Cooling off Thursday

The phones were once again ringing steadily and keeping us hopping through most of the day. They started to taper off a bit at the end of the day. This may be due in part because the Blue Dog Democrats, which Congressman Dennis Moore is a member of, have struck a deal with the rest of the Democratic party on providing provisions to help lower the costs of HR 3200. Also, the deal ensured that there would be no full House vote on health care until after the August recess. To not 'rush a vote' prior to the August recess had been strongly advocated by Republicans and Moderate Democrats alike.

Ironically the office received today a new telephone that they had ordered to help with the high volume of calls we have received this summer in regards to ACES and the pending health care legislation.

Besides the morning rush of calls, the amount of work we were involved with was significantly less when compared with everything we've been doing all Summer long. While I wouldn't say it was relaxing, it did feel like a bit of relief from a pretty hectic and busy schedule. I've got to say that I have developed quite a respect for the role of interns and staff and the work that they do to support a Representatives office.

An Odd Way to Shorten the Day

I believe I have mentioned before that the security in the House Office buildings has become significantly more pronounced since 9/11. In fact, each piece of mail sent into a congressional office building is radiated and opened before it ever reaches the congressional office. Well today, which was supposed to be my shadowing day, was itself overshadowed by the fact that there were last-minute jitters about health care legislation and a suspicious package left by the 7th floor men's room.

I believe to start off with the first reason why I wouldn't be shadowing the Congressman would be most interesting. There was an emergency Blue Dog Democrat Caucus meeting scheduled at the last minute to discuss all updates about the health care bill and it was to be a Members Only meeting at 10:00 o'clock this morning. This displaced on a meeting I was to have been attending with the Congressman.

We also heard the news late this morning that the full House will not be voting on H.R. 3200 for sure until September now; however, you may still be hearing that the House voted on the bill and it passed, or something approximately like that, and that sometime over the next few days there may be a vote in the Energy and Commerce Committee. This is a Committee that Congressman Moore is not member of and just happens to be chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman (the same Representative who sponsored the ACES bill). I suspect that in due time each Committee with oversight responsibility for health care will pass some amended version of the bill so that the full House can debate, and take action, on it following the August recess.

When I returned from lunch today, I was dismayed to discover that I was unable to use one of the Men's Rest Rooms because the area around it was blocked off by several police officers. Soon thereafter I learned that there had been a suspicious package discovered in that part of the corridor so the Capitol Police (yes, the US Capitol has its own Police Force) were blocking off access and were preventing people from passing in the general area. The situation quickly became more tense, and they brought up screens and shelters to obscure the view of that part of the hall way and/or to 'protect' people in the adjoining areas. By 1:30 PM, the situation had escalated to the point that the Police ordered a full evacuation of the building.

If my earlier posts haven't emphasized the fact that both the pace and tone of communications have escalated and have created a stressful state around the Capitol. I'm even hearing of other offices receiving threats among their heated calls. So naturally, the Police were being cautious and not taking chances given the tense environment that has emerged.

Our whole team followed procedures and quickly exited the building and across the street from the Longworth Office Building. Naturally there was quite a crowd outside and we were all left unsure of a timetable to be able to re-enter the building. After about 30-minutes our Chief of Staff made the decision to allow staff to end the work day and unless we were notified NOT to return tomorrow, we'd start off with things hopefully being a bit more normal on Thursday.

Considering the days events I certainly understand, and frankly appreciate, the fact that I hadn't done my Shadow today. Unfortunately, with the August Recess scheduled just two days from now, there is a growing chance that I may not be doing a shadow day this Summer.

Moore Calls

Once again Constituent calls about the proposed health care legislation were raining into the office. Today was the day that I was scheduled to shadow the Congressman for the day, but due to a frequently ocurring shift in the Congressional schedules (a mark up of a Bill being moved from Thursday to today) our office scheduler courteously informed me that he could move me to another, and hopefully varied day.

