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Dayton defends decision to close Washington office
by Laura McCallum, Minnesota Public Radio
October 15, 2004

Sen. Mark Dayton says he made the decision he thought was right, and he'll accept the criticism if he overreacted. (MPR file photo/Mark Zdechlik)

Sen. Mark Dayton says he has no second thoughts about his decision to close his Capitol Hill office. The Minnesota Democrat closed his Washington, D.C. office earlier this week, citing a top-secret intelligence report on terrorism. He responded to both critics and supporters of his decision on MPR's Midday program on Friday.

St. Paul, Minn. — Dayton defended his decision to close his Capitol Hill office, saying it was based on a serious assessment of a potential terrorist threat. Capitol police say there is no specific threat targeting the U.S. Capitol. Dayton says he can't discuss the contents of the top-secret report, but says it was also discussed in a closed meeting by the Senate staffer who oversees Capitol police.

"When the intelligence community provides as strong and emphatic a statement as the sergeant-at-arms for the Senate told us in a meeting, the most declarative statement that he had seen from the national intelligence community in over 30 years of intelligence and law enforcement work, when it becomes that emphatic, then it seems to me at least in my judgment it was extremely compelling," Dayton said.

Dayton says he made the decision he thought was right, and he'll accept the criticism if he overreacted. He's already come under fire from critics this week, ranging from Republican officeholders to the editoral board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. And he heard more from Midday callers. A 20-year Army veteran named Rocky said he was embarrassed by Dayton's actions.

"I did volunteer to go into harm's way, just as you volunteered to serve in the Senate, regardless of the things that have happened to us in our country. And I don't understand why you didn't stay. I can see sending your staff, but not you. That's cowardice," he said.

Dayton says when the Senate is not in session, he returns to Minnesota to be more accessible to constituents. Another caller said Dayton was playing into the hands of terrorists by closing his office. Other callers came to Dayton's defense.

"For you to leave your staff there I think would have been the cowardly thing. So I commend you for your decision, and put these other folks on your 'pay me no mind' list."

No other member of Congress has followed Dayton's lead, and some have mocked his decision. But the Senate's most senior member, West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, said this week that he commends Dayton for taking a precautionary step.

Byrd's press secretary, Tom Gavin, says Byrd believed the criticism of Dayton was unfounded.

"Sen. Dayton made a decision that he believes is in the best interests of the men and women who work in his office, and each senator has to make that decision individually," he said.

Gavin says Byrd's decision was to leave his office open. He says Byrd has asked staff to make contingency plans to work away from Capitol Hill in the event of an attack.

Gov. Pawlenty also weighed in on Dayton's decision, saying on his weekly radio show that he wouldn't have closed his office.

"Seemed to be an odd decision, if we're trying to say to the terrorists, 'you can't disrupt our lives, we won't allow you to disrupt our lives,' and we have our own senators closing down their offices not on a specific threat but a generalized concern," Pawlenty said.

Dayton says he wished the intelligence report could be declassified so that others could read it and draw their own conclusions. Sen. Norm Coleman says he has read the report, and saw no need to close his office.

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