Where It All Happens

Wow! What a day! The work that is involved in running the office of a Congressman is detailed and varied. Let me tell you a little bit about how the office is organized and then I'll explain what I did today. Just like the office of the President, Congressman Altmire's office is managed by a Chief of Staff. There is a special person to handle the Congressman's scheduling. There are a number of staffers who are "Legislative Assistants." Each Legislative Assistant is assigned to a different committee on which the Congressman serves, and they help to evaluate and amend legislation looked at by each committee. There is also a Press Secretary, a Staff Assistant to handle constituent work and myriad other office concerns, and several interns, some of whom are still in college and are working here for the summer. These interns do anything from answering phone calls from constituents to putting together mailings (2,000 just today!) that reply to concerns expressed in e-mails and letters from constituents and which explain the current status of the legislation. Keep in mind all of these different people and the roles they play, since I learned something from each one of them today.

The first activity I did today was to read the DC Office Intern Handbook. Although I am not really an intern, but a "Fellow," I still needed to be aware of all of the requirements of someone who works in the office of a Congressman. This handbook explained the working hours (9-5) and mentioned that people are welcome to stay later or come earlier. Right now it is 5:45pm. I am typing this blog in the office and all of the key people are still here. Congress is in session starting at 6:30pm. Congressman Altmire was in Pittsburgh this morning attending meetings. He flew to DC this afternoon and just arrived in the office a minute ago. I just shook his hand and thanked him for this opportunity. He welcomed me to the office and I told him I looked forward to learning much to share with my students.

Back to my day. The Handbook explains the office attire (business), how to respond to phone calls from constituents, how to address casework (such as when someone needs to have their passport expedited), flag requests, tour requests, and all of the office phone extensions. After I finished reading the Handbook, the Staff Assistant reviewed the key points with me. She then showed me the computer program on which they keep track of all the communications from constituents. This system allows the office to keep a record of each constituent's concern or request so that they can receive a thank you letter from the Congressman. From 9:30am-3:30pm I read through a large stack of these letters and entered many of them into the computer system. For some of them, special letters had to be written to address individual requests, so these were put in a separate pile. Although it was a bit of a challenge to sit in front of a computer for six hours, it was fascinating to read through the myriad of concerns presented by these constituents. What was particularly interesting was that Congressman Altmire received letters that expressed completely opposite views. Remember, a member of Congress does not merely represent those people who voted for him, but represents everyone in his district.

This idea came into play during the last hour of today, when I was given an assignment to write a letter in response to a constituent's letter. While I was writing the letter, I was invited to attend a committee "mark-up" meeting for all the staffers of the Congressmen on the committee. To "mark-up" a bill means to make amendments or changes to the proposed bill. I asked one of the Legislative Assistants if this means "mark-up" as in the same way a teacher "marks up" students papers, making corrections or additions. He said that this was probably the same meaning. At this meeting, the staffers proposed amendments to the bill. As I taught you all in class, the Chair of the committee has significant influence over the shape of the bill. It was interesting to see the Chairman's Chief of Staff, who was running the meeting, remind all those making amendments that the more diverse the amendments, the less likely the bill would pass.

After the "Mark-Up" meeting I came back and finished the letter. Then I met Congressman Altmire when he came in.

This blog is already getting very long, so I'll just add one more thing. The Scheduler just explained to me what the loud "buzzers" are that I've been hearing today. At first, I thought they were a fire drill, since that would be what they sound like at the middle school. However, since no one got up from their seat, I figured this deduction was not correct. Actually, the loud buzzer indicates when a vote is about to occur. When the buzzer goes off, the member of Congress has 15 minutes to get down to the floor of the House before the vote begins. The scheduler explained that in Longworth (the House Office Building that Congressman Altmire is in), the bell sounds like a buzzer. But in Rayburn, the other House Office Building, it actually sounds like a bell (brrrring!) -- just like a fire drill. If the Congressman is not on time for the vote, he doesn't get to vote. So the moral of the story, students, is learn to be on time now or you'll never make it as a member of Congress!

One more interesting fact -- The Scheduler told me that Congressman Altmire is one of only TWO Congressman (yes, class, remember that's out of 435) to have NEVER missed a vote -- out of around 1500 votes! The other Congressman is Jesse Jackson, Jr.