All in a Day's Work
People here often say that when you look up at the Capitol Building and no longer get that little shiver of awe down your spine, it’s time to get out of Washington. It hasn’t worn off yet for me. I know that being a legislative advisor to a Member of Congress sounds like a glamorous, cool job, but, like most jobs, the sparkle quickly gets lost under the reality of menial tasks, unpleasant politics (literally), and sheer, boring repetitiveness.
And then there are those times when the job is really as awesome as it sounds.
This week was just such a week. Our subcommittee’s appropriations bill was on the floor Thursday night, which meant a lot of long days and late nights but which also gave me the opportunity to sit on the dias during a full Appropriations Committee mark-up, attend a Rules Committee hearing in the Capitol, and be on the House floor for the first time. Very, very cool.
As we’ve mentioned before, this year my boss was appointed Ranking Republican Member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Each year our subcommittee determines how money will be spent in public land management agencies, like the Forest Service, the BLM, the Parks Service, etc., as well as the EPA. As we’ve been considering the funding bill for these agencies, then, my boss has played a key role in determining policy and leading the political response for Republicans. I’m a solid member of the Mike Simpson fan club, and it was so much fun to watch him be a rock star during debate the past couple weeks!
It was also fun to get to do some things for the first time. I spent a lot of time running around the Capitol this week (and getting lost, like a good little intern), delivering amendments we had drafted for consideration and preparing for floor debate. Most excitingly, I spent most of Thursday afternoon and evening on the House floor with my boss during debate on the bill (did you see me on C-SPAN? Oh, wait, you mean you weren’t watching C-SPAN at 11:45 p.m. on Thursday?) and then got to go down again for the vote on Friday. Not only was it great to watch the culmination of six months of hard work, but it is pretty darn awesome to have a front row seat to the greatest deliberative body in the history of mankind. I swelled with pride as my boss gave a rousing speech on the importance of preserving the institution (which he wrote himself—you should definitely check it out here), but I also sat next to the appointed Secretary of the Army for a bit and even stammered awkwardly while a Congressman from Texas tried to convince me that I should really think about having babies.
On Thursday night, we had a bit of a break while Members Luau’ed at the White House, and the wonderful committee staffer I work with took me out on the balcony of the Appropriations Committee room in the Capitol. It was the most splendid view of Washington, looking out over the Washington Monument and down to the Lincoln Memorial as the sun went down. My breath caught—as it always does—and I thought that the sparkle of the city and all the good things it stands for has certainly not gone away for me yet.
And then there are those times when the job is really as awesome as it sounds.
This week was just such a week. Our subcommittee’s appropriations bill was on the floor Thursday night, which meant a lot of long days and late nights but which also gave me the opportunity to sit on the dias during a full Appropriations Committee mark-up, attend a Rules Committee hearing in the Capitol, and be on the House floor for the first time. Very, very cool.
As we’ve mentioned before, this year my boss was appointed Ranking Republican Member of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Each year our subcommittee determines how money will be spent in public land management agencies, like the Forest Service, the BLM, the Parks Service, etc., as well as the EPA. As we’ve been considering the funding bill for these agencies, then, my boss has played a key role in determining policy and leading the political response for Republicans. I’m a solid member of the Mike Simpson fan club, and it was so much fun to watch him be a rock star during debate the past couple weeks!
It was also fun to get to do some things for the first time. I spent a lot of time running around the Capitol this week (and getting lost, like a good little intern), delivering amendments we had drafted for consideration and preparing for floor debate. Most excitingly, I spent most of Thursday afternoon and evening on the House floor with my boss during debate on the bill (did you see me on C-SPAN? Oh, wait, you mean you weren’t watching C-SPAN at 11:45 p.m. on Thursday?) and then got to go down again for the vote on Friday. Not only was it great to watch the culmination of six months of hard work, but it is pretty darn awesome to have a front row seat to the greatest deliberative body in the history of mankind. I swelled with pride as my boss gave a rousing speech on the importance of preserving the institution (which he wrote himself—you should definitely check it out here), but I also sat next to the appointed Secretary of the Army for a bit and even stammered awkwardly while a Congressman from Texas tried to convince me that I should really think about having babies.
On Thursday night, we had a bit of a break while Members Luau’ed at the White House, and the wonderful committee staffer I work with took me out on the balcony of the Appropriations Committee room in the Capitol. It was the most splendid view of Washington, looking out over the Washington Monument and down to the Lincoln Memorial as the sun went down. My breath caught—as it always does—and I thought that the sparkle of the city and all the good things it stands for has certainly not gone away for me yet.
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2 comments:
I am pretty sure I am living vicariously through you. Nice work Missy. I went to DC for the first time in 1998 and could not get it out of my system. When YIM stopped by NNU that fall and I saw that they had a mission team going to DC for the summer I was completely on board. I was working on the "other side" of the city - but it was amazing just the same. Okay, I think I'm done :).
You do make it sounds like such a glamorous job! You're living the high life! Too bad you didn't get to Luau at the White House though. And we did see you on C-Span, it was only 9:45pm here and Jason texted us:-) Plus, I think you should listen to the Congressman from Texas, I would have liked to here his argument!
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