A few more thoughts...

I finished my laundry last night, and I should be able to figure out sometime tomorrow what I need to ship home. I made the mistake of bringing more to D.C. than I brought home during my trips back and forth, so I will have to pay some dues to the US Postal Service.

I had a few more thoughts that I think are really important to know about Washington, here the come:

If you want a job in Washington, D.C., you can get one. This is not a place of great competition. If Washington, D.C. were an island and you were stranded, you could probably find something to do for some office or organization. However, many entry-level positions are without pay (i.e. my internship). Because the entry-level jobs can be done by almost anyone, they don't need to spend the money to keep people around. Many internships start out with the salary of $0. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship from the Renewable Fuels Association, which helped tremendously. When I figured out my pay in terms of the scholarship, I was making about $6.17 an hour, and that was being generous. Extended to a year, that would be about $15,000, and staff assistants can typically put three zeros on the end of their age. Because of this, I see a big problem, we have a low percentage of low-income staffers on the hill. It is not that a wealthy staff would do a worse job, but in a place where we are trying to solve problems, we have many great minds shy away from the city because the financial risk is too great. Those who do come either have their stay subsidized by their parents who want them to be successful, or work jobs on the weekends and after work. So that is the down-side, however one nice benefit most people do not realize is the educational loan repayment program available to staff. The rate is around $500 a month, so $6,000 a year. This can turn the $22,000 salary into about $28,000, making it a bit more manageable. This is still an expensive city. Rent for a live-able apartment (unlike mine) can be anywhere between $800 and $1,200, depending on where you are, how close you are to the Metro, and of course the regular housing/renting factors. With your $22,000 salary then, you have $16,500 after 25% is taken out for taxes. You can then take home about $1,375 for month, and put about $1,000 of that towards housing and travel, giving you about $3-400 to live on each month. With a few big bar tabs, I can see where people go into debt for a while. That is a pessimistic view, but with a few good years in D.C., salary rises quickly and staff swing to the other then of the financial pendulum. I'm just saying, the first couple of years can be rough.

I think my final lecture will be about cars. Parking is ridiculous, and because the city wants less people on its streets, the parking police are horrible. I did not have a car, so this is a second-hand account. Rush hour is horrible. Between the stoplights and millions of people trying to get places, including workers, tourists and Presidential motorcades, D.C. rush hour is stop-and-go within about 60 miles of the metro area. People that do not live on the Hill, can then spend much over 50% of their day away from home. Even Metro riders will have to get on the Metro by 8:00 to get to work by 9:00, and not return home until 7:00 (on a normal day). Commuters can leave at 6:00 or 6:30 and return home by 8:00 (on a normal day), but extended hours can be much worse. At least you can park in the Office Building parking lots for free as a staffer, but you need to pop your trunk and have a police officer look in your back window before you do. If you live on the Hill with a car, it doesn't get much better. An off-street parking spot is the solution to many problems. One of our staff members has had his car stolen twice, and been bumped and nicked enough times that no one would want to steal his car anymore. The reason for the bumps is the way people parallel park. I have always been a proud member of the parallel parkers at my fraternity in St. Paul, AGR. Normal residents park an average of 6 vehicles in the same space we can park 7. I think residents of D.C. could up us with a total of 8. It is much easier to parallel park in D.C. though, you know exactly when to stop. Everyone simply backs up until they see the car behind their coveted spot moves, because their car just tapped it. Then when a driver turns the cars wheels and heads forward, the stopping point is when that car moves. What you end up with is a sidewalk lined with neatly parked cars, simply inches from each other. If a staffer plans on staying in D.C. for just a year or two, they may not bother to change their license plate. The fee is something like 6% of your cars value. So just getting a street permit for parking on the street takes about 8 hours after you find out what your cars exact value is, get in the four-hour line to get the okay for a D.C. license plate, and finally are able to pick it up. If you do not go through this process, and are parked on the street, you start getting tickets. It starts at around $100, then increases quickly each day that the parking ticketers notice your non-D.C. plates. The Metro in D.C. is very helpful, but it doesn't get you everywhere. Cars are definitely advantageous at times, but I wouldn't buy it.

One last thing I didn't realize until a few weeks ago; Washington, D.C. is on the East Coast. I went to New York and Baltimore with little money and planning, and was able to spend a short amount of time traveling. I wish I would have headed south for Twins Spring Training, but there is always next time.

Also, this means vacations to the Bahamas and the Caribbean are much more inexpensive and less time-consuming than they would be from the MN area.

I'm going to head to the Nationals game, and then tonight I'm going to have supper with our next intern who I met when he was out to visit earlier this Spring. Tomorrow I am shipping out and packing up, and seeing the last couple of sights. Then early Tuesday I leave for Dulles so I can make it back to the great state of MN for the afternoon. That's all for now. We'll see if I have anything else to reflect about as my life goes on...

It's Over

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, that's it. I finished my 10 page paper. It was a lot of fun.

My final day of being a Congressional intern was also today. It was my last day to roam free through the Capitol, skip the the front of the line, and give people advice with credentials to back me up. Now, I'm worthless, just another citizen. I do not know what this has done to me yet. I feel so disconnected knowing I am not in the middle of everything I want to learn about. It gives me shivers just thinking about it. Wait, no, that's just my drafty $550 apartment (which is open if anyone wants a room that is 8 x 16 with smelly water and a worse smelling bathroom). Okay, so I haven't complained much about my apartment until now, well I am going to. I feel like I want to spill my guts about everything just so the next person who thinks they might want to skip school for the betterment of the nation has more to go off than I did. I don't mean this to be a sob story, but more of a, I'm glad it's over, glad I did it the way I did it, but I wouldn't advise it and will never do it again.

First of all, I want to let everyone know that I was definitely not the typical intern. The biggest barrier was not being 21. Okay, so it does not really matter for Congressional work, and I would not drink that much if I was legally able to anyways (I'm kind of tight with my money. Kind of, because I just don't like spending it on alcohol, but I can always have more food. I also don't like spending it on clothing, but new athletic shoes or a hat are always a good buy.). But I was held out of two receptions that were very entertaining from what I heard. I also missed out on the D.C. nightlife, which is basically all there is to do out here between the hours of whenever you get off work and 9 am. Sure, there is tons to see as a tourist, but after my first month, I was no longer a tourist. Monuments and museums can only do so much for me. My only other outlet besides my homework was softball. Thank god for softball.

That brings my to my second point that makes me atypical, I was still a student. Between not wanting to get behind on credits and possibly losing out on umpteen thousand dollars of scholarship money (kind of, more like $4,000) I decided to take a total of 19 credits (with 15 being average) while I was out here. I am happy I did, as my only other option would have been a $80 fake I.D. While much cheaper, I think I taught myself a lot more about studying. Anyway, I have one scholarship that expires after 4 years of school, so missing a semester full-time would have been confusing, and full-time is only 13 credits.
My original class was my 13 credit political science class, which is the main reason I'm writing this blog, as well as the reason I have analyzed and learned more about this internship than I possibly could have on my own. I had a great professor for this class based on email who seemed to know a lot about agriculture, so that was totally worth the money.
But then I had to take 16, because I had signed up for 15 credits before I knew I had the internship. This resulted in either me shelling out a few hundred dollars, or taking another class (at least 2 credits to bring me to 15). All online classes were at least 3 credits, and the one I chose was in my major. Actually, it was all based on blogging, you can see it here. It was a lot of fun, and I got an A. Finally I had 3 credits from a class I started last June that I received a 2-month extension on as I prepared and took this internship. So it was originally due March 15, but I will finish it up on Wednesday when I take my final exam.
The moral of the story is, if you come out here, stay busy. I don't care if you take in the night life, sit in your room and do homework, or join as many sports leagues as you can, just do it.

Second, I would advise you to keep a blog. I have traveled what I would consider a lot for my age. I have always been told to keep a diary of some kind, and on the two trips I have, I remember them much more vividly and have fonder memories. The best part about a blog is that others can read it. I will admit that I did get a stern talking to my first week of work. My superiors found my name through Google's powerful search as I continually mentioned Collin's name or the Farm Bill, and just advised me not to do anything that would get me or them in trouble. I do not know how all staffs would feel about a blog, but mine was fine with it after they read through it and got the idea that I was not trying to take down the Ag. Committee. The best part, as I was getting to, is that other can read it, and I have been closer with all my family (albeit via email) than since I was a new born baby and they came to see me. I don't think I'm attention starved, but when I received a card in the mail from my great-grandma with a message of approval, that was a great feeling. You can also broadcast when your birthday is and be sure to get many more cards and presents, and if you live in a crappy apartment they may be more likely to send money. Okay, so I wasn't planning that, but it worked out well. To be honest, I still need to send the thank you cards. I told my mom I had them written and ready to go, which is true, but they are still just ready to go. It turns out having your mom deal with all your postal needs as you grow up is not the best benefactor for postal independence.