To be honest, the callers that I received today that seemed to be the most impassioned on both ends of the spectrum all appeared to not be Constituents of the Third District. I guess if they have the 'dedication' to call every Congressman, or at least every Congressman they believe to be in a key influential position, to express their concerns about a bill because they are "constituents of the United States of America and whatever Congressman (XXXX) votes on will affect them", then I can at least listen to their concerns.

One of the most important things that I've learned, and developed an opinion about throughout my internship experience, is that if you are going to call into a Congressional office you must try to keep an open mind about rumors or supposed 'facts' you might have heard. Because there does appear to be a considerable amount of inaccurate information being circulated (especially around such a hot topic as health care legislation is) I know that the commitment our office makes to be accurate and focused on the actual facts. We are all trying very hard to be professional, patient and polite as we try to make sure that we are diffusing myths that have been spread.

Such as in the health care bill, there are two portions of the proposed legislation that have been completely misinterpreted and mangled to the point of becoming devoid of the facts. Among several examples, one is found on Page 16, which has been referred to by some in the media and other influential figures as a clause that will end all private health care insurances. Another example is on Page 425, which is supposedly a provision to either discuss end of life practices with health care bureaucrats or be a form of government sanctioned/encouraged 'euthanizing' (yes some of the out-of-state callers literally stated that we were 'euthanizors'). Finally another claim is that that the Bill itself endorses and promotes abortion.

To be absolutely clear,the section of the Bill where callers 'reference' the pro-abortion stance of the legislation is on Page 16. It's true that that section is titled "SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE", but abortion or ending pregnancy is never mentioned anywhere in the entire Bill. I suspect that the use of the words 'protecting the choice' has been singled out as being 'code' for protecting abortion. In actuality, this statement is about allowing individuals to keep their current private insurance coverage.

On Page 425 the section starts off with the language "advance care planning consultation" meaning discussing between the "individual and a practitioner" to discuss different methods of treatments. It is important to note that the option that page 425 offers is already being provided by most private insurance companies to elderly people and is also completely optional.

Oh and one last thing, I had a caller yell and get confrontational with me by stating that I was lying when I told her that I was looking at the Bill as I tried to explain the above referenced sections to her. She shouted that its impossible to read this Bill and/or no one has read the bill and/or you would have to have lawyers there to be able to read it.

I'm heartened though, that the facts are completely and easily accessible because Thomas.gov has the entire Bill online, and more importantly as a service to the Constituents of the 3rd District of Kansas, Congressman Dennis Moore has the health care Bill on his website, as well as a complete section by section summary of every piece of the proposed legilsation. I also don't understand how this caller, and the others who are repeating the same misinterpretations, could be telling me what is in the Bill if they, or "no one" had been able to read it.

Late Monday Night

Monday was a very busy day. The phone calls rolled in throughout the day. I heard many different tales ranging from how socialized medicine has ruined the European nations to how the big insurance companies had cost the health of more than one individual. I did spend a portion of the day away from the phones. Most notably was the majority of the afternoon when I was inside of the Congressman's office, working on helping to presort mail for one of the L.A.'s. I had the opportunity to read in detail many varying letters randing from energy and environment concerns to health care and abortion letters. It becomes tiring after a while trying to determine which letters are alike and need to be answered in similar fashions.

After the day in the office wrapped up I had the opportunity to accompany the majority of our staff to a reception down on I street near the White House. There was a nice assortment of finger foods as well as an open bar for those old enough to partake of the cocktails. This event was mostly aimed at Kansans because the highlight of the reception was a private screening of "What's the Matter with Kansas" with two former Congressman in attendance, Jim Slattery and Dan Glickman who also served as the Secretary of Agriculture. The movie discussed how Kansas has been the scene of culture polarities throughout its history, from having a socialized newspaper to being a "God Haven State" with one of the strongest ties to the Republican party.

