Ensign to attendees: Dress warm

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., had one piece of advice for Nevadans who were thinking about attending President Bush's swearing-in ceremony today on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

"You cannot wear enough clothes," Ensign told a roomful of visiting Nevadans during a breakfast with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Wednesday. "Bundle, Bundle Bundle."

Ensign advised those attending the ceremony to get portable hand warmers, normally used by skiers, and "put them wherever you've got to put them."

Washington experienced its first real snowstorm of the year Wednesday, ending what had been an unseasonably warm winter so far. It had been around 70 degrees on New Year's Day.

The snow created a transportation nightmare on top of the road closures and security checkpoints associated with the hundreds of tourists and visitors in town for the week's inauguration festivities, most of which occur tonight.

According to its organizers, the inauguration is technically not a political event, although the Republicans most likely outnumber the Democrats of those in town to celebrate.

Ensign and Reid welcomed the Nevadans to Washington, taking souvenir photos with visitors that will be mailed back home and offering Washington, D.C. guidebooks. In speaking to the visitors, Reid and Ensign emphasized their bipartisan friendship, sharing stories of practical jokes they have played on each other during the time they both have been in the Senate.