Women, health care, technology, and a Job

This past week was very eventful! I met Jan Larimer, Co-chair of the RNC, 11 of the Republican female Members of Congress, and attended a meeting with FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this job has been meeting women from business to non-profits to government who are pioneers and incredible success stories. Our members of Congress are no exception to this!

I also sat in on a meeting with the CFO of the Paul Allen Institute for Brain Sciences. This was founded by the one and only Paul Allen with $100 million of his own dollars. It has blossomed into one of the nations leading research institutes and all of their research is open and free to anyone who wants it! They have isolated and tracked the genes related to autism and schizophrenia and are mapping the brain from it's development in-utero to old age. Very exciting!

Thursday the Majority dropped the health care legislation and since then things have been busy. We have been told to expect to work every Saturday until the bill passes. The strategy is to hold Members in D.C. until they concede to vote (and pass) health care legislation. This should be a very exciting week as the Republicans are featuring how the Democrats takeover of health care will affect women. Watch for the Congresswoman all week!

Thursday, the Whips office launched a Blackberry application which allows you to receive up to the minute updates on floor votes, pending legislation, and Republican position points. To celebrate, they hosted a happy hour for all Republican staff. Awesome! You can visit this link from your blackberry browser to get the app:

http://republicanwhip.house.gov/WhipCast

Also, as of this week you can sign up to receive text message alerts from Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers! Visit www.mcmorrisrodgers.house.gov to sign up.

Last but not least, I got a job offer! Washington State Senate Committee Services offered me a job as a session policy analyst for the higher education and early learning and K-12 committees. I start on December 14th and will be returning back to Washington in time for Thanksgiving. Now to make the most of my remaining three weeks here!

Midway through...sort of

As of this week, I am half way through my fellowship. I can't believe it has already been two months!!! I continue to be completely awed by this experience. Washington, D.C. is am amazing place. I think once you start to lose the awe and appreciation for this city--it's history, and the power if wields you no longer need to be here.

Periodically, I am responsible for giving capitol tours. I could spend hours in that building and I genuinely enjoy learning about everything contained within it to share it with visitors. It is unbelievable to walk over where John Quincy Adams desk was or to walk through the same halls as many of our presidents have.

At the same time, my sense of direction continues to fail me. These poor people I take on tours. So often I have no idea where we are going. Oh, you didn't want to see the George Washington statue three times?

Interestingly, I say I am half way through my time here but I really have no idea. I am considering pursuing some job opportunities here which could extend by stay indefinitely. In terms of the fellowship, the Democrats wont tell us when we will be going on holiday break so I may be back as soon as early December or as late as Dec. 23rd.

Congress was originally scheduled to adjourn this Friday. That is clearly not going to happen! We have hardly passed any bills of substance and the Democrats have way bigger plans for us. Health care, cap and trade, and some appropriations bills are all on the horizon.

Recently I have been working on some military family issues. These projects are great. How can you not want to do everything possible for service members and their families who are prepared at any minute to give their lives for this country? Their devotion to America and all that she stands for is incredible.

Other than that, I have included a picture of Mike and I with the Congresswoman from a few weeks ago. Good times.

Getting to know the party

Last week was great. I am beginning to really get engaged with the political aspects of Congress and campaigning. The Congresswoman is really interested in women's outreach and motivating more women to run for office. As a result, I have been brought into the mix. So far my job has consisted of attending fancy lunches and hobnobbing with influential people. How did I get so lucky?

This past week I saw Dana Perino speak--President Bush's press secretary. She was incredible! Beautiful, witty, and brilliant.

Also, much to my delight, I am working on some higher education issues and getting a quick introduction to financial aid policy. It is both incredibly complicated and unquestionably the largest contribution the federal government makes to higher education. Lastly, Congress is beginning to stir with the discussion of No Child Left Behind reauthorization. At this point, it seems like it will be NCLB but rebranded as the Elementary and Secondary School Act reauthorization. And the administration thinks they are being tricky...

Perhaps the icing on the cake was acting as a staff escort on a capitol dome tour. We literally walked up 360 stairs into the dome and then above it and outside for sweeping views of all of Washington, D.C.. Unbelievable. While in the dome we were so close to the fresco of the Apotheosis of Washington that if I were a little taller I could have touched it. Gorgeous. I can't believe I work here.

On the sight seeing front I visited old town Alexandria, VA. It was a gorgeous fall day on the waterfront. In the late

1700's and into the 1800's merchant ships would dock here and just up the way a bit are old cobblestone streets with gas lamps and old row homes where the ship captains lived. Today these homes are still occupied and stand as million dollar historical landmarks. What an incredible place!

