Rod Grams: “this coming Tuesday, the American people will celebrate the Fourth of July. It is a day for parties and parades…”

“this coming Tuesday, the American people will celebrate the Fourth of July. It is a day for parties and parades, fireworks, and family picnics. It is a day for remembering the bedrock of freedom on which this country was built, and how freedom still binds us together. So it is ironic that 1 day later, July 5, we will take action right here on Capitol Hill to clamp down on the very freedoms we embrace on Independence Day. It began on April 19, in Oklahoma City. The reverberations of the bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building were felt across America, but echoed loudly in Washington, DC, home to more Federal buildings--and Federal employees--than any other city in the Nation. And almost immediately, a siege mentality took hold. Here at the Capitol, police took extraordinary steps to protect against the possibility of a terrorist attack. They beefed up patrols around the building, stopped cars and checked trunks, eliminated parking in some areas, increased the sensitivity on the entryway metal detectors, and kept the public away from ground floor windows with yards of yellow tape labeled 'Police Line--Do Not Cross.' Soon after, the U.S. Treasury Department ordered Pennsylvania Avenue closed to cars and trucks in front of the White House. For the first time in the 195-year history of the Executive Mansion, the people were no longer allowed to drive past the people's house.”