I would recommend seeing the flick once it goes mainstream (if they can find a distributor) if you are interested in Kansas politics and as a State. Some may find parts of it irritating but funny (both Republicans and Democrats) with a wide array of interesting characters. The filmmakers, who were present for this showing, handled a good Q/A session about the making of the movie and expressed that it was their goal to present an unbiased view of Kansans and their politics. It struck me as a bit odd then that the former Congressmen, to some extent, used the Q/A time as a forum to showcase themselves.

As someone suggested to me, it is hard for people, who once had all the attention of the 'bully pulpit of an elected official' to not be in the limelight when in public gatherings.

I'm appreciative of the many dimensions of my Internship including the chance to join in the out-of-work opportunities that are broadening my perspectives on what congressional staffers do.

Kids Love Barney in the Morning!

Even before my official office hours began on Friday, I was already heading over to a Committee Room down on the third floor. The room wasn't busy yet and I wound up being able to sit next to a friend that I went to high school with (and played baseball together with) who is interning for a Congressional office representing Michigan. My friend and my fellow intern from Congressman Moore's office and me were all together in the Committee Room, sitting less than 5 feet away from a podium that Representative Barney Frank would be addressing us during a Congressional Intern Semimar Series event in about 40 minutes.

Congressman Frank spent most of his time talking about partisanship, a topic that I had chosen for one of my final high school government projects just this Spring. He discussed a view that has become increasing unpopular. He is one of the few remaining Congressman that will openly say that partisanship is good, it can even get things accomplished. Of course he was speaking in regards to how divided Republicans and Democrats are on the current health care debate, but more importantly how each party has become so divided ideology within their own respective camps. In so many words the Congressman was calling out to the Democrats to get it together and get a health bill passed.

He also spoke a bit about his own personal story of what his reasoning was for going into politics instead of his initial goal of becoming an academician. He put his comments into a context of our interests, of how to decide what the right career path is for oneself. The reason, if you're wondering, is that he believed that he has too short of an attention span to succeed in an academic position. He gave an example. If you give him an issue to consider for 20 minutes then have a debate, he will have a great advantage. If you give him 2 weeks, he will be at a disadvantage because after a day or so, he would get bored, be distracted and move onto another issue. Also, while talking about debate, Congressman Frank stressed that it is extremely important to truly discuss the substance within bills and proposed policies. He emphasized that one of the bad things about the current political climate was when Members just throw around absurd claims that delay or create indecision because of false statements.

The last words from the discussion that Representative Frank had that I want to bring up was about the military. While it eludes me as to whether or not the Congressman directly linked the next statement to the F22s or not, it certainly is a strong example. The Congressman pointed out the fallacies that come when a country starts shifts from funding a program such as the military as a means to reach the end goal of protection, to the funding of the military being the end. This means that when the only reason to fund a program or military further is to just provide for that part of the government (or in this case, the business sector), then the money is being wastefully spent for an absent cause.

The rest of the day was overshadowed by having had the chance to participate in this intriguing seminar and Q/A, but let me assure that that once again, the staff dealt with a high volume of phone calls concerning the growing debate around health care.

Keeping Busy ... and ...A New Bill

Today started off quite normal. There was some mail to log and some letters to edit. Two of my intern colleagues spent the day shadowing the Congressman. This is an important part of the Internship Experience and I'll be doing my 'shadow day' next week.

Health care calls continued to roll in today. Its suprising to me to hear how many different auto-calls are coming in. The first mass-campaign auto-call was from AARP, yet today there were at least two other ones as the caller IDs indicated 924 and 620 area codes, with most of the calls being Constituents.

Like other modern offices, Congressional offices are subject to technology challenges from time to time. Today our computerized mailing system went down for at least half an hour today. The server was down and wouldn't restart. A staffer had to call an off-site contractor for Tech Support. Luckily they were able to fix the server without a significant delay.

After the server was back-up in good working condition I made a trip down to the Cloak Room to deliver an additional co-sponsor to an existing Bill that Congressman Moore has sponsored, and at the same time, a new Bill that the Congressman was just about to introduce in the official record.

