Still A Specter On Capitol Hill

It's been over five years since the first anthrax scare on Capitol Hill, but the fallout continues. Not only do letters sent to congressional offices get held up sometimes for weeks for inspection, but several offices ask couriers to open the letters before giving them to receptionists.

It happened last week when a U.S. News intern made a delivery to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and presidential candidates Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Get this: One even asked him to open the envelope in the hallway. The offices don't like to talk about their mail policies, but one staffer says, "The mail is still slow, and irradiating it [to kill anthrax] often ruins it and makes it smell."

By Paul Bedard