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.
4/20/07
4/18/07
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 ofIndiana
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
4/17/07
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.
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.
4/16/07
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.
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.
4/13/07
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!
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!
3/29/07
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.
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.
3/28/07
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.
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.
3/27/07
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).
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).
3/22/07
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.
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.
3/21/07
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.
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.
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