at-Arms Jack Russ.

“We’re doing what we would do if it was a (presidential) inauguration,” said Russ, who is in charge of security, declining to reveal any details or to comment on potential threats.

The prospect of the unknowable--when, where and how a terrorist might strike--has given tens of thousands on Capitol Hill the jitters. Washington is widely recognized as a hot spot for Gulf War terrorism, but the 128-year-old domed Capitol is considered a prime target because it is the most widely recognized U.S. symbol of democracy. And that has everybody nervous.

Stories abound.

Story One: The day after Russ briefed House members and their spouses last week about the potential threat, Rep. William F. Clinger Jr. (R-Pa.) was awakened in the middle of the night by a banging at his door in suburban Washington. Clinger’s wife, Julia, convinced a terrorist was outside, pleaded with him not to answer the door. But when the knocks persisted, the congressman responded--only to find a police officer on the front step. Apparently Julia Clinger’s car had been stolen earlier that evening, unbeknown to the couple, and the cop had found it.

Story Two: Rachel Gorlin, an aide to Rep. Les AuCoin (D-Ore.), was working at her desk with the television on when she heard the noise of an air raid and nervously asked her office mate, “Is that here or is it on TV?” Both panicked and turned down the volume on the television set. “I was relieved that the sound went away, but let me tell you, it was not stupid--not stupid at all,” Gorlin said. “That’s the way people are around here--nervous. Uptight.”

Story Three: Apparently nobody is on higher alert these days than Russ himself. He told senior congressional staffers that when a package was left on the doorstep of his home recently, he called a bomb squad to sniff it out. The contents? A pan of lasagna sent over by a kindly neighbor.

Nevertheless, several members of the congressional group said Russ told them that “you can’t be too careful” and that “we don’t know how we’re going to be hit. We just believe we are going to be hit.”

Russ also told them that some Jewish members and supporters of Israel already have received threats. The “typical terrorist,” according to Russ, is a well-dressed white man or white woman between the ages of 24 and 40.

“That could be anybody,” said Sandra Stuart, chief aide to California Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento).

Before passing on Russ’ cautions to her staff, Stuart said, she had to call her husband to try to “get some reality.”

“The only thing that really frightens me in Washington is ice (because many drivers are careless on it),” she added. “But, boy, was I ever frightened after that briefing.”

Stuart says she has since calmed down, but others on the Hill say they think Russ may be overdoing the precautions. Several people say they are amused by the intensified security measures that many believe could not stop a determined terrorist, who could, for example, use any of 57 entrances to the nearby House Rayburn Office Building.

One aide who attended Russ’ briefing said: “They acknowledge in all this stuff that if somebody wants to do real damage, they can’t stop them, so all this cloak-and-dagger security seems a bit bogus. If (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) has sent somebody to get us, we’re goners.”

For now, Capitol security dogs sniff the marble hallways constantly and sharpshooters skulk atop the roofs. The guards use metal detectors to scan overcoats and suit jackets of everyone who enters. And Russ has advised congressmen--who are famous for loving their perks--to change their license plates, which identify them as members.

Capitol police also have issued an advisory about “letter and package bomb indicators.” They include: excessive postage, incorrect titles, oily stains or discolorations, lopsided or uneven envelopes, protruding wires or tinfoil, handwritten or poorly typed addresses and excessive masking tape or string.

“That description of dangerous packages fits every one I’ve ever sent in my life,” joked one senior House aide after reading the advisory warning, “TREAT IT AS SUSPECT AND ISOLATE IT!”

At least one member is taking the threat seriously. Rep. Steven Solarz (D-N.Y.), a Jewish congressman who has had a high profile in support of the war effort, has been seen in the halls several times with burly fellows who look for all the world like bodyguards. A spokesman for Solarz refused to confirm whether bodyguards had been hired, however, referring calls to Russ.

Others say they are grateful for the security effort.

As recently as 1983, a bomb left by two leftist radicals exploded late one night in the Capitol, nearly tearing apart the area near the Senate majority leader’s office. Although nobody was around at the time of the incident, it was widely recognized that if the explosion had happened a few hours earlier, many could have died.

Other incidents have occurred at the Capitol, particularly when America was at war. Just before World War I, a German sympathizer left a bomb in a suitcase that exploded and ripped up the reception area. In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists sprayed gunfire into the House chamber, wounding five congressmen. But it wasn’t until 1968, during the Vietnam War protests, that the Capitol got its first professional police force.

Today, the force is working overtime--12-hour shifts and weekends--in an attempt to tighten security. There even has been a revival of a longtime proposal to erect a fence around the perimeter of the Capitol grounds, although neighbors, who use the grounds as a park, are resisting.

“There has always been a tension between protecting the members, the staff and the building, but at the same time keeping the place as open as possible so that every citizen can come by and sit in the galleries,” associate Senate historian Don Ritchie said. “Those two goals have always worked against each other and are especially troubling in times like now.”