Days 2 and 3 in DC According to Kate

The morning started with a visit to Senator Amy Klobuchar's office for "Minnesota Morning," a weekly meeting with Minnesota constituents. The morning was especially fun for me because one of my first students at Gustavus now works on health policy in Klobuchar's office and I got to see her and introduce her to the class. We also have another Gustavus alum who is Klobuchar's press secretary. We did the standard meet and greet, which wasn't too exciting.

After the meeting, we had an hour to kill, so a group of us headed over to a committee hearing. The Senate Foreign Relations committee was voting on Hillary's nomination for Secretary of State and holding a confirmation hearing for UN ambassador. The committee didn't have quorum at the beginning of the meeting, so they went ahead with introductions of Dr. Susan Rice by Senators Olympia Snowe and Evan Bayh. By the time they finished with their lengthy introductions, the committee had quorum and them shifted gears to take a vote on the Clinton nomination. Technically, they can't send her nomination on to the full Senate because Obama hasn't taken office, but they voted to do it as soon as they get the official paperwork. The vote was 13 to 1, with David Vitter from Louisiana voting against her because of Bill's potential conflict of interest. Vitter's the same guy who got caught in a sex scandal last year, so I'm not sure he's a good one to talk about conflicts of interest.

Once the vote was over, the Senators pretty much cleared out and only three remained for Rice's opening statement. Hearings are so interesting. They're open to the public, which is definitely a good thing, but this also sets them up for a lot of posturing and showmanship from the committee members. It would be nice to get a little more substance, but it's hard to be specific with a televised audience and Members who are already concerned about reelection.

For those of you who are interested, Rice pledged to uphold Obama's four foriegn policy priorities regarding the UN to 1) improve the capacity of the UN to undertake peacekeeping efforts, 2) provide leadership to address climate change, 3) prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons, and 4) promote sustainable economic development to address poverty. It was refreshing to hear an emphasis on human rights and a pledge to pay our UN dues "on time and in full."

We snuck out before the hearing ended to head over to the National Archives. The NA is home to original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. It was amazing to see these documents up close and in person! They also had some great displays about historical documents that are archived by the federal government.

Our final stop of the day was one of the most interesting, the Newseum. This interactive museum of news is a new addition to the DC landscape. It was amazing! Brian and I spent almost 3 1/2 hours there. My favorite parts include the display of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs and some of the documentaries scattered throughout the museum. We also got to see Tom Brokaw prepare for an interview in their news studio and watch Obama's motorcade shut down traffic outside as it sped past. Some of our students were outside when it passed and managed to run up the street in time to see him step out of the car and into the FBI building. It was a definite highlight for them!

A few other students had other highlights today. Some were in the Senate gallery to see Joe Biden's farewell speech after over 35 years serving in the Senate. They said it was very moving. Another group was there to watch Roland Burris get sworn in as the junior Senator from Illinois. Finally, one of our students was able to get two tickets for the inauguration from his home state Senator. Apparently there aren't many South Dakotans in town this week! He decided to give his second ticket to a woman on the trip who spent the summer and fall working for the Obama campaign. It was a great decision!

Which brings us up to today, Friday. Compared to our past two days, today was incredibly relaxed. We started with a tour of National Public Radio. We had a great tour guide who has been with NPR for decades and gave us a detailed tour of the facilities. We got to play a bit in Studio 4A, which is where they record many of the musical performances. Two of our students even got to play their piano! We also walked through the groups producing shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

In the afternoon, we went to the American Civil Liberties Union for a meeting set up by one of my former students who now works in their state legislative department. We got to meet with one of their chief lobbyists on issues of national security, immigration, and privacy. It was very interesting! He was fired up about a Democratic-led proposal to create more electronic medical records that did not include privacy protections. We also talked a bit about the REAL ID act, which would create a national ID system. It was all about lobbying and interest groups, so it was right up my alley!

That's probably more than anyone really wanted to know! I'm off to bed now.