Nevada lawmakers safe in D.C.

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's four lawmakers in Congress were safe today following apparent terrorist attacks in the nation's capital and New York.

Shortly after 9 a.m. today Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was headed from an appointment to her office in the Cannon House Office Building across the street from the U.S. Capitol.

By the time Berkley got to the office, a Berkley aide on her way into the District from her Virginia home had called the office to report smoke pouring from the Pentagon. Berkley sat with her 9 a.m. appointment -- someone she declined to name who wanted to bend her ear about Internet gambling -- and watched television coverage of the attacks.

Minutes later, officials evacuated the Capitol and the six House and Senate office buildings. Berkley and chief-of-staff Richard Urey sent the staff home. Berkley went back to her townhouse two blocks away.

She called her sons and husband in Las Vegas. Her father called.

"He said 'I just wanted to hear your voice,' " Berkley said. "It boils down to your loved ones."

Berkley planned to remain at home glued to the television and expected briefings for member of Congress later today. She said television images of the World Trade Center bombing took her breath away and forced her to sit down.

"I fear for the catastrophic loss of life," Berkley said. "I'm afraid that when the smoke clears, the loss of life and injuries will be horrific."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., watched television news coverage of the attacks from his office in the Capitol, then headed for a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Shortly before the Capitol was evacuated, he sent his staff home. He then headed to his own home with the armed guard that typically drives Reid, then headed for a "safe house," Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., also retreated to his home, spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.

As buildings on Capitol Hill were being evacuated, many reported hearing a thunderous boom that seemed to come from nearby, but it is not clear what had caused it. The Pentagon, across the river, was already smoking by that time.

As people left the Capitol and surrounding office, Traci Scott, press secretary for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., clearly rattled, reported via cellular phone that they were moving the senator to a safe spot.

Later this morning, Ensign chief-of-staff Scott Bensing said Ensign was safe at a briefing.

An eclectic group of Senate cooks and custodians mingled with business-suit Senate staffers on the grass in the parks around the Capitol after it was emptied. Tourists exchanged curious glances with federal workers.

Many workers headed home on jam-packed Metro trains.

"I expected it would be exciting to visit Washington," one British tourist said. "I didn't expect it would be this exciting."

At least four senators held impromptu press conferences outside in a park across from the Capitol under sunny skies and in atypically low humidity.

"America is going to be changed forever," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. He said he had no idea what kind of intelligence data the U.S. miliary had in advance of the attacks in Washington and New York.

"We just don't know the facts yet," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., added.

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., predicted the business of government would continue "in short order" after emergencies were dealt with.

It seemed nearly every sector of the nation's capital was effected in some way by the news that, as CNN put it, "America Under Attack."

A number of private businesses and foundations closed. Downtown traffic and traffic on Capitol Hill varied from heavy to gridlocked. Cellular phone calls were difficult to place as thousands tried to make calls.

The Metro train station at historic Union Station, just three blocks from the Capitol, closed at one point this morning, adding to transportation woes.

A downtown clarion played the Army Song, "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," as sirens wailed in the city. Unmarked cars with dark windows and sirens in the dashboard, a fairly common sight in the city, struggled through traffic.

The usually bustling office building where the Las Vegas Sun bureau is housed here was a typical downtown site: eerily quiet late this morning, its first-floor shopping mall dark and deserted, the food court closed.