Senators want White House gatecrashers punished

Two influential American Senators have demanded action against the US couple that gatecrashed into the First State Dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an incident that has put a question mark on the security of the White House.

An investigation has been ordered into the episode, has brought instant "infamous" celebrity status to Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

"I think you have to have a strong deterrent against this kind of thing, and therefore, if it's a federal crime to lie to a federal agent and these people didn't tell the truth about their invitation, then they should be in some way brought to justice here, again, as an example to others not to do it," Senator Jon Kyl told Fox News Sunday. Kyl is the Senate Minority Whip.

Clearly the Secret Service as well as the White House protocol office have got to beef up their tactics, their procedures and protocols for dealing with this kind of a situation.

I don't know about congressional hearings. I suspect the Secret Service is embarrassed enough to fix the problem and, of course, the White House protocol office has to get involved in that as well, the Senator said.

"You have got to send a strong deterrent that people just don't do this kind of thing," Senator Evan Bayh told the Fox News Sunday, who compared the Salahis' entering the White House just like the "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, the terrorist whose attempt to explode a plane shortly after the September 11 attacks changed how all passengers were screened at airports.

"It's an incredible situation. Of course people have been laughing about it, because it is so incredulous. But it's not a laughing matter, that people could get that close to the president and the vice president who aren't supposed to be there, he said.

"So the Secret Service has come out and appropriately said they're embarrassed, they're going to get to the bottom of it. These folks could be like the -- what was the name, Richard Reid, who changed the way everybody travels through the airports because of this one guy," he said.

Meanwhile news reports said the Salahis are now trying to sell their interviews to the American news channel.

They were scheduled to appear on popular 'Larry King Live' on Monday, but now that has been cancelled and are seeking bids from other news channels also, before taking a final decision.

Image: A file image of the Salahis meeting US President Barack Obama at the White House State Dinner last week