Gave two Capitol tours today, both of which were really fun. The first group was 18 congressmen/senators (or their equivalent) from Africa. They came from a lot of different countries: Ghana, Tunisia, Uganda, Malawi, and Nigeria...there may have been more, but I can't remember. All of them were so excited about taking pictures of the Capitol and asking questions about how our government works :). It was really cool! They took our (Hannah did the tour with me) emails at the end and gave us business cards in exchange. If I ever go to Africa, I can hang out with the government officials. Wooooo!

The second tour was with a federal judge from New Mexico and his family. He asked me to let him know about my plans after college (ostensibly law school) and to contact him if I needed anything. If there's one thing being an intern is good for, it's networking. As I was giving this tour, we walked right by Sen. Al Franken and John Kerry. Awesomeeeeeee.

The last cool part about my day was Senator Udall walked by my cubicle and stopped to chat and watch the World Cup with me for a few minutes. He's such a good guy. It's nice to know the person representing your state deserves to be in that position!

Went to a Senate Committee hearing (Energy and Natural Resources) this morning to discuss four new bills concerning the Oil Spill. One was proposed by Sen. Bingaman, one by Sen. Menendez, one by Sen. Udall, and one by Sen. Brown. I didn't realize Ken Salazar would be a witness at the hearing, but he was! Exciting stuff. I learned a lot, as usual. When I got back to the office, I found out that they had been watching me on tv...ha ha. So naturally, I had to investigate. The link to the video is here: http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=4b79b545-9cd6-2129-40f0-a5994845ef8a. You can see me on the right side kind of in and out... the best portion is around 131:15 and 133:32. I'm floating right next to Salazar's head... does that make me famous?

What else... did some work on an Excel spreadsheet, hunted down an elusive GAO report, and wrote up a memo for the hearing this morning. That's about it!

Good day on the Hill today! Went to a briefing about the future of natural gas. Basically, a research team from MIT discussed the benefits of using natural gas to supply a large portion of our energy in order to reduce overall carbon emissions. They called it a "bridge" resource...although it isn't carbon-free, it is carbon-"lite". They're hoping that the US can switch to using unconventional energy sources (like shale) until our solar/wind technology is good enough to take over (if it ever is). Definitely a better option than using coal, in my opinion. I guess we'll see.

Made small talk with the Senator twice today in the halls. He's such a great person, I really respect him. I'm glad I'm working for him!

What else...oh! I got to bring the Senator's dinner/newspapers down to the Senate gym today, which was pretty cool.

C'est tout!

Not too much went on today... edited a letter from the Senator to a committee leader, and did a performance review with my bosses. Everything went well! Can't say anything about the review (or the letter) because of confidentiality stuff, but it was a great day overall. Also, my soccer bracket is looking pretty good...Yay for the World Cup!

The Capitol tour training today turned out to be really dumb, so we (the other interns from my office and I) left to go eat pizza and watch the world cup on the big screen with the rest of the staff. It was a much better option! :)

After that was the White House tour. It was INSANE... I was walking down a hall in the White House, looking into the backyard, and all of a sudden Marine One landed and Obama (and Reggie Love) got out. I was sooooo excited, I thought I was going to faint. Literally. The tour was self-guided and not all that interesting, but it was cool to say I'd been in the White House. And you can't beat seeing Obama unexpectedly.

It was definitely an awesome way to end the week!

START Treaty? Check. Hillary Clinton? Check. Robert Gates, Steven Chou, Senator McCain, and Admiral Mullen? Check.

The START Treaty hearing was really really incredible, mostly due to the incredibly powerful people who attended. The only thing I learned that I didn't know from reading the 150 page briefing was that the Treaty only applies to strategical nuclear weapons. Russia still has over 3000 tactical nuclear weapons, and it is unlikely that it will agree to reduce the number it has. I was impressed with both Clinton and McCain's eloquence and knowledge of the subject; it was pretty clear why both had made it so far in the 2008 presidential race. They're both great politicians, and it showed. I'm so glad I was able to go. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. AHHHHHHH :)

Walked around the Capitol with Hannah after lunch, and then worked on some more legislation for the Environmental Legislative Assistant. Also got screamed at by a crazy person on the phone...but it's all part of the job.

Great times in the office today - ran into an old family friend who had a meeting with one of the Legislative Correspondents, and saw Ben Nighthorse Campbell. So awesome. Senator Udall was around a lot today too, which made things fun!

I worked with actual legislation and an amendment the Senator is proposing as well. It was so cool to get hands on experience with amending legislation...I got lucky with that assignment :).

Pedometer step count thus far (today): 16,463. I'm told this puts me in the "super-active" category. Rock on.

Typical day at the office - went to a hearing on the health impacts of the Gulf Oil Spill...and learned that the government has no idea about any of the long term effects of being around the oil/dispersants because there was not extensive research done during any of the previous oil spills. Not helpful! So they're conducting studies now, but that doesn't help much as far as predicting what preventative measures should be taken for the future. The Capitol Hill Challenge starts tomorrow - it's a competition between the offices to see who can log the most steps during the next five-six weeks. So i'll be wearing a pedometer from the moment i wake up to the moment i go to bed. Should be fun!