One month in

A month in and I think I am finally getting the hang of things over on Capitol Hill. I can get around the house offices pretty efficiently and am starting to manage maneuvering the capitol building. I have also learned that while the majority offices set the committee agendas, they will not divulge that information to the minority staff. And yet, the minority staff still seem to know the agenda. Do we have spies?

Meanwhile, things on the homefront are great. The internet I was stealing from my neighbor seems to have been password protected so I went and bought a tv. I got a steal of a deal on an "open box item." I quickly discovered "open box" is misleading, because what they really mean is no box, remote, or manual. So I put my tv in a bag and carried it around the mall, to dinner, and then home on the metro. It got it's own seat of course.

This past weekend Mike came to visit and we had one of the best weekends ever (with the exception of the beating our football teams received). He got in late friday and then we spent saturday walking around Georgetown and watching college football. Sunday we booked a cruise to Mt. Vernon. We got to the dock just in time to see our ship sail away so we went on a metro and bus adventure to get to Mt. Vernon on our own. It was a gorgeous day and our cruise back on the ship was wonderful. We got back just in time to watch the late afternoon games and gorge ourselves on pub food. It was a good day.

All in all, D.C. has been a great adventure. I suppose it is kind of a mixed blessing that the democrats are dragging their heels on all pieces of legislation unrelated to healthcare. It would be nice to be a little more busy in the office; but, be careful what you wish for, right? With my free time I have just taken on the research for a journal article and will be the coauthor on an upcoming book chapter. Now if only to find a job!

Marine 1 just flew by my house!

All in all, I would say week one was a great success. The first couple of days in the office were relatively slow as I aquatinted myself with my coworkers and tasks. Obama managed to liven things up with his speech and from Wednesday onward the phones rang off the hook. Constituents had comments about everything from Joe Wilson for President to support for nationalized health care. Meanwhile, I attended a briefing of the Congressional Dairy Caucus and one on the state of the economy. The photo is a view of the potomac from my balcony.

As it turns out agriculture policy may just be one of my specialties. The dairy farmers have been badly hurt by this economy which has been made worse by heavy regulation. Who knew the government controls dairy prices? I have a meeting with constituents next week to discuss this matter--very interesting.

Long story short, there is no definite answer about the state of America's economic recovery. Consensus seems to be building around the fact that we have hit bottom, but nobody knows when we will actually start to enter into a recovery phase.

Perhaps the best part about being here is that you have access to some of the brightest minds in the world on every topic imaginable. Literally, anything issue you want to know about is at your fingertips.

By way of entertainment, today was a beautiful sun shiny day in the mid-80's. I took a self guided tour of Georgetown (which is fabulous) and acquired a great dress. I am going to have to limit my trips there--too many shopping temptations! Last but not least, my coworkers are amazing and even provided a place to watch the husky game last night. Go dawgs! Can't wait for the upcoming week.

Arrived!

I have finally arrived and settled in D.C.. My boyfriend, Mike, travelled with me. We spent the last couple of days walking all over our nation's capitol visiting the monuments, smithsonian, and our favorite--the National Zoo.

My apartment is in the Watergate complex, in the Foggy Bottom area. Shopping, Starbucks, and the Metro are all very close by! Not to mention, my neighbor is the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Wow! Mikey left today but I am settling in to my new place nicely. Most of my things are already unpacked and it is starting to look "homey." My kitchen lacks cooking supplies but I have quickly arranged to have that fixed. Pots and pans are on their way! I would sorely miss not being able to cook for myself. For now, though--plastic plates and silverware. I suppose presentation is less important when you are cooking for one!

On Tuesday work starts and I could not be more excited. I am completely humbled by the opportunity I have been given and I can't wait to get to work. The unemployed summer was a welcome respite from graduate school but I really missed being busy. I assume that is going to change very quickly! These are historic times in our nation's capitol and I am anxious to be a party to it. Great adventures lie ahead!

As I prepare to begin the Jennifer Dunn Thomson fellowship in Washington, D.C. I decided that it is appropriate to create a blog so that my friends and family as well as the generous members of the Jennifer Dunn Thomson family could stay up to date on all of my adventures in our nation's capitol.

I hope to keep a regular record of all of my activities as well as post photos of everything that I am doing. I intend for this blog to provide a glimpse into this amazing opportunity I have been given and a way to communicate with all of the people that have made this possible. Thank you!