I also was able to spend some time off the computer today at the office. As I've previously mentioned, one of the services that the Office provides to Constituents is to help arrange for tours of the U.S. Capitol. In support of this service, I spent nearly an hour helping to finish stamping what are known as Gallery Passes for Constituents to use to view the House Chamber. It was a little strange, yet exciting, to be placing the Congressman's name on an official pass. While this may seem like a normal type of office work to some readers of this Blog, allow me to assure you, that there is a sense of respsonsibility attached to doing this work. (NOTE: The picture on this posting is of the Gallery Passes that I worked on).

Because of my small contribution to this process, in the near future someone from the 3rd District will be watching history being made in the United States House of Representatives.

The Congressman Has Exited the Building

Today the Congressman had a very busy schedule. One LA staffer and he were gone for the majority of the day attending a variety of of meetings and Subcommittee Hearings. I was unable to attend any of the open sessions today due to the continuing high volume of calls, but from what I could tell, everyone is feeling the hectic schedule.

I found out today that one of the Robo-calls that is reaching our constituents is from the Republican National Committee or RNC. This 'polling', as the RNC refers to it, is conducted in such a way as to solicit contact to our office. Although I don't have the precise transcript as to what the message says, yet, I can't imagine a situation where one political organization would use a marketing technique like this that would result in their position to be questioned or undermined by their own message. Its important not to observe that the RNC probably only called people who have in the past been supporters. Please don't misinterpret my observations to suggest that I'm saying that the RNC, or for that matter any organization representing voters, does not have the right to voice their support. I'm sure that those on both sides of political issues use similiar tactics.

What concerns me most is that it is not a productive excercise to just generate calls by auto-connecting constituents who are ill infomed about what they are really calling to protest. It's obvious that the vast majority of these callers only know the specific lead point that the Robo-call message told them to say. That message of course was to call and 'just say no' to Obama's health care plan.

To me it seems that the result of such Robo-calling undermines the true value and intent of the First Amendment.The manipulation of constituent voice has become a very troubling issue to me today.

Letters and Future Letters

Today the office printed off response letters to many of the people who called in about the ACES bill. The letters were in response to their perspective of Pro, Con or Neutral. Keep in mind that these were responses ONLY to the people who are without an email or those who indicated that they preferred an actual, physical written response. The stack of letters that we were mailing out was incredible; without a doubt it was even larger than the actual ACES bill was (that is a joke, as the ACES Bill was over 1,000 pages long itself)

We didn't even make a minor dent in the folding, stuffing and sealing of the huge pile of letters. One reason (besides the volume) why we're not making better progress in getting these important communications out is because the AARP auto calls increased significantly today. You'll remember from my previous posts that they have started a member campaign that auto-connects when opted by the recipient, to our office.

The good news is that the volume of phone calls today were not as heavy as all the calls that we received during the peak of the ACES consideration, but it wasn't too far off. I know that I personally was not able to get too much work done besides answering constituent phone calls. In between all the Health Care concerns were a few H.R. 1080 calls otherwise known as the ROAM Act of 2009 or the pro-non-slaughtering horse bill, which the Congressman has announced his support of by the way.

I also made several trips over the Rayburn building during the mid-morning. I was supposed to deliver materials to either a staffer or the Congressman during a Financial Services Committee meeting, but as luck would have it, I believe it was pushed back due to votes (I'm not a 100% sure why it hadn't started so don't hold me to it).

Then, about half an hour later I received a call from the staffer I was supposed to drop the memo off to. I found myself running to pick up several letters for the Congressman to sign in a staffers room adjacent to the Committee room. It appears to be a good environment for Members and Staffers to escape the high energy out in the halls. After a staffer back in my office was able to get the Congressman to sign the letters, I was able to run the letters back to the Committee's office room where they would take over from there to get them sent out.