Here's a video of the shrimper dumping oil on herself (you can hear her, at least). See if you can spot me...i'm in there! (Thanks Dad!)

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20007240-503544.html

Had a really really busy day today - spent two and a half hours at another Oil Spill hearing this morning where the Energy and Natural Resources Committee interrogated the Secretary of the Interior (Ken Salazar). There was a protester who stood up and dumped "oil" all over herself while screaming at the committee towards the beginning... very insane and messy! Security responded quickly though, so that was good. Learned a TON about the oil spill and response efforts. It was interesting to hear the administration's point of view. I still have a lot of respect for Obama - he's doing a great job dealing with the situation given all that's going on.

The rest of my day was spent at reception (which is always fun) and giving another Capitol tour. Had a really nice family again today, which is fantastic! Makes my job easy and rewarding.

Tyler drove down from Baltimore to surprise me for dinner, which was fantastic!!! Made my week :). Plus you can't go wrong with Pita Pit. Yum.

Nothing really exciting happened today - scheduled a bunch of tours for the upcoming months, reorganized a few things, and finished the START treaty. I'm going to two hearings later on in the week and i'm spending one afternoon listening to Sonia Sotomayor give a speech... it'll be fun! I have found that even though i'm working fewer hours (technically) I'm equally productive and busy.

Started the half day schedule today... and I've gotta say, I could really get used to this 5 hour workday thing. Led another VIP tour today, which was incredibly fun. The people are always so sweet and excited to be in the Capitol. I love it! Finished the START treaty project today, so I should be ready for the hearing next week. Not much else went on today, but it was a good day regardless :).

It's Friday night already? What? Today went by so quickly! Had a brief (and I mean brief) tour training this morning, then answered phones and did research all afternoon. Didn't really get much of a chance to look over the START treaty stuff, so I brought it home with me for the weekend. My first official Capitol tour went astoundingly well...i'm really excited to do more! I have three scheduled next week, so I'll get lots more practice.  

Starting the half day schedules on Monday, which means I won't have to be at work until 1 pm. Excellent. 

Sorry for not writing yesterday!! Didn't really do much that was noteworthy...took a class on how to best utilize the Congressional Research Services, and got yet another ID card for that.

Today was pretty hectic, surprisingly. Went to a hearing this morning with David Walker about the federal budget deficit and unemployment. It was pretty interesting, learned a lot about the differences between short-term deficit and structural deficit. Some random kid sat down at my lunch table (the other interns went at one, but I had to be on front desk duty then) and it turned out he was full of a lot of advice about law school. Pretty interesting guy.

Hannah (another intern) and I are going to a START treaty hearing on the 17th (yes, the one with Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates). As a precursor for that, we were assigned with creating a briefing for Senator Udall. To give you an idea of how challenging of a task this is: we have to take over 150 pages of information and facts and sum it up in ONE page. It's going to be quite a chore. But fun!

The interns all got invited to this big intern thing at a bar (Madhatter) Tuesday night after work. They'll have FREE DRINKS and refreshments, as well as (supposedly) good company.  I love being 21 :). We're all going to head over after work...I'm actually pretty excited.

My first VIP tour is tomorrow as well. Really nervous, seeing as I still haven't been trained. But I figure I know enough to get by, and they gave me a cheat sheet of sorts that I'm allowed to take around with me. So that's nice I suppose. I'm still the only intern who has been assigned tours, which is inflating my ego a little too much... but oh well! I have five as of today, including my parents :).

Today was slowwwww... the Senate is in recess, so there wasn't really much exciting going on. We did have a ton of people calling in about the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act though. It was kind of interesting to see how misinformed people were - they all got their information from a mass email (not sure what the original source was) that claimed that BP was only going to pay the $75 million dollars required by the cap. All the calls were constituents who were mad that tax money would be used to help clean up the mess. Though BP is legally bound to only pay the $75 million, they have publicly stated multiple times that they will cover all damages. The legislation really looks to prevent limited liability in the future, although it would give BP's claim further validation by essentially making their promise legally binding. It's a mess. Trying to explain all this was crazy, so I eventually gave up.

I went to the Library of Congress today and got my Reader's Card, which allows me to do research there for the next two years. Maybe i'll get inspired and do some hardcore research, who knows. The card is really official though. My picture and address are on it and everything.

I'm still a little nervous about the VIP Capitol Tour that i'm giving Friday...still haven't been trained yet! It's a little disconcerting.

Oh, and the best part about being in recess? Jeans every day and we get out an hour early. Yesssssssss.

Long day today! Although this is by far the most demanding job I've had in terms of both hours and things to do, it's definitely the most rewarding. I love being able to do things that matter! (Not that making coffee/waiting tables doesn't matter...but they certainly pale by comparison). Finished up a memorandum this morning, sent out three gold seal letters that I wrote yesterday, met with the Chief of Staff, did major overhaul on a White House tour spreadsheet, answered phones, and got assigned more things for tomorrow! Can't say I'm sitting around doing nothing, that's for sure.

