June 27, 2013

A very busy week on Capitol Hill is finally coming to a close! Huge, life changing, decision were made this week! First, the Supreme Court determined the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Interesting fact, an alumnus from my high school was actually the attorney responsible for winning the case! Then, the Senate passed a new bill on Immigration reform. Its unlikely that Congress will pass the same bill, but it was exciting to watch the Senate pass it in a sweeping 68-32 majority (all Democrats and 14 Republicans). I tried to go to the Senate Chamber to watch them pass this bill in person, but the entire spectator balcony was filled with 5 bus loads of undocumented immigrants. Luckily, C-SPAN was broadcasting the votes to every TV and computer screen in the entire building.

The next piece of legislation the Senate plans to work on will be Student Loans. The Senate has adjourned for the 4th of July holiday week, so that means student loan rates are set to double next week. This is especially concerning for an America teen, like me, who will be applying for student loans this year!

Controversial issues, such DOMA and immigration, usually bring protestors galore to the nation's capital! They have been literally swarming Capitol Hill this week! As I walked out of work today I listened to this group chant, "WHAT DO WE WANT - IMMIGRATION REFORM - WHEN DO WE WANT IT - NOW!!!" As you can see, this potentially angry mob was contained and organized onto a single side walk by Capitol Hill Police. Thanks guys!

On Monday I had the opportunity to go to a pizza lunch with Paul Ryan! It was great because the Speaker's interns sat in reserved VIP seats in the front row! Courageously I stood up and asked Paul a question during the Q&A session. It was exhilarating, not only because he explained how he started as a Congressional intern before becoming a congressman (my dream), but because his dreamy eyes held solid eye-contact with mine for at least 5 mins. 

Now that July recess has begun I am looking forward to some much needed (and deserved) R&R! 

God Bless America, 

Ali

June 24, 2013

Lately I've feel extremely guilty for not blogging more. The House has been in session non-stop the last few weeks and the office has been CRAZY, to say the least. It has been so hectic because we are approaching the last month before summer recess begins. Recess is when the Congressmen and Senators are given a month away from Washington to fundraise, visit family and get things done in their home districts.

Right now the House is trying to pass some very important legislation. The most noteworthy this week was the five year FAARM bill. It was just was voted, and sadly it did not pass. The Speaker's office was not really worried its passage in the Republican run House, so everyone was in complete shock when we saw the results that it failed. Speaker Boehner was a huge supporter of this bill and really wanted to see it's passage. Most of its failure can be blamed on the budgeting of food stamps. The far right wanted to see much less spending, and the far left wanted to see more. 

Lately when I have a little free time, which is rare, I work on writing college essays and applying for a job on Congressman Joyce’s re-election campaign for when I go home to Cleveland. To relieve a little bit of my stress today, a few interns and I had lunch on the Speaker's balcony. By far the best lunch view in town: 

Last week the interns in our office had the opportunity to sit down with Speaker Boehner for an hour and ask him any questions we wanted. It was a very special opportunity to sit down with such an accomplished and influential man. For those of you who don't know much about him: he grew up in a very poor, blue collar family with eleven brothers and sisters. He worked his way through college, doing odd jobs like being a night janitor. It took him a little over five year, but when he finally graduated from Xavier in Cincinnati he began his own company. After being successful in the business world, his first "political office" was as a member of his local homeowners association. He worked very hard to grow from his humble beginnings into the success he has now achieved. 

Also last week, a statue of Fredrick Douglass unveiled in the Capitol. This huge event was planned by the Speaker's office and over 1,000 people were invited. Another accomplished and inspirational man, Fredrick Douglass, began his life as a slave. He became a respected author, influential speaker, and advisor to presidents. Douglass was one of the first African Americans to gain international fame for his intellect and leadership abilities. Aside from Douglass' legacy, this was a historic unveiling because this is the first statue in the Capitol Building to be donated by the District of Colombia. There 100 statues similar to this one spread around the Capitol. Two are donated by each state of the 50 states and the only requirement for the statue to be put in the Capitol is that the person has passed away. There are now 101 statues on campus.

I'm looking forward to another busy week on the Hill! I have meetings with Hawken Alumni, staffers from my office and college admissions officers all week! I am determined to network with as many people as possible while I am here, so when I return finding another job or internship will be easy!