Finally, it was also the final day for another one of our interns. From now till the end of my summer internship we will be down to only 4 interns. This is the smallest number that its been working in the office since I started here back in late May. We have always had at least 5 interns and at one point we had 6 for a week.

Funny, but I'm already getting worried about how the office will function with fewer interns and as the health care legislation progresses. This should be interesting!

Health Care and Drinking Injuries

I've been gone for the past couple of days and consequently I have missed two days of work. I'm back and ready to roll.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) apparently has an automated call (often referred to as a 'robo-call') targeting our constituents that will automatically connects them to our office as soon as they press a button that confirms they want to speak to us.

As a result, all day there was a steady (and heavy) stream of AARP members calling the office with a vague idea about the current Health Care legislation and expressing their opinions for or against the Bill. It is important for constituents to be active, but at the same time it is important and would help their case if they are knowledgeable and able to clearly communicate their position about the legislation rather than just make vague points and general opinions about themselves or the bill. It makes it harder for us to help them and so that we can provide them with helpful and accurate information.

I also attended a seminar for the mostly young people who are staffers on the Hill, concerning drinking and driving today. The speaker has had long term consequences from his own actions involving alcohol and driving, including restricted mobility and decreased mental ability (affecting his speech and memory). As a result of his experience, he, along with his family, have since then become advocates to youth about the consequences of how making a misjudgement of drinking and driving a single time, and how it can dramatically affect not just the individual but their entire family. It was a powerful presentation and one that was effective in getting its message across.

It's great that this internship has had so many different dimensions and to allow for this type of information to reach its target audience so well.

Knowing the Issues

Today I spent the majority of my time working on particular issues that are concerning constituents. I was able to research what several different bills impact might be as well as what approaches might offer alternatives to address the issues they address. The main sources that I've been using while trying to conduct this research and to better understand the issues include the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Legislative Information System (LIS) and previous communications with/from from constituents. These sources help me explore and to better understand the various ways in which to answer these difficult questions. CRS and LIS are exclusively for Congressional staffers and members, but some of their resources are published online after a peroid of time has passed onto the www.Thomas.gov site.

The Congressman and his Bill

The Congressman has sponsored a new Bill for legislative action. While I have not had a chance to read the Bill, H.R. 2246-the Community Building Code Administration Act of 2009, the amount of work that accompanies new proposed legislation is enormous.

Just one example was one of my fellow interns having to go through pages and pages of call sheets last week, which consumed the majority of his day, to contact and attempt to gain support from fellow Congressman through their staffers. Of course the calls seemed a bit premature at the time because Representatives weren't even in town due to the holiday. But this week, as the Representatives rolled back into town and their normal routines, and as the staffers had time to advise them about this new bill, co-sponsors began to accumulate.

All week we've been taking down forms to the Cloak Room for signatures from the growing list of Congressman to be added as co-sponsors to the Bill. Today I believe every single intern made it down to the Cloak Room at least once. In fact, just after one intern left to deliver a confirmation form, another request came through on the telephone.

I suspect that as this Bill picks up momentum and progresses through the process, I am sure that more media sources will be calling on the Office for more information and details. Today, a person from Fox News called requesting an interview. While I haven't heard the outcome on that request, I do know that sooner or later the Congressman will be working through the media to support his bill to nuture it through and beyond the Committee process.

HOT HOT HOT, New Ideas for Legislation

It is intriguing to see what different constituents have to say to their Congressperson. Without going into any specifics, I'll explain. It is the right of every constituent to express their opinions about any current legislation that is being considered as well as to raise issues that they believe the Representative and Congress should be addressing. It is interesting to see and hear the wide range of topics that are presented, and oftentimes, the basis and context in which they are presented.

Sometimes the 'facts' that are communicated behind an issue appear to be distorted. For example one recent letter raised the issue of a significant difference in the pensions between retired Army Veterans and retired Representatives. The constituent's perspective that the two were widely apart in terms of dollars and appropriateness was backed by their belief that a retired one-term Representatives pension was more than 10-times than a veterans. It got me to thinking, how often do you ever think about a retired Congressman's pension? While the facts behind the issue may be different than believed, the issue here though, was that the constituent wanted his Representative to support an increase in Veterans' retirement pensions.