A fourth grade class called today to let the Senator know that they were trying to create policy and wanted his support. They were concerned that the dirty water from people washing their cars in the driveway was polluting nearby streams. This was by far the highlight of my day - nothing beats little kids coming up with ways to change the world. Cute!!

I'm supposed to go to the START treaty committee hearing on June 17th. Not only is this a fascinating topic, but the witnesses include Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates. I'm SO EXCITED! So we'll see how that works out!

Today was really long - I'm exhausted! And it feels like it should be Friday...ahhhhh. Had a nice run around the city this morning... it was incredibly beautiful. Nothing like watching the sun rise over the Capitol!

Spent the rest of the morning writing congratulatory letters and entering constituent mail into the database. Got asked to do a VIP capitol tour the first week of June, which is awesome. I have no idea who is the VIP family, but should be fun anyways! I need to get trained first...hopefully that'll happen by the end of this week. Spent almost my entire afternoon at the Senate hearing on Dietary Supplements (with a focus on senior citizens), and actually learned a lot about the concerns involving supplement labeling and advertising. Interesting! Sen. Al Franken was there as well, which was highly entertaining. Elena Kagan came into the office today for a meeting with the Senator - I was about two feet away from her when she walked by! I actually spent half of my lunch hour waiting for her to show up, so I'm glad I didn't miss the opportunity to see her.

Time to hit the hay, yo.

Got to go to the Senate hearing on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill early this morning. It was unbelievably informative - I learned a lot about liabilities and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Seems to me like the $75 million dollar cap on damages by a company (like BP) is utterly ridiculous, especially when the costs of the oil spill exceed that amount by a large margin. The hearing was really high profile - and apparently you can see me in the broadcast! Woooo! If you want to play "Where's Waldo", go to this link http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.LiveStream&Hearing_id=b0fba9e3-a97c-fc85-0a1a-545e60fe8dd0 and look very very closely at the audience from 93:00 to about 93:08. I'm trying to look around one of the press reporter's heads (it was large and in charge and in the way). Kinda cool! The room we were in (Russell 325, if you ever get the chance to go) was absolutely gorgeous - marble columns, ornate ceiling decorations and huge chandeliers. Not a bad place to discuss finances.

Had some delicious deep dish pizza at a little place two blocks from Hart (where I work). Yum yum yum. Wrote two constituent letters (as well as a briefing on the Oil Spill) before losing my computer access.  Someone stole my computer when I wasn't paying attention, sadly. Too many interns and not enough desktops! Scheduled some tour groups for the Kennedy Center after that.Spent the last hour of the day doing absolutely nothing. It's dumb that they don't let me leave early, even if there are no computers available and they have nothing else for me to do. Oh well!

Hopefully they'll put us on the half day schedule ASAP. This is getting a little crazy... still having a great time though!

Today was much less hectic, but went by pretty quickly regardless. I rode the Metro like a pro this morning (awesome, I know) and ended up at work half an hour early. Gotta get there before 9 to get a good cubicle! Answering phones was a little tedious today... about half of the people who called wanted to know what was going on in the news. Which was odd - usually they call to voice their support or opposition of a specific piece of legislation. Or to complain about the oil spill.

Ended up drafting a "gold seal" letter this afternoon, and got to read a whole packet of letters that a class from Clark CO wrote. The letters were very cute (as is typical of elementary school children) and were all about the Constitution and the history of the United States. Good to know that our education system is still working (for the most part). Writing a response kept me busy right up until 6 pm.

I'm really really really excited for tomorrow - I get to go to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill hearing in the morning! It's going to be interesting to see what the experts think need to be done. Hopefully they'll be able to come up with something soon... I don't think it's a stretch to say that this is getting a little ridiculous. That said, this is NOT Obama's fault. Which is something the Republicans need to come to grips with.

The humidity was appallingly awful today, but other than that, this city is incredible. I can't even explain how refreshing it is to be in a city that's so clean and open. It all feels like one big college campus. With lots of tourists.

Went to a briefing on the American Power Act this morning, then edited some legislative hearing transcriptions for most of the afternoon. Got invited to an ice cream social next week too...hopefully some high profile people show up! Not sure how likely that is though.

I'm learning so much from just being on the Hill, it's amazing. I come home every day with a better concept of what's going on in the political world - new bills that are being proposed, new amendments that were passed, new scandals (gasp) that unfolded in Congress the day before. It's pretty incredible how much you can learn just by listening to what's going on around you. I even learn things from our constituents! It's pretty nuts.

Also, I have discovered the best salad bar in the world. And surprise! It's in the basement of Dirksen (another Senate building). Who would've thought?

My colleagues are really fun, too...makes work even better than I imagined it would be. I absolutely love going to my job. Something i haven't had much experience with in the past (sorry Starbucks). Last weekend at Tyler's house, moving into the GW dorms on Monday. The short commute will be nice, but his company will be missed :(.

TGIF!