Final Thoughts (LAST blog entry)

For the past month I have worked in the office of Congressman Jason Altmire. It has been an amazing experience, especially for a Civics teacher. I have always tried to emphasize for you (my students) the relevance of what we are learning in class and why it is important for us to know and understand it. After working for a month in a Congressional Office and seeing the work of the Legislative Branch firsthand, I'm even more convinced that it is important, as a citizen, to understand how our government works and how the Constitution shapes that work. I'll now be able to convey this importance to you and to my future students in a much more real way, and my future lessons will be enriched with many more examples from firsthand experience. Though I had never written a blog before writing this one, I've really enjoyed the opportunity to communicate with you through this medium, and to tell you about what I have been learning in real time. For my final entry in my blog, I wanted to share with you the answers to a series of questions I asked Congressman Altmire during my last week in his office. I hope that by reading his answers, you'll continue to add to your understanding of why it is important to know both how our government works and what it can do.

On Wednesday, July 16, my second-to-last day in Congressman Altmire's office, I walked over to the steps of the Capitol Building to have my picture taken with the Congressman by the official House photographer. On the walk back to his office in Longworth, I asked Congressman Altmire the following questions. The first question I asked him was, "What are you most proud of?" He answered that since he has been in office, he has been able to pass thirteen different legislative initiatives. Four of them deal with veterans and military families. Some of these include expanding and insuring treatment and screening of traumatic brain injuries for returning veterans, expanding business opportunities for veterans who are small business owners, providing tax relief to military families who are facing financial hardship due to multiple deployments, and extending Family Medical Leave Act benefits for all military guard and reserve families so that they can take leave time from work to spend time with an injured veteran family member or have time to prepare before their family member leaves for duty. Among the 11 additional bills or amendments authored by Altmire that have been passed by the House is a bill guaranteeing that wounded military veterans can keep their enlistment bonuses. He was also part of the Conference Committee that helped negotiate and approve the final version of the recent GI bill, which will make the single largest investment in college financial assistance to veterans since the 1944 GI Bill. I asked Congressman Altmire why he had a particular interest in veterans' issues and if he has a specific personal tie to veterans. He explained that his (our) Congressional District (PA-04) has the 4th largest amount of veterans in the entire country. So, as the Representative for this district, he feels he has an obligation to work on behalf of veterans. He also likes these measures because they help real people in real ways.

I then asked Congressman Altmire, "What frustrates you the most?" (His answer ties closely with what I taught you about how a bill has to pass both the House and the Senate in the same form before it can go to the President to become a law, so pay attention). He explained that in order to end debate on a bill in the Senate so that the Senators can vote on the bill, you need 60 votes (called "cloture"). He said that the House sent four different bills over to the Senate where they only got 59 votes. He explained (and I'm paraphrasing here since I didn't have my notebook with me), "So we're doing stuff but it dies in the Senate. And then the voters ask why Congress is not getting anything done and we've got to explain it to them." It's also difficult when the President is from a different political party than the majority in Congress, because it makes it more likely that bills that do reach the President will get vetoed.

His answer provided a perfect segue to my next question: "Do you think the government works the way the founders intended?" He answered emphatically, "Yes. I do think so. And I think that it should work this way." He went on to explain that the House of Representatives is designed to be closely tied to the people - (again, paraphrasing) "We're supposed to do what the people want us to do. The Senate is supposed to balance that out. The process is supposed to be slow and deliberative." Hence, although it is frustrating, he is ok with how the system is set up. The Senate has been serving its function, not necessarily by not passing the laws they get from the House, but by providing balance and by making the process more deliberative.

While I worked in Congressman Altmire's office, I got to see firsthand how our government works and what it can (and sometimes cannot) do. From Congressman Altmire's answers to my questions, you can see that he's proud that he's done a lot to help real people, particularly veterans. He gets frustrated by the nature of how the process is designed, yet he understands and appreciates that design, and even agrees that it should be that slow, deliberative process designed by
the founders. He understands that it is in the nature of the design of his office that as a Representative, he should specifically work to help his constituents, many of whom are veterans.

At the beginning of this blog entry, I wrote that I believe it is important that citizens understand how our government works and what it can do. The examples and answers I explained above really drive this point home. Our government is not some far away group of people whose job descriptions you just need to memorize for a test. The government can help real people in real ways. But as citizens, you should understand that the process was designed to be slow. It's up to our Representatives and Senators to work within that process to accomplish legislation that helps us.

