Daily life in the U.S. Senate

Throughout this week, I’ve been posting  series of extracts from the blog I wrote while in there as part of the Washington Ireland Program for Service and Leadership.  If you’re interested, you can read my full blog here.

(from June 25, 2008)

My first day:

I arrived painfully early. We were advised not to be too early and look like a big freak stalking the office, a half hour before it opens. That was me! So, dress code one, sweating like a pig, and shaking in my boots with nerves, I arrived early, met my supervisor and began the orientation process. I undertook a Scavenger Hunt of Capitol Hill (which was a strange experience), in order to find the places that I’d need to complete the placement. Part of the agreement I made with my employers is that I maintain a high level of confidentiality relating to all the events, policies and discussions of the office. I do a large proportion of administrative work, as well as dealing with constituent queries, giving tours of Capitol Hill, attending hearings on the hill and assisting the legislative staff. I’m still in complete awe that I get to go sit in the staff gallery of the Senate, although it’s frequently a fine line between awe and feeling completely overwhelmed. I’m a young graduate from the bogs of Kildare and I get to sit in the Senate Gallery? How mad is that!

(Image: That’s me in the Senate Press Briefing room.)

(From July 02, 2008)

A Typical Day’s Work:

I’d like to remind you all of the perils that come with interning. It’s hard work, being on the bottom rung of the office food chain. As soon as one has progressed beyond it, people forget what it’s like. I’ll never forget. At least I hope not. The Senate is an amazing place. It’s alive with tourists at the moment and I’ve begun to give tours on my own which is equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. I’m terrified of getting lost on one of the million windy corridors or in the basement with a gaggle of Americans who thought my accent was cute for all of 5 seconds and then just couldn’t understand me anymore. So far so good, though. The Hill in summer is literally crawling with interns. There are thousands of them, all of them eager to get ahead and determined to work hard. My first week, there was an ice-cream social for interns on the outside Capitol Hill. It was like a weirdly post festival-esque. Hundreds of young ‘uns in business suits, eating (free!) ice cream and gleeful at being out in the open air. I did Congressional Research Service (CRS) training last week too. I was lucky to get the chance to do it so early in my placement and it has already proved useful to me when drafting memos and remarks for Staffers. Plus, it’s a great thing to stick on the CV. Throughout the summer, there is an Intern Lecture Series which takes place on Capitol Hill. The have some really interesting speakers: elected representatives, academics, media people and others who’ve been successful in their respective fields. I went to my talk given by Senator Isakson, a Southern Republican, which was a useful insight into another side of US politics. Everyday, there are a series of committee hearings and other discussions, debates or talks given by interested parties taking place on Capitol Hill. It’s an endless source of frustration to me that they’re all scheduled together, but I have gotten the opportunity to see several really interesting topics discussed.

My work is primarily in the Foreign Affairs area, so I’ve attended some really interesting topics. These are open to the public and the press are welcome, so I can share a little about them here. There was one fascinating one about the contractors employed by the US government to work on water provision in Iraq. The company were less than exemplary, and both evaded tax and exposed their workers, the US Military and Iraqi Civilians to Hexovalent Chromium. This was the chemical on which the Oscar-winning movie “Erin Brockovich” was based, and the story was remarkably similar. There were 3 witnesses before the hearing- two whistle-blowers (a worker at the plant and an inspector responsible for health and safety) and a chemical expert, who also testified at the real life Erin Brockovich case. It was a fascinating hearing and one which showed how like life the movies really are. I was at another about Afghanistan, which was really interesting. Exposing the links between the narcotics trade and Afghani society, the position of the US Military and the undying hope of the Afghani people that they will soon achieve a stable and peaceful society. Everything works around the timetable of whatever is happening on the Senate floor though. Senators often have to leave either talks or hearings to go and vote on the floor- they only have 15 minutes to vote, and their constituents are watching to see who bothers to show up. It’s exciting to be here.