Article: Anthrax Found at Off-Site White House Mail Facility

23 October 2001

Article: Anthrax Found at Off-Site White House Mail Facility

Officials suspect international terrorism, but have no hard evidence

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- Tests have confirmed traces of anthrax at an off-site White House mail screening facility, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters October 23.

A small concentration of anthrax was found on a slitter -- a mechanical device that opens the mail, but no anthrax was found on any of the mail itself, he said.

An investigation has begun to find the source of the anthrax, he said.

The mail screening facility is located at a military installation some miles from the White House and "has been closed for further testing and decontamination," Fleischer said. All employees at the site are being tested for exposure to the disease, as are mail workers in the White House complex itself.

All environmental tests at the White House itself have come back negative, Fleischer said.

Asked how he can be sure that persons in the White House have not been exposed to anthrax, Fleischer said: "Suffice it to say, as a result of many of the security precautions that have been put in place since September 11th, we have high confidence that is not the case."

Later, President Bush acknowledged the new development.

"There's no question that the evildoers are continuing to try to harm America and Americans," he said. "Today, at a remote facility, we detected some anthrax. And just like at the Congress, our government is responding very quickly.

"We're working hard to find out who's doing this and bring them to justice. We're also working to develop measures necessary to protect American citizens and postal workers. All of us around this table grieve when we hear the fact that a citizen has lost a life. Two postal workers passed away, and our hearts are with their families, our prayers are with their loved ones."

Officials confirmed October 23 that the two postal workers who died October 21 and 22 were suffering from inhalational anthrax, as suspected.

Asked if he thinks there is a connection with the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the current anthrax threat, Bush said:

"Well, we don't have any hard evidence, but there's no question that anybody who would mail anthrax with the attempt to harm American citizens is a terrorist. And there's no question that al Qaeda is a terrorist organization. ... So it wouldn't surprise me that they're involved with this. But I have no direct evidence.

"I do know that this country is strong enough to endure, to endure the evil ones. And we're making great progress on the ground in Afghanistan, and we'll bring the al Qaeda to justice, and we're doing everything we can to find out who mailed these letters," he said.

"The object of terrorism is to try to force us to change our way of life, is to force us to retreat, is to force us to be what we're not," Bush said, adding that "they're going to fail. They're simply going to fail."

Earlier in the day, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt told reporters that he believes there is a link between the anthrax cases in the United States and the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Gephardt spoke as he left the White House following a meeting between leaders of Congress and the president.

"I don't think there's a way to prove that, but I think we all suspect that. I think it's clear that these are people that are both up to no good and people who know what they're doing. Now, given all of that, it is a very crude way of trying to injure people, but it has been effective now in a number of cases, and it's not to be taken lightly," Gephardt said.

And at a press briefing on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said that many of the Senate office buildings that were closed following the discovery of an anthrax-laced letter addressed to him will be opened in the "not-too-distant future." However, he said, "we may have to quarantine and keep sealed my office and the mail room," where the anthrax-laced letter was discovered.

Daschle also said members of Congress are "deeply saddened with the loss of life" of the two postal workers.

White House Press Secretary Fleischer, at his noon briefing, said "just as you're seeing in the military, a mobilization in Afghanistan, you're also seeing a nation at home mobilize.

"Our nation is under attack as a result of these mailings and these cases," he said. "We have a war going on overseas, and we have a need to defend at home as well. ... We have not had to deal with these issues before; we are rapidly adjusting to deal with all of them," he said.

Fleischer said "there is a suspicion that this is connected to international terrorists," but he said "investigators also do not rule out that it could be something domestic, that it could be a lone person operating, doing this; or it could be terrorism. The suspicion is that it's terrorism, but there is no hard evidence yet at this point to lead anybody who's investigating these matters to reach a conclusion on any of those sources."