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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

A Silicon Senate Move To Allow Laptops On Hallowed Floor Brings Bellows.

Elsa C. Arnett Knight-Ridder

Tired of scribbling notes in longhand, freshman Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., wondered whether he could bring his laptop computer with him to the Senate floor.

That simple query has touched off a boisterous debate about how technology could threaten the august body, sanctified by the Constitution to uphold the 18th-century ideals of consensus building, discourse and reflection.

Congressional hearings will be convened on the matter, a 47-page report has been issued, members of the nation’s most powerful deliberative body are weighing in:

“Ugly and distracting,” pronounces Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

The end to all spontaneous debate, declares Sen. Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat.

Even Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who reigns over computer capital Silicon Valley, opposes laptops in the chamber. Senators should speak from a lifetime of experience, not from facts punched up by their nimble fingers, she maintains.

Though laptops abound in airplanes, coffee shops and even public parks, Enzi is getting a first-hand civics lesson in the Senate’s reluctance to meddle with legislative protocol anchored in its 200-year-old heritage.

Long leery of technology, the Senate has banned cameras, cell phones and beepers. Don’t even ask about Game Boys. The body bends the rules once in a while - during tough budget negotiations, when electronic calculators are allowed.

“I want to be very careful the traditions aren’t disturbed,” stressed Enzi, who admits to being so awestruck by the Senate’s history he has lingered after the chamber has closed, sitting at the desks of his distinguished past colleagues and straining to hear the echoes of their momentous debates.

But, he said crisply, “It seems to be a natural transition from the quill pen to the ball-point pen to computers.”

Enzi, 53, dabbled in computer courses in college. He used computers to track inventory when he owned two shoe stores, to crunch numbers when he worked as an accountant and to take notes as he listened to debates while serving in the Wyoming legislature.

“It’s an essential tool for me,” he said.

A few members share his affinity for technology, but many others worry the electronic gadget might subvert the lofty tenets on which the nation’s government was founded.

How, for example, might they interfere with Thomas Jefferson’s 1801 decree members may not even “read any printed paper” when another was speaking?

Could many senators resist the temptation to respond to e-mail, schedule appointments, finish reports, peruse documents and play solitaire?

“The Senate floor is a sanctuary for debate and person-to-person exchanges,” argued Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Gregory Casey, the rules enforcer who spent three months reporting on the anticipated effects of computers in the chamber. “If senators are preoccupied with their laptops, there will be even less chance of persuading colleagues through dialogue and discussion or sparking a genuine debate to pursue complex issues.”

Casey’s report supports using laptops as extensions of yellow-lined legal pads. But he rules out online, networked systems such as the Internet. Not only would online technology require new wiring that could damage the 19th-century mahogany desks, replete with inkwells and spittoons, it could prompt sticky questions about security and online lobbying.

Though laptops are practical, Casey warns: “Senators on laptops are likely to have the equivalent of plugs in their ears.”

Perhaps the apprehension about computers is an admission the Senate rarely witnesses the stirring speeches reminiscent of the days of Daniel Webster’s and John Calhoun’s eloquent debates over slavery. These days, the Senate floor is merely one of many scheduled stops as members rush in for votes sandwiched around committee hearings, appointments with contributors and photo-ops with constituents.

As a speaker drones on, many senators blatantly breach Jefferson’s rules by skimming reports and whispering to aides or, even worse, surreptitiously tallying to-do lists and solving crossword puzzles. The presence of laptops might allow lawmakers to too visibly assuage their boredom.

But at a time Congress considers more than two dozen pieces of legislation dealing with the Internet, and many members have World Wide Web pages and chat online with constituents, the aversion to laptops on the Senate Floor seems out of step. About 16 state legislatures allow laptops, and more likely will follow soon.

Enzi said his Compaq laptop - with modem, microphone, CD-ROM, 2-gigabyte hard drive and 32 megabytes of RAM - was invaluable while he was in the Wyoming legislature because he had to respond to constituent mail and keep up on legislation with no support staff to help.

Though he has about 20 employees now, Enzi is still used to handling some things himself.

And his press secretary, Coy Knobel, admits staffers are hoping laptops get approved because “the senator’s handwriting leaves something to be desired.”

The Senate Rules and Administration Committee tentatively plans to take up the matter next week. Committee members can decide the issue or put it to a full vote of the Senate.

The committee will consider lawmakers’ concerns, as well as review whether laptops might spur a frenzy of online lobbying. Also, members will decide whether laptops pose a security risk, since some have built-in telephones and video cameras that could accidentally relay sensitive information to the public.

When a new piece of equipment does get through, it’s rarely welcomed by all. As television cameras were allowed in 1986, seven years after the House of Representatives approved them, Sen. William Proxmire, R-Wis., huffed, “The Senate is about to become a vaudeville act.”

Some outside Washington think that may not be such a bad idea.

Victor Roberts, 54, an electrical engineer from Burnt Hills, N.Y., said he respects tradition. But having used laptops for the past decade, he said of senators: “I think they are letting tradition get in the way of being able to operate more efficiently. If they are absolutely going to be rigid about tradition, then maybe they’ll want to go back to an all-male, all-white Senate using quill pens.

“And to go along with this tradition, maybe they should also be paid at 19th-century salaries.”