Tradition has edged out technology on the floor of the Senate, which will remain one of the few places where using a laptop computer is forbidden.
By voice vote, the Senate Rules Committee decided Wednesday to reject Sen. Michael Enzi's request for permission to bring his laptop into the Senate chamber during debates. Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum cast the only dissenting vote.The reason was the Senate's love and respect for its numerous and sometimes obscure traditions. Every senator's desk still is equipped with a pencil tray, an inkwell and a shaker filled with blotting sand.
Although they are not used, two large spittoons are kept on the floor near the front of the room, and two snuff boxes are kept filled with fresh snuff in compliance with a law passed decades ago when a senator became irate after finding one empty.
Senate rules also forbid use of mechanical devices of any sort on the floor or anything that may threaten decorum. Senators must seek permission to bring calculators onto the floor during budget debates.
"There may be a time when laptop computers are necessary, but that time is not yet here," Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., told fellow committee members.
Some senators have expressed concern about the noise that would be created by fingers tapping on 50 computer keyboards. And others have said that the social dynamics and interpersonal relationships of the Senate - where it takes just one senator to derail legislation or hold up a nomination - could be diminished by computerized communication via impersonal laptops.