Iowa lawmakers will still mingle with public

WASHINGTON - People in the public eye, such as Iowa's lawmakers, always have faced a certain element of danger.

On the way to a town-hall meeting in Winterset in 1977, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who was then a congressman, faced down and helped disarm a hysterical, gun-wielding man who was shooting at a woman.

“The bullets were flying. This was serious, but Harkin confronted the gunman face-to-face,” said Ted Gorman, the publisher of the Winterset Madisonian who helped tackle the shooter.

The shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others in Tucson, Ariz., has prompted Iowa lawmakers to reassess the way they interact with the public. Since the threat of violence is a constant in public life, however, few Iowa lawmakers say they plan to do things differently.

Like Harkin and most other lawmakers, Rep. David Loebsack, D-Iowa, has received his share of threatening e-mails and phone calls, especially during the days of the heated health care debate last year. Some of those were forwarded to law enforcement officials.

During Congress' summer recess in 2009, Loebsack asked for police protection at some of his town hall meetings because of the threat posed by rowdy demonstrators.

After the shootings in Tucson, Loebsack said he believes “it's important to have a heightened sense of potential dangers, but the bottom line is I don't want to do anything different, because I want my constituents to have access to me so they can express their views,” he said.

Loebsack attended several public events in Eastern Iowa on Thursday. So did Chuck Grassley.

“For me, it doesn't change anything, and I don't think it should,” Grassley said.

The longtime Republican senator said he will continue with plans for his annual tour of Iowa's 99 counties, an undertaking that involves dozens of public appearances during congressional recesses.

“One of the things we know is to do our jobs we have to be with our constituents. … That's the foundation of our democracy,” said Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said all lawmakers are now more concerned with their personal safety, “but not to the point that we are alarmed. We need to be cautious against overreacting.”

Jane Slusark, spokeswoman for Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, and Fred Love, spokesman for Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, said the lawmakers would not change their plans for public interaction.

Latham has told his staff “that their safety and security are his first concern,” Love said, adding, “He noted that he could not effectively represent the people if we went into any type of ‘hunker down' mode.”

Harkin also expressed the determination of many lawmakers to continue with business as usual.

“What happened in Arizona was a tragedy, but it cannot take us away from our primary mission of serving the public,” he said.

Harkin said he trusts that local law enforcement officials and Capitol Police will keep federal lawmakers safe.

Iowa lawmakers are also reviewing their security procedures and urging staff to be more cautious at public events.

“It's important for us to go back and look at our existing security policy,” Braley said.

He was among a group of lawmakers who attended a security briefing by the Capitol Police this week. In that briefing, the Capitol Police advised lawmakers not to publicize any plans to change their security procedures.

Lawmakers also were advised this week they can beef up security at their district offices if they're willing to use their office budgets to pay for it.

In some districts, that will mean hiring private security personnel for public events. In others, that may mean installing surveillance cameras and stronger locks in district offices.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he will introduce legislation that would ban guns within 1,000 feet of government officials. Some want to assign federal marshals to protect members. There are even renewed calls to enclose the House gallery with a bulletproof Plexiglas case to keep lawmakers from possible harm.

Some lawmakers said toning down political speech may make them safer. Loebsack said there's no evidence violent words in political discussions influenced suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner.

“But regardless of whether it did or not, we have to have a more civil discussion with each other in politics,” Loebsack said.

King, known for his often inflammatory rhetoric, said calls for more civility are the work of “political opportunists who want to limit free speech, and that's completely out of order,” he said.

- By Ana Radelatm Capitol News Connection