After reading this blog, I hope all of you also understand that even though you are thirteen and fourteen years old, you can take a more active role in this process. You can write a letter to your Congressman. It can be as simple as asking the Congressman to support or oppose a particular bill. (I know from firsthand experience that these very short support/oppose letters are the ones the office likes best. They are easier to respond to more quickly and are easier to log into their record system). You can also keep yourself informed by reading the newspaper, by listening to the radio, and by watching the news. You can volunteer to be part of a political campaign. You can make sure you understand the history behind the design of our
government, such that when someone complains about the Electoral College, you can explain why the framers created it in the first place. You'll also be able to explain to them why we have Representatives and Senators and why each office is designed they way it is. When you turn 18, you can vote - and you'll be prepared to vote. And yes, your one vote does make a difference.

I have so many ideas about how to incorporate what I've learned this summer into the classroom. One project I'm thinking about doing next school year is asking the students to write letters to Congressman Altmire. Now, we won't actually send all 125 letters (since I know how much work it is just to answer one!), but what we might do is trade letters with a partner and try to write a response letter ourselves. I learned so much from trying to write response letters to constituents and I'd like my future students to learn the same lessons I did. In particular, I learned what a difficult balance it is to write a letter that is satisfying to a constituent without being able to explain the Congressman's exact position on a bill. We'll also be able to discuss this exercise and learn about the benefits and costs of responding to constituents in this way. Then we might have the other Civics teachers judge a smaller batch of letters (if they agree!) and we'll send five letters, one from each class, to Congressman Altmire's office, where they will respond to them. Another idea I'm thinking about is holding a mock Committee Meeting - either a Mark-Up Meeting or a Hearing. The Mark-Up Meeting would provide good opportunities for debate. I also might have an assignment where students have to write a "Memo" to the Congressman explaining a particular bill and why the Congressman should cosponsor that bill. I had to do this very assignment, and I learned a lot just by trying to make my sentences as succinct as possible in order to fit the explanation on one page. As the students write this memo, they'll learn how to use http://thomas.loc.gov to research different bills and their status. I also might try more to use C-SPAN in the classroom. I know that Congressman Altmire often gives a "one-minute" speech on Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m. after he attends the Speaker's Breakfast. The purpose of all of these lessons will be to learn about how government works by participating in these simulations (though of course these simulations are actually pretty real since I did them myself!).

If, after reading my blog, you have any suggestions for classroom activities, please let me know. Also, I now have some contacts at the House of Representatives, so if you have any questions in the future, e-mail me at mitnickjs@svsd.net and I'd be happy to pass the question along to a member of Congressman Altmire's staff. In fact, the Legislative Director said he'd be happy to answer any future questions from my students. I said, "you might be sorry for that offer because I'll most certainly take you up on it." He then responded, "That's ok. I'm good at delegating." The press secretary and the other legislative assistants in the office laughed. But honestly, everyone in the office did say they would be happy to answer questions.

I feel truly lucky to have been given this fantastic opportunity to work in the office of Congressman Jason Altmire, to observe the work of Congress in person, and to actually participate in that work. During my time there, among many other things, I wrote a number of letters to constituents (which were approved and will actually be mailed to them), I prepared questions for the Congressman to ask at two different hearings (he asked one of my questions at the second hearing - very exciting!), and I wrote two memos to suggest that he cosponsor two bills. I wrote a draft of the Congressman's written testimony to submit for one of the hearings (which will become part of the actual Congressional Record!), I did background research to compile statistics on school districts in the Congressional District and whether they met AYP or not and why (the office will use this
research next year when re-examining NCLB), I got to observe the floor of Congress three different times, and I went to two Committee Hearings and one Committee Mark-Up Meeting. I was given a tour of the Capitol Building by Congressman Altmire himself, and I got to talk with and learn extensively from the staff who work "behind-the-scenes" in the Congressional Office.

I am grateful to everyone at the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation for making this Congressional Fellowship possible. I am grateful to Congressman Altmire for allowing me to become a part of his office and for being so generous in giving me a fantastic historical tour of the Capitol Building and in answering my many questions. Finally, I am grateful to all of the wonderful staff in Congressman Altmire's office for being so patient in answering my enormous number of questions (I told them that I asked more questions during the past month than I have in my whole life) and for being so welcoming to me. I look forward with excitement to sharing what I have learned with my students in years to come. This experience has truly made a difference in my life as a teacher, and as a citizen.