Last Week

The last week of my internship was very interesting. It was very busy with constituent correspondence but I also shadowed the Congressman. When I shadowed the Congressman it was a very busy day. First, I went to the Financial Service Committee for a couple hours. There they were debating about 20 or so amendments to a bill that was before the Committee. Then they had to go into recess to vote in the House. I watched those votes from the House galleries. Then we went back to the Financial Services Committee where we had a meeting with the founding CEO of AIG. After that there was a couple more votes in the house and then we went to the Rules Committee. There we heard reasons for why certain bills should go to the floor and why certain amendments that had not been heard in the proper committee should be attached to that bill. That rounded out my very busy but interesting day.

The Week After Recess

This week started off a bit slow but ended with lots of work. I did the usual office work but went to three meetings this past week. First, I went to a hearing on Anti-trust laws in the media. There is a concern because newspapers are consolidating due to the economy and online news is skyrocketing. There were concerns over Anti-trust laws harming the new ways newspapers are looking at surviving in the economy. Next, I went to a meeting about the IQ system. There is a new IQ system in the works to make constituent correspondence easier that is an optional node with the system. Finally, I went to a meeting about the Mexican Trucks issue. There was a lot of talk about NAFTA and Mexican retaliation in response to the US nott fulfilling its obligations to NAFTA. Overall, this was a busy week and it was interesting.

April Recess

I decided to put two weeks into one post as Congress was in recess the past two weeks. This was a good idea as it was much slower these two weeks. I did more of the usual, answering phones and attaching letters. But I also did some extra items. One of them was I called several commissioners to make sure they understood items about filing under the deadline for appropriations. I also delivered some flags to be flown at the flag office through Congressman Perlmutter's flag page. Lastly, since Congress was in recess I was able to go home early since the office closed early those days.

US-Mexcio border

Last week I went to a hearing on the increased violence along the US-Mexican border. It was very interesting to hear about how law enforcement agents were working on the border. The main goal of the hearing was to make it so law enforcement officers between the federal level, local level, and Indian affairs could work jointly to stem the rise of the drug cartels. Next, as the Cherry Blossom festival is occurring, the capitol was crowded with tourists who wanted to go on tours. The office itself was fairly routine with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Lastly, Congress is going into its' two week April recess so the office will be running at an out of session pace for the next two weeks.

mail

This last week was pretty normal. There was lots of mail to send to constituents. Also, there were lots of meetings in the office. The reason it was so busy is Congressman Perlmutter introduced an amendment to reduce the spread of wildfires. Also, on Friday, I gave a tour at the very end of the day. It was a nice break from the piles of letters.

letters/calls

The past week dealt with lots of calls and letters. The amount of postcards will be dwindling as the Freedom of Choice Act postcards will no longer be getting a reply from our office. Many people have continued to email about subjects which concern them and those are gladly accepted. Last week many phone calls we received were quite rude/obnoxious. We are more than happy to take calls concerning issues that are important to you, however please stay civilized and courteous. Otherwise the past week was pretty similar to the rest of them.

Spring Break

Over spring break I worked one day. It was however a busy but interesting day. The archives was archiving a presentation by some students in the Congressman's district and he gave a little presentation that I went to see. Also, I went to a hearing on cyberterrorism. It was very informative and interesting to hear. Besides that, I attached letters to constituent mail. All in all it was an interesting day.

letters

So this past week was pretty much a lot of the same. However, the Freedom of Choice postcards are starting to dwindle down! Congressman Perlmutter submitted new legislation on Friday to establish new federal oversight in the financial industry. Also, the office had lots of meetings for various pieces of legislation. Otherwise it was a pretty normal week on the hill.

Tours

This week at the capitol I got a little break from normal office duties. I gave a tour of the capitol to a couple constituents. It was a good way to break up the day for a bit. However, I did get a little bit lost on my way to the Old Supreme Court Chamber, but only for a second or two! Other than that, I did more of the same. There were phone calls - many from reporters asking for our press secretary. I also attached letters to constituent mail.

Tour Training

Last week at the capitol my duties were split into two different parts. The first part of the week I spent attaching letters to constituent replies. The majority of this correspondence was over the Freedom of Choice Act otherwise known as FOCA.

The second part of my week was spent in tour training. This training was done through the capitol visitor center. This training allows me to take constituents through the capitol who request a tour through Congressman Perlmutter's office. This training lasted six hours and was very thorough in capitol and congressional history.

Week 3

This week was fairly busy with constituents. There was a lot of mail that needed a response. Also, I went to a hearing on FEMA and the state of Louisiana . This was about the disaster relief and why it has taken so long to get the projects on track. It was a very long week and much patience was required. On a lighter note, I took a couple people to the capitol visitor center so that they could go on a tour.

Meetings

This week I went to a couple meetings. The first one was a meeting with the Committee on Financial Services. It was an interesting meeting about the Madoff scheme. This is just the start of the inquiry into Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The other meeting I went to was about the art decorations hung in the capitol. This week was a bit slower as the stimulus bill is in the senate and no major legislation was scheduled this week. Otherwise, I responded to constituent mail and ran some errands.

Week 1

This week at work was full of constituent dealings. They were calling about the stimulus bill. Also, I took the time to start familiarizing myself with the capitol surroundings. It is easy to get lost in their as the underground is huge. Finally, I was writing letters in response to constituent concerns. The week was mostly acclimatizing and getting to know what is expected of me. It was pretty interesting and I am starting to get a feel of the capitol. I am working for Representative Perlmutter and he is on the Committee of Rules and the Committee on Financial services.