Third, expect the unexpected; that is, just react to things and be adaptable and confident. I did not really understand my duties the first few weeks of my internship. Was it okay for me to take a 15 minute lunch? 30? 45? When other staff members say that they are going to run errands (a.k.a. "X-GTRE" in blackberry talk) was I able to do that? If someone calls and says they need to talk to Collin Peterson, how do I know if they are important? Should I even bother someone about it? If they are, what is Collin's number?
It was these examples that made life pretty confusing at first. After a while I just figured out that lunch depends on the day. I had time for anywhere from zero, during hearing-filled weeks, to a few hours during recess. I could run errands as long as someone else could cover the desk, and I got Collin's number, but I can't give it out.

Fourth, embrace the culture that is "The Hill". I could have seen the suits coming, the signing of documents, or even the seven steps it took to get a waste basket next to my desk, but there is so much more I didn't see coming. The Hill is like a college campus, mostly because 80% of its inhabitants are 35 years and younger. Fresh out of college, everyone knows how to work hard, and play hard as well. The hours are similar to college, get up to go through your normal routine, but you might be up all night reading, writing, or sitting through a boring meeting or markup. But you need to do it to get the grade. Then, after 40 hours in the first three days of a week, the local bar is looking like a good place to relax with your friends. You lose even more sleep, but that is how you make the relationships to make things work. I did miss out on the bar scene, but it might be one thing that draws me back.

Five, you're an intern. I mean this in two ways. One, because you're a political science major with straight A's does not mean you're going to excel on the hill. You may be ahead of some people, but the staff will be sure to let you know that you are not at the level to do their job. By the way, I was a very lucky intern. I knew many interns, and most of them gave tours, some two or three per day. Not all interns are as privileged as I was, I am thankful for that, but I still was doing some grunt work (i.e. moving boxes, like today at 5 p.m. when my mind was already in Minnesota). The other way I mean is that you are an intern! You didn't get selected to be on the hill because you are Joe Schmoe (who could also do pretty well out here). But, since you're out here, don't make yourself look inferior. My general rule was that if I pretended like I knew what I was doing, I did unless someone else knew better. Because every day is different, there are people who have been around for years, but would not remember if you are doing something right or wrong.

Well, I think I've unloaded as much as I can. If I get inspired, maybe I'll write tomorrow. I am going to say the most memorable parts of my internship were meeting the Administrator for a USDA service a few weeks ago and meeting Drew Berrymore and answering a couple of her questions.
On the other end, there was recess. Not doing anything for a few days was fine, but the 10-day Easter break was a killer. Luckily for staff they usually have enough vacation days to go somewhere, but the sun outside was torture as I sat and read about how the Twins were doing in Spring Training and wrote an email to anyone I could think of.

I have two softball games tomorrow, I'm excited. I can't wait to get home, find the Twins easily on TV, or head down the street for a Saints game. That's it, I'm inspired, sometime this weekend I will write about some differences and similarities from MN to DC. Goodnight.

One More Day

Okay, I feel bad because I have been writing less and less during the end of my internship, but homework is much more fun than keeping everyone updated on my life.

Actually, I'll give a quick rundown, then I'll try to explain more tomorrow after I finish my research paper.

This morning we held our first markup on some generally non-controversial bills the Agriculture Committee will send to the floor. After we adjourned and everyone cleared out of our packed room, we had 8 votes on the floor, then about 12 members came back for a press conference (packed just like the hearing, but 90% press) and the Democrats and Republicans laid out their plans and explained how they would work together. After that, the press asked a lot of questions, and the Chairman decided it was time to go.

I agree, it was more dramatic than that, but I have 10 pages to write. I'll talk tomorrow.

Two To Go

I almost had a really great day, but it ended up being only a great one. The reason it was so great was the Omelet Luncheon put on by the United Egg Producers. I'll admit it, I had two, but we were able to make them ourselves and add whichever ingredients we wished. In the afternoon I thought I was going to meet Kent Hrbek on behalf of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), but he must have been double booked somewhere else. Then we received our bi-monthly shipment of milk from LandO'Lakes (and I have been put in charge of saying what happens with the 60 bottles we get) and the leftover brownies and cookies from the reception arrived at the same time.

Okay, so that was all about food, but we were also preparing for our first markup (and the only one I will get to experience) that takes place tomorrow. This is not Farm Bill related, but we will be going through three bills that shouldn't be too controversial from my personal estimation. They include the 25X25 Act, the STOPP Act about eminent domain, and the Hunters for the Hungry program.

That's all, I'm going to try to keep on cranking out homework. Two days left.

Rewriting the Bible

Our hearing today on produce safety was taped by C-SPAN, but for once we only had to use one room for a hearing that was picked up by a TV channel.

I am now spending my days preparing for the end, and a new beginning. While it sounds like Genesis and Revelations, I am just another step in the process. I mean the people at work care about me, but I'm gone this Friday, and the office needs to be as efficient as possible. The new interns will most likely be behind, so I am making sheet after sheet to update them on everything we have been doing, and also to better understand the processes we did not get right away.

One sheet I made today could be pretty controversial, and shows just how important some bureaucratic (not that I'm using it in the derogatory sense) approval can be in this government entity (or any corporation). My Bible, Catechism and Hymnal for the first couple weeks was our Staff Issue Assignment sheet. This piece of paper included the names of our staff who received mail about issues, and which issues each staffer covered. Because we are still adding staff, it would be very hard to complete an updated version (the current one is very outdated) now, but I would not want to be the next intern stuck without it. So I made one myself, but was reminded that it needed to be hidden. Should a staffer on our committee see the sheet and assume that it is official, they may be offended. Everybody wants their areas, their section of work. If the person who covers, for example, parliamentary procedure,--something not stated explicitly in our Subcommittees' jurisdictions--sees "taxes" under someone else's name, they may see this as a revocation of some of their work, or power. Therefore while this document will save everyone a lot of headaches (as mail could get put in the wrong places and calls may be sent to the wrong phone), the release of this document could also be harmful in case of a miscommunication. If all goes well, it will be saved for the interns' eyes only. If not, let's hope the staff are paying attention to my blog today.

Well, it's crazy to say, but there are simply 3 days left. I need to finish up homework now so I can play softball and pack this weekend. I will be home next Tuesday, and I'm already getting emails from aunts and uncles, who shall remain unidentified, that want me to come help me teach their social studies class (I bet that didn't narrow it down). I guess after you're out here, you're a big deal.

The Final Countdown

Besides a war protest that shut down Independence Avenue (the road in-between the Capitol and the House Office Building) with about 20 people staging a sit-in in the middle of the street, today was normal, but a lot more work. I am down one intern, but I was able to get through the day, even squeeking in the much-needed (and inexpensive) haircut.

We held a hearing on crop insurance and have our final hearing tomorrow before we begin our work on the Farm Bill (hopefully next week).

My entries are probably going to be short for this final week as I finish up my research paper about Horse Slaughter (H.R. 503) and a few other papers I should get done by Friday. Saturday we have a double-header for Minnesota Alumni Softball, then Sunday-Tuesday I'm packing up and heading home, with a little sight-seeing mixed in.

Party Time

The morning was going slowly. We figured since it was the other intern's last day, we would be taking it pretty easy, and generally we were. At noon we had our farewell party for the two of us, and it was great to have everyone together, because the stress level in the office is pretty high. In fact, the rest of the staff is working tomorrow morning.

Anyway, I took my best friend to see the floor of the house, and she was pretty impressed. After that it was about 4:00. We then had to move a lot of furniture. So much so that Gabe's last day ended up being a last day plus 30 minutes. It was still a memorable day.

Next week we have two hearings planned. I thought it was rough with only two interns, well it looks like I will find out what flying solo is all about on Monday and Tuesday. One week left, and I'm playing tour guide this weekend.

Visitors

Today I had a lot of good fortune, two women that I was glad to see came to our committee room. We also had two hearings.

The first girl that arrived was my best friend that I actually hadn't seen for about 6 months. She will be spending the weekend hanging out with me.

The second visitor was Drew Berrymore, on behalf of the UN. She had a 4:00 with the chairman, and talked to me before she went in. She asked me what I had learned and how long I was staying, while I was being taped by one of her two video crews.

Anyways, it's past my bedtime because I played softball and showed my guest the monuments.

CSPAN and the Pool, 2nd round

We had our hearing on the findings of melamine in animal feed. It was a very packed hearing and we had coverage from CSPAN as well as the networks. CSPAN will air it sometime this weekend.

This afternoon I worked on a variety of projects for our upcoming hearings. Tomorrow we have double duty, and we start at 8 am. Today was the minority intern's last day, and Friday is our other intern's last day. I have simply 7 days left, weird.

I'm being quick so I can work on homework and wake up on time.

