Posted on: Sunday, October 21, 2001

Editorial
Congress shutdown shows need to plan

Only the most callous will be sharply critical of U.S. House leadership for its decision to shut down last week in the face of an anthrax scare.

In the swirl of misinformation, rumors and fact about potential bioterrorism, the House erred on the side of caution.

The smaller Senate took the opposite tack; it continued to meet even as individual offices and office buildings were shut.

If there is something to criticize, it is not the House decision to send everyone home. Rather, it is the disorganized and somewhat chaotic way in which our national leadership responded to this very real — but also quite limited — scare.

Like it or not, Americans look to Washington and their leaders for guidance, by word and by deed.

During these next few days off, leadership in Congress — House and Senate, Republican and Democrat — should come up with a cogent, disciplined consensus plan on how the Capitol will respond to the next scare.

Because if we know nothing else, there will be one, and Americans — along with the rest of the world — will be watching.