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	Press Releases October 24, 2003   LIEBERMAN SEEKS INVESTIGATION OF RICIN RESPONSE Why did USPS Delay Health Monitoring, Closure of Facility?   WASHINGTON - Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., Friday asked for an investigation into troubling Postal Service and law enforcement delays in responding to the discovery of a letter containing the poison ricin at a Greenville, S.C., postal facility. Lieberman said he would ask the General Accounting Office to determine why no concerted effort to monitor postal employees’ health was made immediately after the envelope, containing the word “ricin” on it, was discovered; why the envelope was not immediately transferred to the Centers for Disease Control for testing; and why the facility was not tested for contamination until a week after the suspicious package was discovered. “Have we learned nothing from the anthrax attacks of two years ago?” Lieberman asked. “By now, it should be second nature for the Postal Service to protect the health of its employees and for law enforcement and public health agencies to move as quickly as possible to identify the threat and take prompt and appropriate action.” The GAO is currently analyzing, at Lieberman’s request, the handling of the anthrax attacks at all affected postal facilities. Lieberman said he would ask GAO to expand its investigation to include a look at the circumstances surrounding the Greenville ricin incident. Based on a briefing of Committee staff by the Department of Homeland Security, Lieberman said that postal officials did not call on the FBI until 12 hours after the ricin envelope was discovered on October 15. The FBI took the package to the state crime lab. The crime lab passed it onto the South Carolina Department of Health, which, with the CDC’s help, tried unsuccessfully to test the contents of the package. The package was then left at the health department over the weekend. On Monday, the health department FedExed the package to the CDC. The CDC received the package the morning of Oct. 21 and determined by that afternoon that the contents, indeed, were ricin. It took another 24 hours before the postal facility was closed. “I want to know if appropriate action was taken to safeguard employees who were potentially exposed to this deadly chemical,” Lieberman said. “The public and postal workers have a right to know why it took a full week for the Postal Service to monitor the health of its employees and to test the facility for possible contamination, and why it took law enforcers and public health officials so long to identify the nature of the threat.”   ###   Printable Version   « previous Press Release next Press Release »   1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 October 2003 Press Releases September   |  November   --   2002   |  2004     October 31 - McCain, Reed, DeWine, Lieberman to Offer Gun Show Background Check Amendment to Gun Immunity Bill   October 30 - Dodd, Lieberman Announce Grants for Connecticut Fire Fighters   October 30 - Lieberman Condemns Bush Administration Plan to Open Wilderness-like Lands to Oil and Gas Industry   October 29 - Lieberman Queries DHS on Insecurity of Plum Island   October 28 - Senators Question Weaknesses in Border Protection, Especially Risk Assessment of Cargo   October 27 - Lieberman Mourns District's First Elected Mayor   October 24 current Press Release   October 24 - Senators Seek Investigation of Impact of CIA Agent's Exposure   October 23 - Barbara Kennelly Post Office in Hartford Approved by Committee   October 22 - D.C. Should Have More Control Over Its Own Money   October 22 - Senators Question Excessive Reliance on Consultants for Proposed Outsourcing of Immigration Information Officers   October 22 - Lieberman, Durbin: GAO Study Shows Federal Regulatory Process Still not Open to the Public   October 21 - Federal Electronic Rulemaking Progresses, But More Work is Needed   October 17 - DOD Privacy Protections Questioned by Bipartisan Trio Collection of JetBlue Passenger Information May Have Violated the Law   October 17 - Lieberman to White House: Speed Up Document Production for September 11th Commission   October 15 - Democrats Seek Security Training for Flight Crews   October 15 - Lieberman Reacts to 9/11 Commission Decision to Subpoena Administration for Documents   October 14 - Lieberman Pushes for Bio-Terror Preparedness on Second Anniversary of Senate Anthrax Attack   October 10 - Lieberman Says DHS and Department of Education Should Work to Prepare Schools for Terrorist Attacks   October 10 - Lieberman Questions Administration Commitment to Clean Air Litigation   October 8 - Lieberman, Jeffords Seek Plans for Protection of Water, Other Vital Services   October 8 - Lieberman, Dodd Announce Grants for Connecticut Fire Fighters   October 3 - Sunshine for Iraqi Reconstruction Projects Included in Iraqi Spending Bill   October 3 - Lieberman, Levin Introduce Improved Independent Counsel Law   October 2 - Administration Preparing to Let Air Polluters Off Hook
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