Animal Welfare Hearing

We had our hearing about the welfare of animals in agriculture today, and it went as most expected it to. You can read reports about it from the Cattle Network here and the Brownfield Network here. There were also press releases from organizations like the Center for Consumer Freedom.

We had a line started at 9 am, when I arrived, and it grew by our 10:30 start. Not included in that line were also 12 witness, each with a guest, making our "public" section of our large committee room shrink from 36 to about 10 (when it is usually 20-25). We also allow 10 people to stand in the back corner, and then we had an overflow room that seats another 50, which was about 3/4 full. I watched the door for the first 2 panels and could tell the tension in everyone's face as they walked in and out of the hearing room. I was able to sit in our overflow room for the third panel, and I can say things got a little dicey.

This afternoon after cleaning up the hearing I took a few projects here and there, but spent most of my time researching to see if we had any press coverage of our committee hearing (such as with the honey bee hearing, when it was everywhere immediately after the hearing was over). But no such luck, as former House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Stenholm (who was a witness today) said, "What we've got to do is find a way is get that story out to where more of the non-agricultural press begin to pick up on what we're really doing in agriculture, not what some people say we are." It should be noted that the only two reports I found were the two stories linked above.

In my view animal agriculture is just starting to realize they need to put money into education about animal welfare specifically. The difference is, animal agriculture organizations are also spending money on trade, disease control, research, and a plethora of other issues to keep food safe, low cost, and efficient. On the other hand, animal rights organizations focus solely on animal rights.

Growing up on a farm I didn't see any need to have training on animal welfare; being nice to animals just comes with the territory. Starving a cow because it didn't win an award or produce enough milk just doesn't make sense; it makes your goals more improbable. The same with putting pigs in gestation crates (which of course just sounds like a bad name, and is a good reason the people of Arizona were swayed to outlaw the one hog farm there from using them. I learned in 10th grade English that Americans love alliterations. Why not call them pregnancy pens, or birthing booths?), it surely is not to make the pigs uncomfortable during one of the most stressful times of their life, it is to save the lives of piglets (as noted today, the number of piglets per litter has increased from about 7 to 10 since the inception of the technology).

*Those are purely my opinions and a review of my experiences growing up on a farm. They in no way express or reflect the opinions of the Committee.

9 Work Days and Counting...

The morning went by as I was half sleeping from our tiring trip to New York City. Feel free to see my pictures in my albums by clicking here for album 1, here for album 2, and here for album 3.

This afternoon I started doing some background research for our hearing on Thursday, which, as I have been reminded 50 times, is my brothers birthday. In my research I summarized the 4 components of USDA research, ARS, ERS, NASS, and CSREES. These are my favorite kinds of projects, learning more about the tools I use or have heard about. I'm going to bed early because I spent a long time arranging my Facebook albums (click on the links in the first paragraph) and mostly because I'm really tired.

Tomorrow is THE Livestock, Dairy and Poultry hearing I've been looking forward to. Feel free to tune in online, it should get pretty interesting. If you don't, I'll try to fill you in tomorrow.

Grand Finale

It was a slow day, but we finally released the hearing that I have been doing a little work with, one on Animal Welfare. It's pretty controversial, but I think almost everyone will be happy after the hearing is over. I have paged through the testimony, and it was what I would expect. This could be quite the hearing, we'll see.
Also today we were briefed on both Animal Welfare and the USDA Checkoff programs. The Congressional Research Service does a really good job of providing both sides of these things.

After work I was invited to my best meeting ever, a one-on-one with a high-up person at USDA. I am not going to release the name just for privacy reasons (and because I would show up on Google Alerts more than I already do).. but in summary I was able to have a full hour with one of the most knowledgeable people I could possibly have access to. I thought it would be a 15-minute meet and greet, but after 20 minutes of talking, he simply asked, "Well, what else would you like to know?" So during the rest of the time I just tried to dig as deep as I could to get questions that I just always wondered about. I leave for New York at 3:00 am, so I'm just going to stay up. I have simply 2 weeks left, plus a weekend and a Monday for site-seeing. We're actually STILL moving stuff in, which is what our other intern got stuck doing all day. I've had my own days, and I'm honestly scared about the week where I will be the only intern, and we will not be having hearings (as we will be gathering the information from all the previous hearings and begin to formulate our mark-up, or at least thats my perception between what I have been told and what I have seen). Have a good weekend!

Still doing homework

I missed out on yesterday because my Internet connection was being crappy. Today I have some homework due at tomorrow midnight central time, so I'm going to try and do it tonight because me and a friend are going to New York for the weekend via Amtrak. We plan on seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Empire State Building, World Trade Center Site, Times Square, Chinatown, and attend a Yankee's game among other things. Please let me know if you have some suggestions of places I NEED to get to in two long days (6 am Saturday to 11 pm Sunday) or things within the places I've listed that I may want to check out (i.e. Times Square).

Since I'm trying to get to work, I'm going to give only a short summary of yesterday and today:
Wednesday
We had a hearing on the USDA's leak of social security numbers on its website, tech people from all over the district showed up. I didn't hear much, but I guess it was a big deal that was in the news. Other than that we started work on our hearings next week.

Today there was not much going on, the Iraq bill is still in conference, which leaves our Ag. disaster aid hanging in the air. I'm not really sure if we're going to be stripped out of the bill and have to find some other means or if the bill can pass, as is, with only the troop pull-out deadline removed. In our office there wasn't much going on besides paper work as we prepared for next week. Actually I did a lot of work in the Congressional Records, which I will talk about more tomorrow if I remember.

Pie in the Sky

We all worked double duty for our two-hearing day. The crowds were small enough that I could work on other projects, so I did not get to hear much of the information. The hearing on Crop Insurance started at 10:00 am and was over just after noon. We started up again at 1:00 with a hearing about Rural Broadband (or the lack thereof) and the digital divide. One of my projects included helping to formulate this press release, which was released at about 6 pm tonight. The other project was my continual wading through the pool of Farm Bill proposals. This time we eliminated a few, giving me a better idea of what it was going to look like. I was out of the office by 6:30, as I had an award-winning reception to attend.

Okay, so there are no reception awards, but hill dwellers working long hours do know what good food tastes like, and pie is good food. After being ridiculed at Easter by my Uncle, I suggested that I would tone down the comments what I eat. But, tonight's reception has topped them all, a pie reception, with over 15 different kinds of pie, along with food and refreshments. It was put on by a trucking association, maybe because truckers are as American as pie? I'm not sure, but I'm glad they did. One note about these receptions is that you really don't have to be invited to the majority of them. The organizations just like the publicity and awareness, but usually have some sort of tie into their product (i.e. National Cattleman's Beef and Outback Steakhouse teaming up), but I guess truckers truck just about everything. I was not invited, but a good reception can be a packed party in minutes as staffers get on their Blackberries to let their friends know about the good eats.

We have a full committee hearing tomorrow on a subject I am not to familiar with, the release of Social Security numbers and the USDA's information systems. I'm not certain if there was a mistake in the past or if a problem is on the horizon, but that's why hearings are open to the public. I'll find out tomorrow and fill you in.

Speaking of filling in, I had a lot of pie. But don't worry, I didn't eat any real food so I'm not that full.

Top of the World

This week we started with a packed field of four hearings, but this Thursday's was postponed. We now sit with a packed field of three hearings. We have two tomorrow and a full committee hearing on Wednesday. Thursday's hearing was also supposed to be for the full committee. The interns were given the duty of writing the press releases for each of tomorrow's hearings. Although they are close to the same every time as far as what they discuss and how uncontroversial they are, it is nice to have something "official" that can be shown as my own work.

On the hill today there were no votes as Members of Congress attended the funeral of Juanita Millender-McDonald, CA, who died last Sunday. While this is the second death among Members of Congress in my short tenure here, it is interesting that work goes on. Letters are written to the office addressed to Vacancy, instead of the members name, followed by the state and district. The staff there still stays on full-time trying to meet with constituents and work with other Members to get their views heard. But, the office itself does not have a vote on the floor until a successor is appointed.

Because of the limited business on the floor, we were able to swiftly complete our setup for our hearings tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon.

In other news, the Historic Eastern Market building burned this morning, and I doubt it will be back in business before I leave. I was able to eat there a few times, and even take my family once, for the famous buckwheat pancakes for breakfast. It is an open market frequented by Members of Congress, Senators, and of course their staff as a good place for breakfast or fresh goods.

This weekend my girlfriend came to visit, but she was hard to impress as she had been here only a few years ago. We hit the highlights and I got my first view from the top of Washington Monument, a place my grandpa said he had climbed with a friend over a half century ago. The steps are shut down for climbing on the way up, but the elevator is a nice 5 minute ride to the top.