God Bless America, 

Ali 

PS. here are just a few pictures from my weekend sightseeing!

June 15, 2013

Today, there was an event held in Statuary Hall for the longest serving congressman, John Dingell! Speakers at the event included Vice President Biden and Speaker Boehner.

There was even a musical guest who got many of the congresswomen to their feet dancing! (inquire within if you want to see the hilarious video of them dancing!)

This week has been very hectic! I had family, friends and future constituents buzzing around Washington to pay me a visit. 

Happy Friday Y'all!

Its a rainy morning on Capitol Hill! Luckily I have my obnoxious bright yellow rain coat to keep me dry! The Speaker headed to his home district in Ohio last night, so the office is very relaxed without the big man on campus.

I've had a very exciting week! Yesterday I had the privilege to to go to one of the hearings about the IRS scandal! Chairman Issa and Deputy Chair Cummings of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee ran the hearing. The hearing was focused on the wasteful spending by the IRS at conferences over the last few years. There has been scandal after scandal with the IRS lately. This issue specifically has fallen to the back burner because of Tea Party targeting, but it is a huge issue that needed to be addressed. The witnesses included Faris Fink -- the IRS official who played Spock in this not so informational IRS employee training video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxU6n4pAnrU . Rep. Issa and Rep. Cummings absolutely ripped Fink apart about this 2010 employee conference. Issa insisted that Fink's employee's were guilty of tax evasion and Cummings howled about the conference basically stealing tax money from the low-income constituents of his home district. Safe to say this was a very rousing and exciting hearing to witness.

When I returned to the office from the hearing it was crazy busy. The Speaker was in and out of the office the whole morning for meetings. In the midst of these meetings, Representative Aaron Schock came by my desk to use the Speaker's balcony. After he asked me if it was alright to go out, he gave me a little wink. Obviously I died and went to heaven. For those of you who don't know why, this is Congressman Schock:

At the end of the day all the interns gathered in the Speaker's Conference room to meet with the Cheif of Staff, Mike Sommers. This was a really unique opportunity to sit down with a man who has accomplished so much. I look up to him and admire what he does. I know Mike very well because he walks past my desk probably 50 times a day to go into the Speaker's office, but it was so interesting to hear his life story story of "started from tha bottom, now he here".

I'm ready for an exciting weekend of taking the ACT, sight seeing and meeting up with friends from Cleveland! Happy Friday everyone!

God Bless America,
Ali

June 5, 2013

It's been a crazy week! (aren't they all?) I spent the weekend in Cleveland presenting my Hawken project (basically a senior project, but juniors are allowed to do them too) at the school. My presentation went really well and I passed with flying colors! It was nice seeing loved ones and being at home, but it is realllly nice being back in DC! When I returned on Sunday night I still didn't have a roommate, which I am really enjoying. Here is a picture of my dorm:

Monday and Tuesday were interesting days around the office.. While I was gone another intern downloaded a virus on my computer so I was computer-less for a couple days. I kept busy doing as much work as I could find that didn't involve the computer. Luckily, I threw my ACT book in my bag on Monday morning so I occupied some time with that. 

I also bought some candy to put in a jar on my desk. It's gone over really well- people really appreciate it! Through a very careful investigation, I figured out what Boehner's favorite candy is. Being new to the DC area I spent a solid few hours last night scouring the city for these little green mints that they basically sell nowhere! 

I walked 25 blocks to and from work yesterday instead of taking the metro. It is a very lengthy walk, but very every exciting and beautiful with all the monuments and activity around town! 

I went to another exciting committee hearing this morning! It was on the OPM (Office of Personal Management) revolving fund! It was super interesting. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held this hearing- a great warm up for my IRS hearing with the same committee tomorrow! Today's hearing basically summarized how this government office, who deal with human resources, has been wastefully spending and how that needs to stop.  

I have another exciting day ahead of me! I hope Boehner likes the mints I ran around the city looking for! Also, on a side note, I love saying that I'm from The Speaker's office when I go to commitee hearings like this. People act like I must be super important and end up giving me their business cards. Lol

God Bless America,

Ali