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.