Sunday, June 18, 2023
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Week three was busy.
I started off in the office on Monday, writing questions for another hearing happening on Tuesday, this time about fusion. While the quantum hearing was a full-committee hearing, this was an energy subcommittee hearing which meant that it was a lot smaller. The questions were due at 11 so that they could be sent out to the member offices, where staff choose which questions to ask or rework the questions to fit into each Congresspersons’ specific style and interests. After that, I finalized the binders that contain all the materials for the hearings, though sometimes we have to wait until pretty late to get the opening statements. I ate lunch in the botanical gardens again, and I found some really cute picnic benches right by this really beautiful fountain.
Monday ended up being pretty slow once we were done preparing for the fusion hearing. I was sitting at the front desk though, and had to answer the phone a few times and direct people to meetings with the professional staffers. We got one call from someone who was calling the Science Committee as a last resort. I listened to them and empathized with them and told them that there likely wasn’t much we could do but that I would pass their information along to my supervisors. I hung up the call feeling terrible – who was I to empathize with this woman in a way where she could feel like she was being heard and helped when there was nothing I could do? But at the same time, I was glad that I could be a supportive and caring presence on the other end of the phone. I can’t imagine what a terrible time she’s had if she was calling us for support. I left the office at six in a bit of a daze only five minutes after that phone call, and took the metro back to GW. I made a pretty good dinner, and talked to my dad for a bit, who called because he loved my second blog. Hi dad! I packed my lunch, and got ready for Tuesday.
On the metro on the way to work Tuesday morning, I started reading a book (that just came out!) called Recoding America. It’s about the challenges of policy implementation in the US, especially in the digital age, and I thought it would be poignant to read while working on the hill. I’m really enjoying it so far, though I haven’t read very much. The book started with a quote from David Graeber that I’ve been thinking about a lot this week: “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” I’m getting to see a lot of the process by which this world is made, and there are times when it feels very arbitrary.
When I arrived at the office, we started making binders for the markup that was going to happen on Wednesday. The first thing we did was print out the text of the bills that were going to be included in the markup. More on that later, because the fusion hearing was at two!
Lessons from the fusion hearing: If you ever thought that scientific breakthroughs don’t make a huge difference in the eyes of policy makers, take this opportunity to change your mind. Ever since the net gain fusion reaction in December 2022, members of Congress (both Democrats and Republicans) have been looking to fund fusion research and hopefully energy production as a solution to our energy generation problems. Many of them spoke about being skeptical about fusion before, but that they’re huge proponents of fusion energy now. Just like the quantum hearing, the witnesses in this hearing were highly qualified fusion experts, whether scientists, policy makers, or industry representatives. I really enjoyed getting to hear their testimony, and honestly it made me kind of excited for the future! After the hearing, I got to talk to one of the scientists who works for the US branch of ITER, a massive international fusion collaboration.
Wednesday was probably the craziest day of the week for me. I got into the office, collected all the materials for the markup, and brought them over to the Committee Hearing Room in Rayburn (which I’ve learned is called RHOB for Rayburn House Office Building). There was one on collaboration between NASA and DOE (Department of Energy), one on collaboration between the NSF (National Science Foundation) and DOE, and the last was about Research and Development for the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). I explained hearings last week, so here’s how markups work! Bills are proposed, or are “sponsored” by committee members. After the text of the original bill gets workshopped, they get sent out to everyone with the notice of a markup. At this point, members of the committee will look over the bill and identify anything they think needs to be changed, and they’ll propose an amendment. A markup usually contains multiple bills, and the committee members will go through one by one, voting on each individual amendment for each bill and then the overall bill itself before moving on to the next bill. Everything is a little rushed and last minute at this point in the legislative session. Amendments aren’t due until 24 hours before the markup, and nearly all of them came in during the last 15 minutes on Tuesday morning. The thing I’ll take away from the markup is this: Summer Lee, a Black, female Representative from Pennsylvania, tried to include a DEI amendment on one of the bills, but ended up withdrawing it so that the bill could pass through committee. The Republican Chairman, Frank Lucas, said that he thought the amendment was important and that he would hope to work on including it in other committee bills, and I really hope he was being truthful.
After work on Wednesday, I headed to the Congressional Baseball game with Amber, one of the other Science committee interns. Senators and Representatives play in the annual game to raise money for charity, and it was peak comedy. First off, sports should be played by amateurs more often, it’s significantly funnier. Second, a bunch of the members of Congress playing brought their whole staff in matching shirts. Third, I just found it hilarious to see some of the people I’d worked with in suits in committee earlier that day playing baseball (quite badly). I can honestly say that I’ve never had so much fun at a sporting event.
Thursday morning I took notes on a Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and left work early to wind my way through the tunnels under the house office buildings to the Capitol to finish the rest of my tour training! I got a snazzy booklet with information about the parts of the Capitol I could take people into, and the staff leading the tour was really helpful. Keep an eye out for a tour later in June! After the tour training, I had a little bit of time before the SPS ex-comm dinner, so I just wandered around the Capitol building for a while. It’s so incredibly beautiful, and the fact that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures in most places made me appreciate it even more. I wandered in the hallways that led to the House and Senate floors, sat in the House gallery, poked my head into the House Restaurant, and admired a series of busts of all the past vice presidents. I sat on the Capitol steps for a few minutes before walking over to Present Company Public House, where the dinner was happening.
Everyone associated with SPS and AIP is honestly incredible and I loved meeting and talking to everyone. Particularly important to me on Thursday night was meeting the Mather Capitol Hill intern from last year, Aidan (hey there if you’re reading this blog). It was really nice to talk to someone who knew what I was going through on a daily basis. Overall the evening was really incredible and it was great to spend time with the other interns and AIP staff in a fun and vibrant setting. Here's to an SPS float at DC pride next year!
Friday I worked remotely and took notes on another hearing, but the office closed early for Juneteenth. If I learned something this week it’s that the professional Committee staff have minimal work-life balance. The email they sent out closing the office said “I know you’ll be answering emails all weekend, but you might as well do it from home”. When I leave at 6, they’re still there, and one of the staffers lamented that her phone auto-generated an album of her nanny with her kids while she’s working. I stopped working early though, and headed out with Tiffany to get boba and celebrate her being done with finals!
The highlight of Saturday was definitely the orchestra concert we went to Saturday night. The music was beautiful, it was great to get to meet some of the musicians beforehand (thanks to Jack), and one of my friends from UMD who’s a physics and cello performance double major was actually in the orchestra!!
The orchestra was my last interaction with the other interns for the weekend, because after that I headed back to my apartment at UMD so I could go to the wedding of two of my close friends. I’m really glad that I was able to go, and congrats to both of them.
For me, the overarching lesson of this week is that our world - both the internal worlds of our personal lives and the external world of society - are very much shaped by individuals, be that a good conversation we have with a friend or a member of Congress’ personal goals. I hope my next week is full of positive encounters, and that I can learn over this summer how I want to be an individual in the larger world of science and policy.
Ruthie Vogel