The Candidate Debate

I am currently watching the Democratic Candidate Debate for President on MSNBC. Nothing surprising right now, but it's funny that the current questions are coming via email from across the country. Times are changing. Also, they are broadcasting live on cable and the internet, but just dropped network TV

Today we held a quick hearing on crop provisions in the Farm Bill, and with that we were done for the week. This morning I was able to finish my "to do" list and was able to work on homework for the internship class in which I'm enrolled. Not too much going on tomorrow as I was given a half day since we stayed late last week and my girlfriend is coming to town.

That's all I have to report for the day, which is good, as we have a bunch of hearings to exhaust us next week. The days are winding down, only 3 weeks left.

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

While we await the Iraq Supplemental's speculated initial veto, renegotiation and final passage, farmers wait and listen. If you don't know the story, a whole bunch of emergency aid and programs were put into the Iraq War Supplemental bill, including two things that are held dear by the Ag. Committee: MILC and disaster aid relief for 2005-07 (you get to pick one of three years). While most of the projects are needed, they were put in to help add votes (a.k.a. to entice Republicans to vote) for the bill. For us, we sit and wait, not so much worried about the war (that is, we care about the war, but as a committee we have no opinion), but to see if our needed legislation will be passed. In the case of disaster aid, it will help a lot of the country, including our farmers in the Red River Valley as well as the Citrus farmers in California, (a full list can be found here, albeit from a Republican and critical perspective, but it was the only one I could find) but most of these projects are needs (at least in the political sense) for both sides, and especially for agriculture. Also, MILC would add a few billion more dollars to our baseline budget number, giving us a little more money to work with. There's a quick explanation of something we get speculative emails about in the office all the time, as the bill nears final passage.

The Farm Bill proposals are rolling in, and I have organized them by area, organization and title (of the Farm Bill) today. I guess you could say I have a pretty good idea of what the House Farm Bill is going to look like, but it would be really hard to explain. Basically, go to the website of every non-governmental organization affiliated with agriculture, find their proposal, and find happy mediums between all the arguments, then mix them with Mr. Peterson's stated opinions, and you have yourself a farm bill. We prepared for our hearing tomorrow on the crop proposals, and a few more next week (even two on Wednesday, that should be fun). Happy days!

Secrets and Whispers

I am able to reveal one of yesterday's "big secrets", which is not really that big (as I explained already), and no longer a secret. The project I was working on was simply summarizing some points about wind energy, as the Chairman testified in front of the Ways and Means Committee about farmers (or rural landowners or whomever) getting a tax credit of $25,000 for building a windmill (or wind turbine), which costs upwards of $40,000-80,000 for a smaller one, up to $2 million for the most economically efficient (the ones used at big wind farms). Although our staff had given him a one page testimonial to read from, Mr. Peterson usually chooses not to, and this was the case today. As he was giving his explanation he rattled off an exact sentence that I had written for him, about how much can be expected for renting land for this use (about $4000). I was only halfway listening and looking around the huge Ways and Means Committee room (which, by the way, is held as one of the top committees to be on in the House, as it deals with a lot of taxes and therefore income, or lack thereof) and the staffer who gave me the project leaned over and whispered, wow, he read your sheet.

The other big stories for the day were our subcommittee hearing for Milk Marketing Orders (I watched the door, but read every single piece of testimony in that time), me being legally taken out to lunch (and no, I'm not saying I have illegally been taken out to lunch in the past) by employees of the University of Minnesota (because state colleges and university's are exempt), and the fire drill that took place after our subcommittee hearing but before we needed to testify before Ways and Means. All in all, another good day.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

We're all back at work for another week, just for you. At least those of you who aren't in the group of tax-evading citizens of America... and I was hard at work (although I am no part of taxpayer money) too. This weekend however I took my time up to Baltimore to catch an Oriole's game. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful stadium, and I'm getting really excited for the Twins to open their new venue a few years down the road. Also, on this trip me and my travelmate decided that since we are on the east coast, we might as well head up to New York. I think we're going to do that in a few weeks and catch a Yankees/Mariners game while we're up there.

I did my normal Monday routine and then I had a really exciting day. I did research, and sat in on a cool meeting. Unfortunately, I cannot say what the research was for at this time (but should be able to later this week) as it was for a committee hearing and the witness lists are not yet published. Then I sat in on one of the best meetings ever. I again cannot say what it was about, but it was pertinent to the Farm Bill. Basically another Congressperson came to Mr. Peterson with an idea for the Farm Bill. Last week I was put in charge of writing the memo directly to Collin to explain to him in 5-10 bullet points what the 5 pages of information I got was about. Collin, the other Congressperson, a proposer from said-Congresman's district, two staff members and I sat in Collin's office discussing it (of course by discuss I mean the proposer and the two Congressmen, with the staff at times nodding their heads yes or no, and me sitting there quietly, halfway in awe of where I was) and seeing everyone's reactions. It was a great time, that's all I can say.

These two things I cannot talk about are pretty funny. There are a lot of things that just are not yet public, and these are two fine examples. They mean possibly nothing, as both may never need to have been discussed or researched in the first place, but that's the great part about democracy, everyone has a voice, it just depends on who is listening. And from our meeting, I can tell how much Collin really really cares. I wish I was being paid to write this, but he seems to care more about doing stuff right, and that's my personal opinion. While we were in his office, he had no one to impress to get re-elected, and the meaning and feeling he put into what he was saying about the Farm Bill and what "we" need (we - meaning the people of the 7th district) was just great to watch. I cannot say whether all Members feel that way, but the two in the office (both Ag. Comm. Members) sure talked like it with no cameras around. Also, being on the Ag. Committee obviously isn't a place to be to get famous, at least it wasn't until now. They went on to talk about the Farm Bill and the money that they thought we should have for it, and neither of these two Members thought their work was done. They have been talking to the leadership, and I think they will keep talking.

Well, now that everyone is thoroughly confused I will just conclude by saying it was the best meeting I have ever been to in my life, and probably will stay that way for some time. It also gave me the best sense of what democracy is all about, and a good look into what a Congressman should be. Again, I try to write this blog in my opinion, and I have never been scolded or praised at work for expressing my opinions on here, but I will just say this: Mr. Peterson is doing his job, and doing it well, and I wish him lots of luck in the future after what I saw today. He's a good man.

Nice and Sunny

We ended a busy work week, both on the floor as well as in our Committee, with a busy Thursday and Friday.

Yesterday I got a little side-tracked, and decided sleep was a good thing to have. The Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research Subcommittee held a hearing on the proposals for the Conservation Title to the farm bill. I stood guard for a while, as this was our best attended hearing yet, but was able to put a simple note on the doors asking people to enter quietly about 2/3 of the way in. Yesterday afternoon slowed down some, but we were watching the debate as to whether Washington, D.C. (and Utah, adding 2 total seats) would be approved to have a delegate in the House of Representatives (which passed in the House, and is on its way to the Senate). During the hearing my good friends Al Franken and Dick Gephardt stopped by. Okay, while they are not my close friends, Franken really does have a sense of humor, you can hear his laugh halfway down the hall, and Dick Gephardt, well, he lost the presidential nomination for the democratic party to Kerry in 2004.

Today was kind of retying all the knots that came loose during the week. With three hearings in three days, we go through a lot of paper (while we print double sided, recycle into newsprint, mixed, and white, and conserve and reuse as much as we can), miss a lot of calls and emails, and have projects which were pushed back during the week all due at the same time. I got a few small things I had set aside earlier done this morning, but at noon I was kindly reminded that I had a book full of information due at 1:30. I was already done, so I was heading to lunch, when I was reminded that the book needed to be done in triplicate. I remembered this and frantically tried to put two additional books together in an hour and a half. Luckily, I had already printed off the materials for the final books, I just had to rearrange the pages, make tabs and labels, and get them all exactly identical. When the requester of my project walked in to ask me if I wanted to head to lunch at 1:25, I thought he was joking. "Oh, yeah, sorry, that meeting got canceled, [Member's name] took an earlier flight home." So I finished the books by 1:30 anyway since I was on pace to, and had a free afternoon to get ready for next week.

This weekend looks like it is going to be 80 degrees and clear. This will be perfect as a friend and I are heading to Baltimore to check out the National Aquarium, take in an Oriole's game at Camden Yards, and take the train back all in 12 hours. Why the National Aquarium is in Baltimore, I'm not sure, but at least it gives us something else to do! Amtrack is pretty affordable for the short 40 ride each way, so I looked up a ride to Minneapolis. It costs twice as much as a plane ticket and can last for 4 days! Thank God for airplanes.

Organic Chemistry

As with most days revolving around a hearing, there was some work today. Everything went as planned for our 10 am hearing on Organic agriculture. We also tried using our overflow room, with live audio and video from the main room. It worked quite well, but the crowd was not big enough to flow over.

I watched the door, and was only able to sit in for the last 20 minutes of testimony and questions. It was interesting, I actually learned a lot about the Organic way of life. It was funny watching the crowd react as there were people in the crowd who were upset with the way things were worded and I, well never mind, that's all I should say.

