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March 06, 2006
Lack of security at Homeland Security
The Washington Post reports that security problems at the Department of Homeland Security have led two senators to call for an investigation into the agency's own security.
Guards at DHS say the agency mishandled a potential anthrax attack on the headquarters. A former guard named Derrick Daniels was interviewed by the Associated Press for the story.
An envelope with suspicious powder was opened last fall at the headquarters. Daniels and other current and former guards said they were shocked when superiors carried it past the office of Secretary Michael Chertoff, took it outside and then shook it outside Chertoff's window without evacuating people nearby.The scare, caused by white powder that proved to be harmless, "stands as one glaring example" of the agency's security problems, Daniels said. "I had never previously been given training ... describing how to respond to a possible chemical attack."
Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote the DHS's inspector general seeking an investigation.
Posted by Laura Spadanuta at March 6, 2006 03:47 PM
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