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USPS News: Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2001

PLEASE NOTE:
The statement below originally issued at 4:25 p.m., has been revised to include the following additional information:

Regarding Mr. Morris' statement concerning a suspicious letter found open in the mail at the Brentwood Road facility that contained a powdery substance:
The letter was given to the Postal Inspection Service who arranged to have it tested through the FBI (USAMRIID laboratory). The Inspection Service was subsequently advised that this letter tested negative, and they, in turn, advised Brentwood postal management who provided the information to employees.

November 7, 2001, 7:50 p.m.


-STATEMENT-
November 7, 2001
4:25 p.m.
On the 911 telephone call made by the late Thomas L. Morris Jr.

The death of Thomas Morris was a tragedy - for his family, for the Postal Service, for all of us. He is a victim of terrorism. The blame for his murder rests squarely on the person or persons who used the mail as a lethal weapon.

More than a week before Mr. Morris's death, the "Daschle letter" passed through the Brentwood Road Processing and Distribution Center in Washington, where Mr. Morris worked. Several days later, the letter was opened. From that day until Mr. Morris's death, public health authorities unanimously assured the Postal Service that workers in the Brentwood Road facility were not at risk.

Just three days before his death, Mr. Morris saw a physician and was diagnosed as having the flu. Again, there was no sign that Mr. Morris was in grave danger.

The 911 call Mr. Morris placed early on the day he died shows that his body was telling him something that no one else had. He was deeply - and justifiably - worried. All of us would feel the same.

Tragically, the death of Mr. Morris -- and of his Brentwood coworker, Joseph Curseen -- taught all Americans that we knew less about anthrax than we thought. All of us in the "postal family" wish that we could have done more for these men. We called on everything we knew and did everything that medical authorities advised us to do.

Now, sadly, we all know more - and the Postal Service has acted to protect the public and our employees. We have provided our employees with protective gloves and masks, we have changed the way we clean our processing equipment to control the spread of particles and we are testing more than 260 postal facilities nationwide. If more is learned, we are committed to take those findings and act on them.

The Postal Service grieves the loss of Mr. Morris. Our hearts go out to his family. And every day we are doing all we can to prevent this from ever happening again.

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