This afternoon we put away the room for a reception (which was great, sorry Brian, I'll leave out the food details) and started preparing for tomorrow's hearing. While sitting at the front desk creating documents for tomorrow's hearing we got some calls to inform us that today was the day of action for elephants. The people calling just told (those of us at the front desk) us that today was the day of action, we said "Okay?", and they would politely say thank you and goodbye.

Tomorrow we have a hearing for the Subcomittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research discussing the USDA Farm Bill conservation programs. One important thing that happened today for that subcommittee is that Joe Donnelly of Indiana has been appointed to fill the vacancy. I haven't figured out why the vacancy existed yet, but I will probably find out tomorrow.

When it Rains, it Pours

The activity level has risen. Room 1300 has completed its first hearing. The Farm Bill creation process is officially underway (as it has been for a while, but we're back from a break). The upcoming hearings (probably about 10 in the next month) will be precursors to the business meetings the Subcommittees and full Committee holds as I am leaving. Of course the schedule is subject to change, but I figure I will see virtually all of the "inputs" for the Farm Bill. As I return to MN, I think the "outputs" from the Congressmen will begin production.

Today's hearing had the purpose to review the market structure for the livestock industry. We had three panels; the first was administration, the second industry representatives, and the third was producers from the various species. This hearing was partly designated as "mine". The upcoming hearings were divided up, and I was given some duties not part of my normal routine. For this hearing I was to contact the witnesses, send invitations, and create an informational book for the Chairman of the Subcommittee which will be updated with current events as time goes on. For doing this, our Staff Director allowed me to sit on the dias (in the corner behind where the Members sit) with the rest of the staff to observe from there. For the first two hours of the hearing I had a semi-emergency project that I had to redo about 8 times as new data and requirements were added. I was still able to see the last half of the hearing from a different view than my normal position outside the door. It was very interesting observing the reactions of my staff, and the Members as the hearing progressed. Members are handed questions to ask if they can decipher the quick jottings of the staff as the situation changes, and it creates for the possibility of a hearing heading in a much different direction from where it was intended. This was especially true in a debate where we could see a battle between the two sides taken on the amount of regulation and bureaucracy needed in meat inspection.

We have two more hearings Wednesday and Thursday, and tomorrow's is the first ever review of economic impacts of production, processing, and marketing of organic agricultural products. I would imagine it would be well attended but, like today's hearing, we have much more room and even allow people to stand in our larger full committee room. Another nice thing is that during our set up we have little to do, as our normal installation of microphones takes only minutes instead of hours, because the cords disappear into the floor and dias instead of needing to be strategically gathered and taped.

Time rolls on, I have basically one month left, and if it weren't for my living conditions after work I don't know if I would be ready to leave. I'm heading to an Oriole's game at Camden Yards this weekend by train. For just $35 I can take a 40 minute train each way for a Sunday matinée. I'm excited. I love baseball. I miss the Twins and am stuck watching the (COUGHhorribleCOUGH) Nationals and Orioles play on the area's virtually all-baseball network. I am going to try to make it to a Nat's game at some time before I leave, but I bet the experience would be much better in next year's brand new ballpark, it looks pretty nice.

Back to Work

After a few weeks of needed and deserved rest, we were able to use it all up and become stressful and tired again. This is only the beginning. Today was literally 12 hours in the office, I left at 9 pm. 1 and 2 am are probably not unattainable feats as time rolls on. This sounds absolutely awful to someone who has never heard of staying at work that late. But then again, starting work at 9 am has its tendencies to eat away at evenings and nights more quickly. The work we were doing was important, and needed to be done. It wasn't as stressful as it was time consuming. Of course I would say what it was if I could, but it is just better at times when we are left alone to do our work and finish the product before having people criticize us (not that we would be criticized for this work, but, well, everyone needs a little privacy).

This week will have a few hearings. Tomorrow's is on the market structure of the livestock industry will probably be drawn out as you can imagine the many geographies and industries that want to have a say about livestock policy.

One minor emergency was changing out of letterhead in the office. Because of one spelling mistake as well as two recent name changes (a marriage and a nickname preference) we decided to print new letterhead because it is so early in the session. We then had to dispose of all the old letterhead because while most people could probably figure out the small changes that were made, it could potentially cause some confusion. If not confusion, it could cause angers by Members of Congress that were particular about the way their name was presented, which in a formal setting such as ours I totally understand. Especially when many people do not know who their Representative is, so if they were looking for Tim, and saw Tiim, they may keep looking for somebody else.

One thing about being in the center of it all is that we are always watching the news. While many people may not have heard much about the shootings at Virginia Tech until the evening news once they were done with work, we had most of the story early, just as CNN started reporting. It is such a small world on the Hill (because everyone knows someone from somewhere) that a few people in my office immediately reached out to friends that were on or near campus at the school (which is relatively nearby) and we had heard a facsimile of the explanation finally provided later in the afternoon by officials and reporters about 6 hours earlier via cellphone. Everything that happened today was of course a tragedy, and I was disappointed that the media even thought to question the level of security on campus and decision not to cancel classes early in the morning. I think they can wait a while longer before raising blame for an uncontrollable situation. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected, and hope to never hear of a similar tragedy again.

Well, it's past my bedtime and my alarm tomorrow can't be moved any later.

Happy Friday!

I will be back to my regularly scheduled blogging Monday morning. The off weeks were nice, we have finished 1300 as far as I know, and will be using it beginning next week.

Also, I was invited backstage to the Ringling Brothers Circus... the pictures aren't that great because we were in the Armory with gymnasium-type lighting, but it was a great experience.

This picture of the elephant was taken in the basement of the Armory, where the elephants were caged only by strings, seriously. Posts stood about 3 feet high and strings ran between them holding the elephants in relatively large areas. It was pretty amazing.

The other picture is the only known Zedonk (a zebra crossed with a donkey) that can do a hind leg stand. Ringling has gone away from the "ringed" circus and has updated their facilities. We were actually standing and watching this trick on the main floor, which is now basically flat with a banked curve on one end for motorcycles and horses.

Have a great weekend!

Crayfish Broil

I had crayfish from Louisiana for the first time ever. It was a reception held in the basement of my building which featured cooked crayfish and some alligator jambalaya. It was pretty good stuff, and the crayfish is pretty good if you can get past the whole part that it looks disgusting. It was described to me: as beef is to venison, crab is to crayfish. It's definitely a little spicy.
Speaking of broiling, that's what our Subcommittee hearing was today. We had TV cameras from a number of places including C-SPAN and the "pool" (ABC, NBC, CNN, etc.) feed as well as the Discovery channel and others. This made everything a little more hectic, but was good publicity for a problem that hasn't received much buzz (pun intended). Anyway, after that chaos was over, the rest of the day seemed to go by much slower, even though there were only a few hours left.
Gabe and I wrote some letters for upcoming hearings and prepared ourselves for a couple weeks of little activity. I have a few scholarship essays that need to be postmarked tomorrow, so I'm going to attend to that while letting my crayfish settle.

Shopping Spree

The Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held another packed hearing in 1302 as we await the final touches on 1300 (which may be a month from official opening). The room was filled to capacity, along with another room which was made for 25 people, but at one time held 40, just to hear the audio. That meant the interns had to be on our toes to make sure only the exact right number of people got in (divided by press, staff, witnesses and associates, and then the public). Tomorrow is going to be more of a zoo, maybe more like a beehive.
We are holding the Horticulture and Organic Agriculture hearing on Colony Collapse Disorder. While honeybees are thought of for honey, many people don't realize they add $15 billion (by USDA estimates in 2002) of value to US crops (especially specialty crops like almonds and apples). Therefore, this widespread 30-70% loss in bees would not only do damage to beekeepers, but producers (and everyone involved in the food-producing chain) as well. The reason I go into such great detail about this hearing and leave out a lot of information in hearings in the past is that people care. At least the people at C-SPAN, CNN and ABC News may care enough to shove some of their cameras into our already crowded hearing tomorrow. While this should take away only a limited number of seats, it makes our hearing a little more important as everyone will strive to make sure everything is done just right.
Luckily for me, I was able to stock up on some energy to night, we had three great receptions over the past couple of hours. The first one I attended was the National Cattleman's Beef Association/Outback Steakhouse Reception. They had salad, and buns along with all the shrimp, steak and lamb you could eat. For dessert they had Chocolate Chocolate Tower cake, and it was towering, not even I was able to finish it. Of course I may have scarfed it down had I had nothing better to do, but I was on my way to the Taco Bell reception. They had all the soft shell tacos you could eat (chicken and beef), along with enchiladas and nachos. Both events were packed from wall to wall as you can imagine, but tonights big winner for healthy was the California Agriculture Leadership Federation (I would imagine it as the MARL of California) event sponsored by Safeway (a large grocery store chain in the South). Here you could pick up all the oranges, strawberries, avocados, lettuce and spinach you could fit into your grocery bag. Of course at the bottom of the bag they had bumper stickers that encouraged you to eat spinach (something like 80% of the world's spinach comes from one California county, I heard it at a hearing once) and lettuce, because amid the recent scares the food supply is still safe.
As I said, I'm in for a long day tomorrow. Friday will be back to normal if there is such a thing, then the next two weeks we are out of session. This means a lot less work and for me no blogging! I actually get half of the first Monday off, so I will try to get into the Bureau of Engraving and Printing as well as the Supreme Court, or maybe just sleep in. Both sound like great options. Then I will be in Minnesota the Thursday Afternoon before Easter until Monday evening. This time I am going to do the smart thing; spend a little more and take the direct flight. I do not need to spend any more of my time in Milwaukee.