It is extremely important to note, however, that it is not the role of a Congressman to debate specifics with their constituents. Rather, it is important for them to be able to listen and understand what is important to the people that they represent and to use the available forums and processes of the Office to move those concerns through Congress as appropriate.

As I pass my half-way mark of my summer internship experience, I realize that I am gaining a deeper insight and respect for how our system of representative government works. I am looking forward to each day to learn how all of the parts of our Office work to achieve these goals.

John McCain and the White House

What a long, exciting and terrific day Wednesday was. I started off earlier than normal by arriving outside of the White House at 7:45. It had been arranged that I was to meet the Congressman's wife by the gate so that she could walk us through White House security (the post 9/11 world prohibits all public tours making the White House only accessible through special access such as when accompanied by a Congressperson or family member accompaniment). I was surprised, and pleased to discover Representative Moore himself out front waiting for me and my fellow interns. It was the first time that I've had the chance to exchange small talk with the Congressman while we waited for the last of our interns to arrive.

Although I did not get to see the entire White House, I did enjoy the experience immensely. I was able to see the East Entrance Wing and the entire first floor (a map of the White House - that you can obtain at the official Visitors Center which is still open to the public - shows a 2nd and 3rd floor above the floor I was on) which includes the Media Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, the State Dining Room, the entrance/cross halls, the China Room, the Library and the Diplomatic Reception Room. Whoa, that is a mouth full. The rooms were jammed with history ranging from priceless portraits of Kennedy looking deep in thought as he stared downward and Reagan showing the visitors the way out, to fine furniture and low hanging chandeliers. The view outside of the south window in the Blue Room, looking towards the Jefferson AND Washington Memorials, was surreal in it's dramatic beauty. I would highly recommend arranging a visit if at all possible either for the grand views in or outside of the building or the feeling that washes over you being at the epicenter of the free world.

Obviously my arrival to the office was slightly later than normal. Most of the mail tasks of the day passed by quickly and with little standing out as I was still in a blissful state from my earlier experience. What was memorable was that the office began receiving a number of phone calls , obviously all originating from an organized campaign to lobby Congressional Offices. It was nothing near the caliber of ACES but a phone campaign nevertheless. I also left a bit early to make it to an evening, Capitol Hill / Staffers event.

This event was the kick-off of the Summer Intern Seminars hosted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The speakers this week were Senators Robert Menendez, NJ (D) and John McCain, AZ (R). I believe that most of their events are a bit more progressive in nature than conservative, but of course not this one was not. I got there about half an hour before the program was set to begin. None the less, there was a long line around both corners of the the Russell Senate Office Building's Rotunda and by time I got in all of the limited seating was taken and a mass of people were already gathering for the standing room.

I decided to try and maneuver myself towards the front and I was able to find a good standing place about 8-to-10 feet back from the podium where the Senators gave their speeches. McCain's speech covered his perspective ranging from American-Israel policies to the Iraq war and the conflicts in Tehran/Iran. It was interesting to here how a recently defeated Presidential Candidate addresses a new generation of leaders in an off the record discussion. There was no doubt in my mind about how significantly different, and aggressive, a McCain Administration would have been in its foreign policies and actions.

Menedez's speech was overshadowed, partially due to the fact that people like me had been standing for about an hour and a half two hours before he got onto stage. He did give a nice anecdote to how he started off righting the injustices of a corrupt school board bent on gathering dues from low-income students. From what I gathered, he was a bit more diplomatic than McCain.

By 8:30, after such an exciting day, I was ready to hit the rails (the Metro) and call it day.

