Notes from Crissy Heide

EAOP student and Progressive Caucus Fellow - Summer 2007

Life From D.C. - Installment 1:

First Impressions

Crissy Heide As I walked to work Monday morning I couldn’t help but become more and more nervous as the number of men in suits and power ties and women in high heels gabbing on their cell phones increased. I looked the part (thanks Mom and Nick!), but would they all be able to tell that I was an imposter, that it was only my first day and that I had no idea what I was doing?

It turns out I had nothing to be nervous about, well, not on my first day at least (which consisted of perusing various websites and newspapers that I’ll be using over the summer and checking my email). As the week went on, my tasks increased from attending orientations for the Congressional Research Service to writing a letter to the EPA regarding a project in Yuma, AZ. I also began compiling some Census data for my summer-long border communities project, and by Friday was sitting in on a legislative meeting. My task this week will be to help write some talking points for a piece of legislation that will be introduced later this summer, wish me luck!

Overall things are going well. I have my own desk and computer in Congressman Grijalva’s legislative office. And all the people that I work with are really friendly and a lot of fun (although I am still the new kid on the block, but that will change this week with the addition of a new intern in our office).

So, what have I learned after my first week?

Where the cafeteria, gift shop, and post office are in the Longworth Building, and how to get from one House building to another without going outside (yes, I have gotten lost - once)
You can pretty much eat a free lunch and dinner everyday you’re at work just by attending receptions and workshops!
When Congress is in Recess, everyone wears jeans and flip-flops to work
The art of tuning people out—with 6 other staff in one office, you have to be able to shut out all the side conversations that are constantly going on around you—it’s a wonder anything gets done at all!
Congressman Grijalva is probably the nicest person in Congress. My first day he came around the office passing out brownies and other sweets, and he always makes a point to check up on everyone and see how they’re doing, see how their families are. You can tell that he genuinely cares about his staff and the work that he’s doing.

That’s all for now.

Until next time,
Crissy

Life From D.C. - Installment 2:

How to Drop a Bill

For the past two weeks I have been “temporarily reassigned” from working on my border communities project (which technically I haven’t even really begun yet) to a much more time sensitive matter—introducing a new bill! Congressman Grijalva and his staff have been working on a bill, H.R. 2593 entitled “The Borderlands Conservation and Security Act of 2007” (you can view the bill at www.thomas.gov, just type in “H.R. 2593”, make sure to select “search by bill number”). The gist of it is to protect the environment in the border region while giving Border Patrol the flexibility to decide what methods of security to implement on a case-by-case basis, rather than the “one size fits all” approach that a wall would mean. The bill would also repeal the waiver authority that REAL ID granted to the Secretary of Homeland Security, allowing the Secretary to ignore any laws that might impede fence construction (meaning all environmental, health, labor, and criminal laws would not apply to fence construction). So in my non-professional opinion, Grijalva’s Borderlands bill is a pretty good piece of legislation. But there’s more to introducing a bill than just writing it.

For one thing, the bill has to be summarized into something that is easily digestible for those of us that aren’t lawyers or don’t have the extra 10 hours it takes to sit down and read a bill in its entirety (just kidding, but not really). Then something called “talking points” are written. These answer all the questions you think someone might ask about the bill in a succinct way (this was one of my jobs). Next a contact list has to be put together of the organizations that have a special interest in the bill, and a press packet is put together and mailed to them. (** It is important to note that there is never one version of any of these documents, not even the contact sheet, and that no one works on these things by themselves, there’s lots of input coming in from all angles! **) Then there are all the conference calls that take place with other organizations and lawyers to go over any weaknesses or potential problems the bill might have, and to talk media strategy.

Finally the bill “drops”, or is introduced (in our case, the bill dropped on June 6th). Done, right? Oh no, now you put together what are called “Dear Colleague” letters. This is a way that members of Congress inform other members about things that are important to them (gaining support for a new piece of legislation or amendment, encouraging opposition to legislation or an amendment, even informing them about conferences). And it’s not just one dear colleague letter; you can craft them towards members’ voting records so they are receiving something tailored specifically towards them. For example, we created a general letter to inform the majority of members about the bill, then crafted three more specific letters based on how certain members had voted on REAL ID and the Secure Fence Act in the past. I got to help write these letters, then I spent a lot of time formatting and stuffing envelopes.

Now comes the nail biting period: waiting to see if the bill gets some traction! Congressman Grijalva introduced it on his own, and as of June 8th has two co-sponsors (one of which I inadvertently helped to get by attending a conference on Thursday and handing out press packets) and support from the Defenders of Wildlife and from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Check out these links to read their press releases:

I’ll keep you all updated with its progress.

Crissy

Life from D.C. - Installment 3:

City Life

Now that I’ve gotten into a routine at work (research, read, write, repeat), I have started to take advantage of all that living in a city, specifically D.C., has to offer. While living in a city does have its drawbacks (having to wait 45 minutes for the metro when maintenance is being done on the line, the exhaust smell that you eventually get used to, and the large group of tourists you seem to always get stuck behind on your way in to work), the positives certainly outweigh the occasional mishaps.

First, there’s the culture. Never have I lived somewhere that not only has so much ethnic diversity, but so much diversity in the activities that are available to you. The weekend entertainment section of the Washington Post is 20 pages long, 20 pages! There are always new exhibits, concerts, festivals, parades, ballets, indy films, anything you can think of. There’s always an option for anything you could possibly be interested in.

