Capitol tours resume for 1st time since attacks

From Cleve Mesidor
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Public tours of the U.S. Capitol resumed Saturday for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"We constantly re-evaluate the tours and security within the Capitol complex, and we feel the time's right now, we can maintain adequate security and still ensure the safety of our visitors within the Capitol building," said Lt. Dan Nichols, a Capitol police spokesman.

The tours were suspended immediately after the attacks on New York and Washington and remained closed as anthrax-contaminated letters were found in various offices on Capitol Hill.

Additional security precautions are in place as tours begin, including an off-site screening facility where visitors are checked before entering the Capitol building. A list of prohibited items also is posted next to the visitors' line.

"We don't allow cans and bottles or razors, box cutters, oversize backpacks and briefcases any longer," Nichols said, "and all of that is to ensure the security of the building."

Nichols added that these restrictions also give "an added level of reassurance to anybody who's visiting the building."

The tours will run from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Nichols said that schedule will be re-evaluated throughout the holiday season.

"We were glad that they opened the Capitol because they told us to come and act like nothing's happening, act like everything's OK, and yet they closed the Capitol and the White House," said tourist Arlene Rybak. "If they want us to act that way, they have to, too."