Day Two-ACES (not the card kind either)

Today I spent the whole day, for the second day in a row, logging in mail concerning ACES. From 9 to 6 I had my head deep in piles of letters and phone records trying to make progress in all of the constituent contacts. All I know is that over the last two days, the Intern Strike Force Team has gone through roughly 2,500 contact materials. After a while the letters all seem to blend together and it becomes harder to keep up with whether they are for or against the legislation.

The only respite I had from working on the volume of mail today was running down recycled technology to the office supply store. I guess they are able to salvage different components of whatever they receive and are able to resupply those parts to the different Congressional offices. Just another way the Capitol is working to be Green.

A New Intern for a New Week

Well, back to work after a terrific holiday weekend! In case you haven't ever been able to be in the nation's capital on Independence Day, take it from me, it is definitely something to experience in person.

Today we welcomed our final new intern for the summer term session. For the third time this summer I was able to hear the new intern orientation for our office. It seems strange to hear someone explaining how the office functions while already knowing the little ins and outs of the office.

Today we also walked into the office to find a surprise at the Interns desk, a whole new pile of mail to log! And just when I thought the final call about ACES had passed, we started the process of logging the mail we have already received concerning ACES. That basically sums up the day. New Intern and logging ACES mail.

The Day Before Independence

Spirits were high as everyone knew that the long weekend was merely one day away. It seems like every single intern had some family member either in town already or coming in the following day. In addition to all that, we were out of processed mail meaning we would not be spending the whole day on the same single task.

Then, after lunch, a staffer and an intern disappeared for a bit. I did not think much of it until the intern called the office telling me to inform everyone that if we desired to view the House Floor, we had to wrap up whatever we were doing in a few minutes. His call wasn't that specific, so I didn't give it much thought at first, in fact I was wondering why would we want to go to the gallery on a day when Congress wasn't in session. Then it dawned on me that the intern was referring to actually going to be on the floor of the US House of Representatives, not merely in the gallery that overlooks it.

Obviously I had never taken the path we used to get to the floor before today. We transversed through a corridor that was marked 'Members Only' where the walls were lined with past famous dignitaries and then we entered the lobby that connects with the back of the floor. Needless to say, as I emerged from the lobby into the House Chamber, it was an exciting moment. It was odd to see up close the same platform where the Speaker resides and the exact location of where the President stands as he reports the State of the Union. I can personally attest that the seats on the floor are quite enjoyable, and I was flabbergasted how simple the voting system appeared to the touch of my bare hand. And I even could see the typical office equipment that are used on the floor in the early 21st century (Fax machines and printers for the main part).

So one might wonder how we were permitted to be on the floor of the US House of Representatives anyway. The Rules of the House are quite firm that ONLY Members of the US House of Representatives, past-Members, immediate staff of the Clerk of the House and official Pages to the House may be present on the floor when in session. The only exception to this rule is for official guests as determined and voted on by the House Rules and Administration Committee (such as the President in order to report to Congress on the State of the Union, members of the Senate, etc.)

But, when not in session, the Rules allow for other official visitors, which includes authorized (with appropriate identification) staff of Members of Congress. If you think about it, when Congress is not in session, there has to be access for the custodial staff!

So that's how on the eve of our nations birthday celebration, that I found myself on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. It might seem strange to some to admire a mere room that seems to some extent plain, excluding the scattered engravings and portraits, but to me it was a thrill. Even without the action and Representatives present, to be so close to the power of the House was an inspiring experience for me.

Quiet

Today seems quite out of place when compared to the last week and a half. There seemed to be no real action today. We ran out of processed mail yesterday leaving us only to write a few custom letters for the entire day. The phones were also relatively quiet throughout the day, with the last remnants of tconstituents calling about the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. A few callers were not yet aware that the Bill was passed by the full House last Friday evening but they still wanted the Congressman to know of their perspective.

Well not only was the workload quiet, but so was the office. With a bit more of a flexible schedule, our office was nearly empty at times. My intern colleagues were able to spread out a bit and staff different parts of the fort, as two of the Legislative Affairs staffers so aptly described it to me today. A bit less stress of the past week was a pleasant change of pace.