"Tangled up in Blue"

I have just finished two weeks now working in the Senate. I would like to think that this is an unusually busy time around the senate with the latest all night filibuster on the War on Terrorism and the heated debate on SCHIP but I am starting to wonder if this is a typical week. The hours have been crazy and the jobs up-in-the air until the last minute. The staff members are stressed because of lack of sleep, food, and personal life and frustrated by the ongoing debate of a bill they have been putting in countless hours working on for the past year. The senators continue walking through the motions as they meet with their constituents, vote on bills, and work within their committees with every minute scheduled out for them from 7 AM until 8 PM at night.

And the citizens of the United States wonder why it is that our government is out of touch with the American people? Maybe it has something to do with the type of lifestyle and environment that our senators and their staff are forced to live in. This is a fast-pace, always-changing, not-so-friendly, lack-of-personal life types of career that these people have chosen in hopes to better our nation. But when you turn on the news, is this the impression that you get? Do you have any understanding of the hard work, time, and situation these elected officials and staff are involved in everyday?

The only impression that I get is that they are all corrupt, selfish, and money hungry. There may be some that have their own interest at hand but overall these are good people working for the everyday person doing the type of tasks and passing the type of legislation that the average American cannot do on their own. I have utmost respect for all those that give their all everyday to their work on the Hill. Our nation would not be so great without their continued efforts and passion.

For all of the work that they do, I vow to do my part to keep informed and vote and become civically involved so that they can better do their job. I have learned that as many newspapers your read or C-SPAN hours you watch, you can never be too informed or be too civically involved. No matter what you do, as a citizen becoming informed and as an elected official getting legislation passed, it is never enough.

Instead of focusing on the things we aren't doing or the things we don't know, we should begin to look at all of the good things that are happening all around us. Our country is not perfect because we, as human beings, are not perfect. As long as we continue to try our best and work together we can accomplish great things. Divided we fall but together anything is possible.

Ms. Hesse goes to Washington

I have officially started my internship in Senator Chuck Grassley's Washington DC office. Emily and myself arrived in DC Friday and have spent our time thus far trying to find our way around the city. We have had no problems yet and I am hoping we continue on this path.

There are eight of us interns that will be spending the next six weeks learning from Grassley's staff and experiencing what its like to work for the Senator. Emily is working on Healthcare in the Finance Committee while I am in the main office working as the Press Intern. I have and will continue to be helping out with phone conferences and his weekly webcasts.

I am truly enjoying being able to watch the Senator work and speak with such passion. If there could only be a few more political leaders like Grassley this country would be far better off.

I have not yet hit the point where my job has become monotonous and I don't think that day will come because of my limited time in D.C. However, I have noticed that the people here are so accustomed to seeing political figures that it no longer has any thrill. I think that is a major difference between New Hampshire and Iowa politics. While studying in both the first in the nation states this past month, I got the feeling that most people are genuinely passionate about the leaders they choose. They are thrilled when a political leader comes to town and go out of their way to speak with the candidate.

I don't feel that this would necessarily be the case in D.C. I don't think the excitement or eagerness to speak with the candidate would be as prevalent as it is in New Hampshire or Iowa. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that DC does not have as much political enthusiasm as Iowa or New Hampshire. What I am saying is that there is a different type of political enthusiasm that can be found in these states. Both are very beneficial and necessary to the type of activities that are found within these states.

Now that I have been spending my summer in politically involved states, I am interested to continue on my travels to get a feel for other parts of our nation. Do all the states truly have this much political involvement or did I just end up living in ones that surpass the norm?