I'm Back

... and don't worry, you didn't miss much. Friday was filled with big projects. Most of it was filling binders with reference material for Members and Staff, the rest was basically moving boxes or tables. My parents landed in the afternoon so I headed out early. We met Walt and his wife Mary in Union Station for a great 3 hour supper (yeah, supper, learn Minnesotan, it's cool) talking about our pasts and our family's past, and how we're all related, kind of. I was the itinerary maker for the weekend, and I think I wore them out a little.
On Saturday we had a Capitol tour by yours truly. I quickly showed them around the public area in the Library of Congress just a block away. We then hit the National Mall to the Air and Space and Natural History Museums as well as eating at the Museum of the American Indian Cafe. We went to the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights et cetera, and found a big interesting exhibit (better than all the museums as far as friendly for the whole family) that was interactive and a place no one really knows about right behind the main Archives rotunda. We literally went home and took a nap, as I had them up early and to bed late for Minnesota time. That night we went on a DC Night Tour to see all the monuments, and it really is the best way to see the monuments (at night, not paying $30 a person for a tour).
Sunday we simply went to Arlington Cemetery and Mount Vernon. Both places are similar in that they are big and take some time just to get around, and the sites are sights themselves.
I went to work yesterday, where we were setting up for our hearing today on Credit. In the mean time I sent the family over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the International Spy Museum, and they said they enjoyed all three. I got House Gallery Passes for the whole family last night, and we were lucky to see three votes between 6:30 and 7:15, with about 408 Congressmen showing up. I still remember how different voting was than I thought it would be, and it was interesting to hear the questions that I now take for granted as simply a normal procedure. Then we went to Tortilla Coast last night for some chips, burritos and quesadillas.
This morning I came to their hotel for continental breakfast (it was overall an inexpensive weekend for me. Dad, not so much) and they flew out this afternoon. This morning we had our CCER Subcommittee hearing, with an overflow room! This eased some of the tension, but it will still be nice when 1300 opens up (we're working out the technical stuff, it takes time but needs to be done). Tonight a few of us stayed late to set up for tomorrow's hearing, on Crop Program changes. I've got that tomorrow morning, and set up for another hearing on Thursday, which is on the Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees, that would be a fun one to sit in on, but I doubt I'll be able to as it affects not only honey bees but alfalfa and specialty crop producers (along with basically any other plants that need pollination).

GFW Loses in First Round of State

I just listened to the second half of my highschool's first round state basketball game. In the game before theirs, favorite and 3-time reigning champion Braham lost to Maple River, another school down in my area. GFW looked like it had a good chance at winning a state title if it could get past Pequot Lakes, but they lost 57-40. It sounded like they had some unusual circumstances, a great guard getting injured and unable to return and their leading scorer and my best friend's younger brother had a foul mistakenly called on him late in the game. He fouled out but ended up with 19 of their 40 points. Pequot Lakes will most likely move onto the title, and I am flat out depressed, we were good enough to win.

In the office today I summarized some information for a Member, organized a staffer's background information and spent a lot of time waiting. We also had a briefing on Avian influenza, basically what we heard was:
the US is totally safe
cooking chicken at 165 degrees kills avian influenza
avian influenza is a respiratory disease, so even if infected meat would make it past all of our safety checkpoints, the odds of getting infected is very slim even if you ingested it.
Gabe and I also had the privilege to get a professional picture taken on the balcony with the Chairman, I will post that when I get it.

I'm on on the patio again, but I think it's about to rain, its a gorgeous 65 degrees. My parents and Jacob arrive tomorrow, so that means I need to clean my room and wash clothes. Most likely no post tomorrow as I will be showing the "tourists" the town.

Still Turning People Down

I unfortunately did not see another band nominated for vocalist of the year award today (p.s. credit to Garrett for finding that reception for us), but I did see my sister. She has been out here since Sunday and will remain with her program until Friday night, and then join my parents and brother Saturday morning to stay with them until they leave Tuesday afternoon. I was able to give her the tour of the committee's offices, hearing rooms and the Chairman's personal office while she killed some time after her appointments with her various Congressmen. She made the mistake of eating lunch in Cannon Carryout, which is basically just burgers, fries, and sandwiches, and missing out on the great cafeteria in Longworth and the good cafeteria in Rayburn. Rookie mistake, she'll learn.

Earlier in the day, we held a hearing for the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture about rural development in the upcoming Farm Bill. The interns worked the door, and hopefully turned away hopeful viewers for the final time as our main committee room receives its final touches.

The rest of the day I spent finishing drafting a letter to follow up on some questions some Congressmen had during a recent Energy Research briefing for the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research, and getting the subsequent signatures from the three signatories of the letter.

Oh, Canada!

So today I moved a lot of furniture, finished drafting a letter to an Under Secretary in the USDA and an Assistant Secretary in the DOE, made some binders, and moved some more furniture.

So, now let's talk about the best reception ever; held by the Embassy of Canada.
This reception was 6:30-9:30 pm, so a few of us headed over after we were done with work. It ended up being right next to the Hart Senate Building, only 4 blocks from my house. Let's see, what else is there to mention about it? Well they had some good food, including rectangular Canadian flag-shaped cookies, 6 open bars for people that were of age and they held it all in a tent in the backyard of a small museum, including carpeted floors. It seems I am forgetting something... oh yeah,








The Stanley Cup

















Leslie Neilson










Emerson Drive. I forgot to mention those, and there was only a crowd of like 100. So I'm not sure if Leslie and Emerson Drive didn't pay their taxes, but they were there. And they gave me a gift bag on the way out including; a hockey puck, a cow, maple syrup, a coffee mug, mints, chocolate, and a CD. Pretty much the best reception ever. I'm off to bed after a 3 hour concert. Good night!

Hurry up and Wait

Mondays are always a little different as we all get back into our routine. For me, they start with 3 times as much work because all the papers we get think that we deserve the Saturday and Sunday editions. I am not complaining because its so hard to sort and throw away newspaper, or even because my 10 minute mail sorting turns into 30. What drives me crazy is that everything needs to be done right at 9:05 am.

I do not mean to single out people, but I'm sure that this happens at many workplaces. People think up all these great ideas over the weekend, then come to work Monday and try to get them out of their system as fast as they can. It has taught me to try to be early on Mondays, but after I realized being early only led to more boredom during the day it was hard to continue the habit. It is not that I had no projects in front of me or nothing to do, I just do a lot of waiting, which has kind of molded my job around a model of wait and remind.
The staff in our office have a million other things going on, so many of the projects that need to be done by noon are done by close of business or even the next day depending on how busy the staffer is.

My sister flew in yesterday on a trip through our local phone company. She called me today while outside the Department of Agriculture headquarters to ask how close I was to her, as she assumed I was inside that building. Tourists, they never learn (this is a joke for those of you who don't know my sarcasm, I was just as confused my first time out and the whole first week of this experience).

Speaking of tourists, there were protesters everywhere. They wasn't anything organized in my area, but many of the stragglers left from yesterday and this morning decided to have a look around, which is fine, but I wouldn't want to be a yes-voting war advocate when a group of them walks into my office. On my way home a stop sign had a bumper sticker slapped on it to read: STOP Funding War.

We are still moving into everything, we still have half of one large office left to unpack. I have no clue how many more people we are hiring (if any), but there is a lot of misplaced and empty furniture around. It does not help that we are putting the final touches on our conference room, 1300. It looks very state of the art, and when the sun shines in the refinishing of the wood looks great. One funny thing is that the whole room renovation was paid for by the Republicans last year, it's not that they don't get to use it, but the majority just has greater use of the room as most events that are scheduled come through the majority office.
I have a couple of projects ongoing, but nothing too time consuming. My parents and brother are coming later in the week and will be given the grand tour by yours truly.

Final side note: Good luck to the GFW Boys Basketball team as they advance to state. Another GFW connection is my aunt, a GFW grad, taking her Fairmont Girls team to State last week when the upset some very good teams, and lost by only 8 to a team with one loss.

