Gephardt briefed on contingency plans

WASHINGTON -- A day after being left off a White House invitation list, House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt received a personal briefing Wednesday on steps the White House has taken to keep the government going in the case of a terrorist attack on Washington.

The Missouri lawmaker said he appreciated the briefing from White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and others. He offered no direct criticism about not being included in a White House session Tuesday involving Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., had previously been informed of the plan initiated after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that includes rotating 75 to 150 senior administration officials in and out of secure underground sites outside Washington to ensure that the government continues to function in the event of an attack on the capital.

Details of the "shadow government" were made public in a Washington Post article last week, and some lawmakers have complained the White House left them in the dark about the contingency plans.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Tuesday that leaving Gephardt out of the briefing was inadvertent and senior administration officials released documents they said proved that the proper authorities on Capitol Hill were made aware of the plans.

Gephardt, at a news conference with Daschle, said the administration "did a good job" of communicating with Congress immediately after Sept. 11, but that it has not been as forthcoming recently.

"It's kind of fallen off and we need to get back to the hard work of trying to communicate," he said.

Gephardt also defended Daschle, who was sharply criticized by Republicans last week for saying that success in the war on terrorism was still in doubt.

"It is right and proper and healthy and good for members of Congress to question decisions, to offer alternatives," Gephardt said. "We can't succeed if we take the position that there can be no debate."