Security Added at Monuments, U.S. Capitol : Protection: Bomb experts rush to New York to aid in investigation. Secret Service cars are among those damaged.

Security was tightened at the Capitol as a routine precaution Friday after the World Trade Center explosion, and federal bomb experts rushed to the blast scene in New York.

“Security is increased during any event that could have an impact on the safety and security of the Capitol complex and members of Congress,” said Sgt. Dan Nichols, a spokesman for the Capitol police. He declined to specify what steps had been taken.

The U.S. Park Police also said it was increasing security. “It would be foolish not to,” said spokesman John Loveland, whose agency has responsibility for several monuments and memorials in the capital.

The White House was seeking details late Friday on the World Trade Center blast, White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said.

“We are watching it quite closely, but right now most of our information is coming from watching television,” she said. “We’re trying to find out what happened.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sent a national response team to investigate. Response teams consist of forensic and explosives experts who can be at the scene of any major explosion or arson in the United States within 24 hours.

In addition, the FBI “is on the scene with appropriate personnel,” Director William S. Sessions said in a statement from Washington.

Secret Service spokesman Carl Meyer said three agency employees suffered minor injuries in the explosion.

The Secret Service’s New York field office is in the Customs building, one of the lower-rise buildings in the World Trade Center complex.

Meyer also said the agency has vehicles parked in the damaged building, including “an armored limousine used for foreign dignitaries and candidates.”

The Secret Service said its New York fleet has about 100 regular sedans and does not include a presidential limousine.

Clinton spokeswoman Myers said the explosion was not expected to have an impact upon President Clinton’s plans to visit New Jersey Monday--despite reports that a presidential limo may have been damaged in the blast.

“The President’s limo will be flown in,” she said. “There may have been armored limos owned by the Secret Service in that garage, but not the one used by the President.”