Halfway There

If you think March Madness does not seep into the nation's Federal Office Buildings, you're wrong. While I of course do not know of any office pools that exist, much less would I ever be part of one as they are of course unethical, I could probably talk to someone who could talk to a "guy" who may be able to send you in the right direction. Basically, I have the scores on auto-refresh going on in the background, and peeked in the minority office at the TV as often as I could. If I were in an office pool, I'd be doing okay. Actually, on the bracket I filled out on facebook.com, I only have two wrong so far (Stanford, yeah, that was stupid of me (but so were 10 other picks I got right); and Creighton, Nevada got lucky in over time).

In the office today I attended a meeting set up by the National Pork Producers Council, which featured representatives from the whole supply chain. The panel included producers, Tyson foods, Walmart, a lobbying firm for grocery stores, a university professor and some of the board members of the NPPC. They talked about how Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL, and Voluntary COOL is VCOOL) would affect retailers, and explained that the fish industry has showed us that there is no added value for the consumers, and an average of $9,000 cost per store to implement MCOOL (with virtually no return). It was a really interesting debate, especially because the Chairman is one of the few Representatives on the Agriculture Committee to come out and support MCOOL (although he has voted for only VCOOL in the past).

Then Gabe and I went out to lunch to talk about our progress in the internship with our intern Coordinator, and to talk about how he got to where he is, and his advice for upcoming college graduates. It was really interesting information, and amazing how much the pay scale (and time dedicated to the job) jumps in just a 10 year span from a ridiculous $22,000 to close to $100,000. Once at that $100,000 level, jobs in the public sector (in the D.C. area) pay two or three times that because all those contacts you have made in your years on the hill stay the same as all your contacts take similar jobs with different firms. It's no wonder this is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.

It's raining and 35 degrees with a chance of snow. Not sure what I'm up to for this weekend, but you can bet it will involve many hours in front of a television watching basketball. Today also marks the halfway point in my internship, I couldn't imagine being here for only 3 months in the summer, I feel like I have so much more to see and do.

A Little Late

Yesterday was Ag. Day, and I had the opportunity to attend an event sponsered by FFA, ADM and John Deere on behalf of Agriculture Future of America(AFA). SkillsUSA partcipants also attended. The event was basically a be proud of ourselves and keep promoting agriculture event, similar to most motivational speeches by FFA Presidents at any State Convention (no offense, it is just that they are all very alike). That was at 3 pm, and I got in on a picture with Secretary Johanns along with AFA, and got back to work by 4:30. Later in the evening I headed out to supper with DC-area AFA members, Advisory Team Members and Employees at Chadwicks. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong Chadwicks. It ends up that there are actually 3 Chadwicks in the D.C. area, and two right on Wisconsin Avenue. I went to the one at Friendship Heights (thinking oh great, right across from the Metro station), but I was 3 miles away from my final Georgetown destination. So I stood in the rain waiting for a cab, and when it pulled up, there was a passenger in the back. Long story short, my 3 mile and 15 minute cab ride turned into a long ways and a lot of time. I ended up being an hour late, felt horrible, but everyone seemed to be okay with it. Originally they thought I was at the Chadwicks in Old Town Alexandria, which is a lot farther than 3 miles.
Other than that the day went smoothly. Between attending a couple of meetings and keeping an I on the basketball scores, today should be just fine.

Manual Labor

I'm going to go ahead and up the ante from yesterday, a gorgeous 74 degrees at 9:51 pm. Unfortunately I was stuck inside even longer, but patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait, and everything that goes along with it. I left the building after 8 pm, because tomorrow is the last day the contractors will be working on our main Committee room, 1300. So tonight we setup just over 50 of the 70 total 15 inch monitors the room can use during briefings, hearings, and anything else someone might use it for to show documents electronically. It is also outfitted with state of the art microphones, timers and speakers at every seat (currently we have 3 timers total, which are all about 2 inches tall, and a few dozen feet away from the Members). The paint is dry, the carpet is down, and the 70" TV is installed on the way.
I also finished sound-proofing the door I was working on a few weeks ago, and got our quotes up to date. Other than that, the excitement was when a staffer brought us food at 7:30 from a reception she attended because she felt bad for us unpacking, disassembling and reassembling 50+ (We had to take off the regular TV-type stands, and mount on tabletop brackets to sit on their desks). I'm going to try to head to bed, so I'll end this here. Tomorrow I will celebrate National Ag. Day/Week with Agriculture Future of America at USDA, and have dinner with some of them in the evening. Adios.

2nd Amendments

I'm doing some research for a paper I am writing comparing our legislators, so I decided to do a little research on the 2nd Amendments (a bipartisan band the Chairman plays in), so of course I turned to YouTube for its superior research materials, not bad for a bunch of politicians...

National Biodiesel Conference - 2007, Brown Sugar

National Ethanol Conference - 2007, he sings in this one, I do not have enough wisdom to know what song this is

Going to Court

Don't worry... the title is a little misleading.
Today was a day full of beautiful weather, it's currently 67 degrees with a slight breeze. I know this because I am writing from the back patio of my house, and it's absolutely perfect weather for shorts and a t-shirt. It reminds me of the end of almost every day I spent in Brazil (which was a little more than a week during this time last year). Unfortunately, I do not have the moon slightly peaking through the trees, but the alley light. You win some and you lose some.

So, while it would have been a good day to go out for a walk or hold a hearing on the National Mall, we were all inside. I am kidding, and I know we needed to stay inside, but you can always dream. Actually, if we had gone out, we would have had the inconvenience of waiting in a line to get in that stretched around the block. Of course that is because people think they can just take Spring Break and go on vacation here, making the halls and elevators a little more busy. What they don't know, is for the 3 main doors (1 at each building) everyone was trying to get in with 30 minute waits, there is at least 1 additional door at each building that no one really knows about, with no line at all. So if you're ever in line, give me a call and I can easily direct you to a faster entrance. Someday I think I am going to put together a list of do's and do not's when coming to Washington, D.C., so the test won't be until after that time.

Enough about the outdoors, inside we were busy with our Subcommittee on Department Oversight, Operations, Nutrition and Forestry subcommittee hearing. I was put at the front desk with minimal door duty, but there were many people who just never got in. By the looks of it, our large committee room should be finished near the end of the month, and fix a lot of our current headaches. I'm not sure what the conclusions of the hearing were, or really who testified (although you can read full testimony online as soon as they put it up), but as usual the USDA witnesses came in with an entourage of people, at the same time everyone else wanted to be in. Then for the second panel of witnesses, many of the people listening to the first panel leave, and no one wanted to get in anymore. If you needed to get in without waiting, you probably could have paid someone to save your spot, as there were three or four line-holders already at the door when I got to work at 9.

The rest of the day went pretty well, I entered some quotes (a job I had previously started that needs to be done every once in a while) and can proudly say we are up to over 900 quotes cataloged in our database since January 1st from the Chairman and Secretary Johanns, among other leaders in House and Senate, about anything agriculture-related.

A few of us went to a nice reception tonight, and while we were happy for the great food and refreshments, we got there right when they were starting the speeches. This turned our dine-and-dash into a support-and-stomach, as it was a smaller room and not easy to sneak out being one of the tallest people there.

I'm still outside, and will be until my battery gets low. I also found out that the Supreme Court has wireless internet on its steps, so I might wander up the street and research in front of the highest court in the land... speaking of, I just found out there is a full-size basketball court on the 3rd level of the Supreme Court (literally the highest court in the land since its on Capitol Hill), and my goal is to take (and make) a few shots before I leave.

Major Changes

Today was more of the same. Although I sound like I am bored and things are getting more and more stoic each day, I think its just part of the process with most internships, or starting any new job for that matter. I've gone over that initial hump of excitement, and the great things I experienced in the beginning are still happening, but I've begun to take them for granted. So, I tried to spice things up a little bit this week, by making some events to look forward to. I started planning a trip home some time around Easter, am thinking hard about changing my major (not just because nothing is going on at work), and set up lunch with my intern coordinator at the end of the week.

Because of the lull during our break periods (when we are not in session) my little vacation home looks like it's good to go. I am going to spend a little more money this time for a direct flight, because after last time, it's worth it.
My major change is also probably going to happen. I just look forward to animal science classes and briefings out here, more so than other parts of agriculture.
When I talked to our intern coordinator, he was up for lunch with the two interns, and then offered something even better. While we will still be having lunch, but he wanted to set up some meetings with NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) to talk to them about what they do, and how the people got to where they are, and what they want for the future (if you are part of one, and interested, shoot me an email). This will probably be one of the biggest reasons on whether or not we return to Washington, D.C. in my opinion, and I am really happy he is willing to try to set this up.

