First Week of my Internship

So it is the end of my first week of interning for Senator Dianne Feinstein. It has been a lot of what I expected but also some eye opening experiences. The biggest eye opener is how big the office is and what really goes in to day-to-day operations. Since Senator Feinstein is the senior Senator from the largest state she has the biggest office on the Hill. There are about 45 employees and her office is two stories!

My day is organized so I help both with administrative tasks such as phones and answering scheduling requests and the other half helping the transportation Legislative Assistant. The transportation LA both develops transportation policy for the Senator while also analyzing the current legislation on the floor. In addition to helping do research, I answer constituent letter that are concerned about transportation issues.

It amazes me that each letter sent to the Senator gets a careful response. There is not a stock letter sent to each person writing in about an issue, but an individual response based on their concerns. This is one of my favorite things about the Federal government. As much as it may seem that they do not care about your concerns or thoughts, they really are taken down and into consideration. Yes, the Senator has more foresight to see if your thoughts are a reality when coupled with a million other problems related to that problem, but at least they are considered. Ordinary people really are involved.

If it hasn’t been evident from the other post, I love Capital Hill! It is a mesmerizing place with so much history, tradition and inspiring events going on that I am constantly amazed by what happens daily. A nice thing about having a group of about 15 interns, is when there is down time we are able to go off and experience a debate on the floor or a confirmation hearing.

It is crazy to see politicians walking along the same hallway or talking on the Senate Floor. On Thursday, we went and saw the Senate farewell speeches for Joe Biden and Hilary Clinton. It was the human side of the farewells that was inspiring. Seeing Senator Barbara Boxer crying because of Biden’s remarks about his family and seeing Republicans also in attendance to pay tribute to the work both Biden and Clinton had done for the Senate helped to bring down these great figures to a human level.