Then, being in D.C., there’s the history. It is so inspiring to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and get your first view of the Capitol Building peeking out through the trees, overwhelming to see the faded Declaration of Independence and remember the purpose of our forefathers and those that work for the people, and humbling to imagine the feet of the people that walked the same steps and worked in the same office as you. Everywhere you turn you’re reminded of our past.

And, of course, there’s the food. Hundreds of unique restaurants with urban flare, picturesque pubs, swank five-star dining facilities, and, true to any big city, a great hot dog stand on just about every corner. What more could you ask for?

More to come,
Crissy

P.S. For those that are interested, The Borderlands Conservation and Security Act now has 8 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.

Life from D.C. - Installment 4:

My Project

So everyone is probably wondering what exactly it is that I have been up to at work. My posts thus far have covered random assignments that I have had and what fun things there are to do in DC. But is that all I have been doing? Kicking back at the Smithsonian museums and answering the occasional work request? Goodness no! I have been hard at work trying to wrap my head around the hot topic of immigration (which is quite a challenge for someone from the Midwest who has relatively little experience with the issue) and working to better understand the unique communities that are along our southern border.

When I started this project I had no idea that there were towns that straddled the US-Mexico border. Call it naivety, but I guess I just always assumed that where our country ended was where our towns and cities ended. But that’s not the case in the Southwest. To my understanding there is not just one, but fourteen such communities straddling our international border with Mexico. These communities have developed together, symbiotically. Their culture is tied to one another; their friends and family live on either side of the border. It is not uncommon for a resident of a Mexican community to live and work in Mexico, but come across the border into the U.S. to do their shopping, visit family, or go on vacation. And it works both ways. Many Americans also have family on the Mexican side of the border, or choose to go to hospitals across the border because they are cheaper than what they can find in the states.

Border Map

To me, what is so interesting is how intertwined not only these communities’ economies are, but both nations’ economies as well. For example, within the first four months of 2007, Arizona imported $2.25 billion in goods from Mexico, while exporting only $1.52 billion to them, with nearly 80% of this trade occurring with its sister state of Sonora. It’s not just these border states that rely on trade with Mexico; Mexico is one of the United States’ biggest trading partners, coming in second behind China. Our nations are so dependent on each other, for money, for labor, and, although this may sound shocking, for security too. The U.S. is lucky to be positioned in between two peaceful and friendly nations (as I read in a newspaper article, imagine if our neighbor to the south was a nation such as Sudan, Iraq, or North Korea, then we’d have to worry about security issues).

So my work down here has given me a lot of insight into immigration issues. I have been studying, not specifically what should be done about immigration, but the status and challenges that these communities along the border face. These towns are often sought out by Mexicans as a place for a better life, but neglected and overlooked by the U.S. when it comes to funding for education, health care, the environment, or economic development. These communities face inimitable challenges because of their geographic location, resulting in an increased financial burden from handling immigrants, patrolling the border, and trying to protect one of the most fragile ecosystems in our country.

While I’m not sure what the solutions are for the problems that are associated with immigration (and it seems evident that no one really does), I do have an idea as to what should and should not be done, and it seems to me that the most important thing for us to remember is that our border is a place where people live their lives. A place of friends, family, culture, and community that knows no boundaries.

Life from D.C. - Installment 5:

Lessons Learned

Well, I’m just about finished with my fellowship and I can’t believe how quickly the summer has gone! I’ve had a wonderful experience, and have learned some great lessons. For instance,

How a Congressional Office Functions: My office was a whirlwind of activity, with different people in charge of different issues. It was reassuring that no one person is responsible for knowing everything, it’s definitely a team effort with people supporting each other and passing information and contacts along. It was great to see how helpful everyone was, because, after all, we're all working towards the same goal.
How Change Happens: Remember the old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease?” Well, that seems to be the case here in DC. If you want your Congressperson to support, or not support, something, you have to let them know. There’s no way they can know everything that their constituency thinks is important, they rely on the communities they represent to tell them what they want. The more often they hear about a particular issue, the more likely they’ll pay attention to it and do something about it. Trust me, your voice and opinion do matter.
The Importance of Relationships: It really is all about who you know, and what kind of favors you can ask them for. The more networking you do, the more likely you’re going to know someone you can call on for assistance, no matter what the issue is. And this works both ways. It’s important to remember to help others out when you can, not only because they might be able to help you in the future, but because you can help and that’s what you should do.
Where to Get Congressional Information: There’s so much stuff that happens in Congress everyday, it’s hard to keep up, especially since it’s not all reported in the news. There are some great websites that give up-to-date information on what’s happening on the hill:
These are all websites for daily papers that are specifically focused on the going-ons in Congress.
These are the House and Senate websites, and the website for the Library of Congress. You can get detailed information about the functions of Congress, and use the library website to research the library catalog and the Thomas website that gives bills, their history, and co-sponsors.
Immigration/Border Issues: As I pointed out in my last posting, I have learned a tremendous amount about immigration and border issues. It’s been such a great experience to talk through issues I don’t quite understand and to hear where people from the border region are coming from in their point of view.

There are many more lessons I’ve learned, a few of which I probably won’t realize for some time to come. Thanks to everyone that has supported and helped me over the summer, I couldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for all of your encouragement!

Best wishes to everyone,
Crissy