Late this afternoon, we set up for our Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry Subcommittee hearing which will be held tomorrow about Food Stamps. The nice thing about this subcommittee is that there will be enough room for all the members to comfortably sit in front of the room (there are only 11). I do not yet know whether people will be lining up early or not, but hopefully I don't have to explain the concepts of fire code or blocked viewing or I am an intern and would let you in if I could.

Searching for the Speaker

Besides wrapping up loose ends of a week with two Public Hearings with our subcommittees, and preparing documents that will help the next intern learn our routine faster, my big adventure was to the US Capitol. It is a little known fact that the Capitol has no actual address, just: US Capitol, Washington, D.C.. The Capitol Building, like many federal agencies and office buildings, has its own zip code as well. Anyway, trivia aside, I was to deliver a letter to Speaker Pelosi's offic etoday, and I had no clue where it was. It ends up being just off the tour route, between the old House of Representatives (Now called Statuary Hall because a large number of state statues reside there) and the Hall of Columns (names for its columns). The hallway that leads to the Speaker's Office includes a US Capitol Policeman (to check that you are staff and have your badge on) and high quality red carpet. The Speaker's office actually is composed of two large offices, with receptionists sitting outside. Only a few other Representatives get their offices in the Capitol, including Steny Hoyer (the Majority Leader), but they still have satellite offices back in the house office building (such as Hoyers, just 4 floors directly above the office I work out of.

In other news, 1301, our main Committee Room, is nearing completion, but will be done about half a month after their projected March 15 deadline. The carpet is down and the chairs and tables have been moved back in, now we just need to test the 15" LCD screens that will be placed in front of members when technology is used during a hearing or briefing.

For the weekend, I plan to hit some of the sights enjoying our (hopefully) warmer weather, including the Zoo, Arlington National Cemetery and the National Cathedral. On the side I hope to start studying for a midterm for MacroEconomics.

Learning Lots

The Livestock, Dairy & Poultry Subcommittee held their hearing today, which was again packed for the first panel with two representatives from the USDA (and their posse trailing behind) creating chaos inside and outside of the room. We were packed to the brim, when one extra member of the press showed up and was not very happy with me not letting him go in. After we finally found a place where he could stand in a corner of the room, that disaster was solved with the help of my own staff. Once the first panel let out, animal organizations and a researcher from the U of M took the stage providing testimony and answering questions. With USDA's convoy out, everyone left was let in, and Gabe and I even got in on the last 45 minutes. It is an odd scene, as there were about 25 places with names of members on the subcommittee, only the Chairman has to be there for business to take place. During the meeting, Members of Congress and their staff will be going in and out to other meetings. So while most everyone shows up and says a few words at the microphone at some time during the hearing, for the majority of the time I was there, the subcommittee Chairman, Mr. Boswell, conducted business with just two other Members listening and asking questions. Of course, the testimony is recorded and can be analyzed back in the office, but you only get to ask questions if you are there. Also, at the end of the meeting, they stated that any questions that could not be adequately answered would be allowed 10 days to try to be resolved by the witnesses.

After we cleared the room out, things were a little less stressful all around. At 2:30 I was able to sit in with the Minnesota Farm Bureau and listen to both Representatives Walz and Peterson talk about everything agriculture, fielding some tough questions from the crowd during their 20 minutes each alone with the group of about 30 constituents. I was also able to personally talk to Mr. Walz when he was waiting for one of the 4 elevators on our floor to show up so he could be on his way to the hearings about Walter Reed. I actually learned a lot during the two 1-on-1 sessions, as they talked about possibly finding a fix for the disaster in MN's Red River Valley Region in 2005-2007 (drought), and also possibly making sure that MILC will continue along with the rest of the Farm Bill until September 1 (it is now scheduled to end a month short). As talked about in some places earlier, they would both be attached onto the Iraq funding bill, which is messy and no one wants to do, but it may be the only way it gets done. It also brings a much-needed side effect I never realized; because MILC would continue through fiscal Year 2007, CBO would be required to put it in their budget baseline for the Farm Bill, which means that the money should be there for that program at least (while the general consensus is that the overall baseline will drop with prices as they are). One other important issue that came up was the possibility of eliminating manure as having a 'hazardous substance' status. I cannot believe that this ever happened, as that would mean the whole cities of New York and Washington, D.C. should be made federal disaster areas, with all the human-supplied manure we have there.

It again ended up being a very informational day, and I began doing some research for a paper comparing Mr. Peterson with 1-3 other Congressmen, which gets very interesting when you take into account vote counts and conservative or liberal tendencies. Tomorrow I think I will be working construction and secretary, as not too much is scheduled and we should in recess in the house at about noon.

Peace

I was there!----------------------------->
Okay, so I am not in this picture, but I was sitting to the right of this picture in the gallery upstairs, during this joint session (both the House and the Senate) of Congress to hear the address by King Abdullah II, the King of Jordan, talk about Peace in the Middle East. This was close to the same kind of security associated with the State of the Union address, because minus the President, all the same people were there. So how does an intern like me get invited to a big event like this? That is a great question. Actually, again, it is all because of a personal relationship. A former Minnesotan, who still works on the hill, is a friend of a friend. A few weeks ago she contacted me and said that she read this blog, and long story short, she called me about 8 minutes before it started, which gave me just enough time to get up to the gallery level and into the door during the final standing ovation before King Abdullah II spoke. (So, if you're reading this, THANK YOU!) It lasted just under an hour, and I was just a few hundred feet from almost all members of Congress as well as Vice President Cheney. The process was made faster when a staffer for the Ag. Committee told me to "lose my phone" for the time being, allowing me to walk right through all the metal detectors, and show my ticket to a Secret Service agent.
What King Abdullah II spoke about, was ending the Palestinian-Israeli tensions, because to him, without it no other conflicts would be solved. It was an interesting speech, as most people were expecting it to be about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After I was done with my fanfare of the day, I was a bodyguard for close to 3 hours. The Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research Subcommittee held a hearing about financing renewable fuels. The first table held representatives from the Departments of Energy and Agriculture, and the state of Pennsylvania. During this time, the room was packed with press and the public, because when administration is around, everyone wants to hear. The second group was people from the industry, so half the room left, and I was able to let in the people who had been waiting a couple of hours (an hour before plus an hour of the hearing) to hear what was left. Another dilemma arose, as the canola reception (one of the best on the hill as I'm told) wanted to start setting up at 3:30, while our 1:00 hearing looked to be getting done by four. They started setting up outside, and the reception still went off without a hitch and the food that I tasted was very good (they basically had a wide variety of food and said "see, you could use canola oil to cook all of this".)

I luckily did not have to stay late to set up (others did) for our hearing tomorrow morning, which is on feed costs for livestock under the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee's jurisdiction. It will again be a packed house at 10:00 am, featuring a Deputy Secretary from the USDA as well as panel from the industry and academia, including one from a world-class institution, the University of Minnesota. His name is Gerald C. Shurson, and he is a professor of swine nutrition and management. I hope to try to sneak in, but will most likely have door duty. He has done some research on DDGS and will be the only academic on the panel tomorrow (the rest are from animal organizations). After that, I think the pace of the week will be very downhill, to a nice quiet 60 degree weekend.

Drug Deals

I was designated handyman for the day, which made it go by rather fast. I was put in charge of sound-proofing an unused door, by placing foam panels on it, an am about 4/5 done with layer 1 of 2. (I ran out of caulking glue).
Legislatively speaking, I attended a great meeting on using antibiotics in animals for about an hour today. While I knew most of the information, it was great to see the American Veterinary Medical Association get together the agriculture staff to flight this bill. The current issue is that a bill, which has been beat in Congress twice before, is going to be reintroduced by Representative Louise Slaughter, to try to do what the European Union has already done with antibiotics, by eliminating most antibiotics labeled as "subtherapeutic" that are used in livestock. The reasoning Rep. Slaughter uses looks to be misguided, and from a political aspect and not from science, in my opinion. In Denmark's pork industry for example, while the overall use of antibiotics has dropped because of this, 30% to 40%, the use of the therapeutic drugs has increased over 130% because more applications are needed more often. This could create resistance faster as repetitions are increased. Behind all of the science, the moral of the story is, the drugs we have go through the same standards, plus two additional requirements, that the FDA puts human drugs through. While I do not know much about Rep. Slaughter myself, it would seems she lives in a relatively urban district, which could possibly be affected by higher food prices as one of the unforeseen risk to adopting this legislation.
Other than that, everything seems to have settled down, and I feel almost like a 'lifer', as they call them out here. Unfortunately my short stay has almost reached its halfway point, and sometime I think it will kick in that me being out here will probably be one of the best learning experiences of my academic career, no classes included.

Tonight, there was a nice reception held, so I snacked there and met some of the people of academia in the forestry industry. And before we left, we were warned that tomorrow may be a long day. We start setting up for our afternoon hearing at 9 am, and will have to set up for Thursday's hearing after a reception ends tomorrow night at 8 pm.