WASHINGTON -- Law enforcement officials have scheduled a security briefing for all members of Congress on Wednesday, and congressional leaders are considering changes to try to provide more protection to members in the wake of the Arizona shooting.
The moves come as some members of Congress are calling for better security -- including possibly bodyguards and police officers at local events -- following the shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
"Members are shaken, and so are their families," said Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta. "It's a deep concern."
Lewis said he thought local law enforcement officials could be called in to help with security when members have public events like the "Congress on your Corner" session Giffords was holding when she was shot.
Rep. David Scott, also an Atlanta Democrat, said he thought members of Congress should have a dedicated security person on their staff to help oversee public meetings and also serve as a bodyguard.
"It's not just for the congressman, it's for the public and for the nation," Scott said. "The public must feel safe going to a town hall meeting."
Scott has said he received death threats as recently as last year over his votes for health care legislation, and in 2009 a swastika was painted on a sign outside one of his district offices.
Currently, only the highest-ranking members of the House and Senate have security officers who travel with them.
On Sunday, House leaders held a lengthy conference call with rank-and-file lawmakers, their families and law enforcement advisers to share thoughts and advice in the aftermath of the Arizona shooting.
Some members on the call said they typically hold meetings only in government buildings, where security is already present, or at churches or other religious centers.
According to members who participated, officials with the U.S. Capitol Police advised them to always alert local police when they are holding a public event and to notify law enforcement whenever they receive threats.
"I don't think we're going to call the sheriff's department if we're going to speak to the Kiwanis Club ... but I'm sure there are going to be some changes," said Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County. Shortly after arriving in Congress after he was elected in 2004, Westmoreland said he received death threats that were investigated by the Capitol Police.
Mainly, though, "I just think we all need to be a little more vigilant," Westmoreland added. "We all realize that we live in a world right now where some people are going to do irrational things."
The shooting was particularly rattling for some of the newer, younger members of Congress, such as freshman Republican Rep. Tom Graves of Ranger. Graves said he was with his wife and three young children when he got word of the Arizona shooting.
"My initial thoughts just went to the families involved ... and then you have to step back and reflect on your own family," he said.
Graves said he sat down with his children and told them about what had happened. He said they discussed his new job and prayed together for the families involved in the Arizona shooting.
"We had a great discussion with the children and told them we've been elected to a body that's closest to the people and we can't put any impediments on that," Graves said.
"It's certainly a tragedy, but you don't want it to deter you from doing your job and being available to those you want to represent," he said.
Graves, like others, discounted any suggestion that rising political rhetoric had anything to do with the shooting.
"There's nothing political about a national tragedy, and a sad day like the one this weekend does not have to be politicized," he said.
But Lewis, Georgia's longest-serving House member, suggested that the shooting was indicative of the political tension in America.
Though he was on the front lines of the civil rights movement during one of the most tumultuous times in recent national history, Lewis said he thought public angst and anxiety are worse that they've ever been.
"Sometimes I think we're at the brink and we're about to go over," he said. "There's a meanness today. We put people down simply because we disagree with them."
Like others, Lewis said he hopes the biggest change in the wake of the shooting is that the angst and anger surrounding politics today are muted.
"We've got to lower the rhetoric," he said. "We've got to turn down the dial -- and not just elected officials, not just candidates, but the media, everybody.
"We've all got to find a way to talk to each other," he said.
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