WASHINGTON -- Security at the capitol was so tight Thursday night that U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's daughter, Victoria, couldn't take her purse into the gallery to watch the president's speech.

"Nobody could take anything with them," Emerson told reporters in a telephone conference call on Friday. "It was a little bit eerie."

Emerson said she has received numerous phone calls and e-mails from Southeast Missouri residents praising President Bush's hard-line stance on terrorism.

"We haven't had one person be negative at all," she said. "All my constituents want is for us to do whatever it takes to get the terrorists and to make people safe and secure."

Emerson said she's concerned for the safety of Arab doctors and health-care workers in Southeast Missouri. She hopes they don't suffer a backlash from angry Americans.

She said it's wrong to vilify all Muslims: "There is a world of difference between people who practice the Islamic faith and the radical fundamentalists."

Emerson described a huge outpouring of public support in the 8th District for the victims of last week's terrorist attacks, particularly among school children.

"One school raised $1,000 in pennies," she said. "They are writing letters to victims' families, and to firefighters and police."

The tragedy was felt personally in Wright County, part of Emerson's 8th District. Craig Amundson of Wright County was killed when terrorists crashed a plane into the Pentagon last week. Amundson was a civilian employee in the Defense Department.

Emerson visited the damaged Pentagon on Friday.

"My first impression was that the wreckage there is just incredibly bad," she said. But Emerson said it could have been even worse if the plane had plowed into the building from a higher angle.

In light of America's common tragedy, Emerson said traditional legislation has become less important to Congress.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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