An exciting day in Washington

It’s been quite a day in Our Nation’s Capital, both for me and with happenings in the city.

There was a shooting inside the Holocaust Museum, and a security guard was killed. This happened during the lunch hour, and I was out and about but at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. on Capitol Hill.

I found out that I was accepted into American University’s School of Communications master’s degree program in public communication. Returning to school to get my master’s degree was plan A when I wasn’t getting any job interviews. Now that I have a job, it’s plan B. I will now consider attending part time, but I will have to see what sort of financial aid I can get.

I attended a House subcommittee hearing this morning. It was held in a committee hearing room on a floor of offices in one of the House office buildings. The room was regally decorated, and the windows to the outside framed the Capitol dome. One of our regional program managers from Ohio had been invited to be a witness at this hearing, so three of us from the office attended to support her. Amazingly, I understood the testimony of the witnesses, but it was the questions the committee members asked of them and the conversation around the hearing that I could not follow. Aaron, one of my coworkers, knows many people on the Hill, and so he was having these conversations with people he ran into. I did meet the highest-ranking member of the Executive Branch in the room – an Undersecretary of USDA. I doubted I would find a job on the Hill when I arrived here, but I still wanted to be close to the government and see it at work in whatever job I found. So I guess I am doing what I wanted when getting into places and meetings like this, plus I had lunch with Michelle, a friend who works for a senator on the Hill, and I saw him and think I passed Chuck Schumer on my way to her office. I’ve been waiting to have some “celebrity” (politician) sightings since moving here. But the hearing really confirmed for me that our entire government, practically, is run by middle-aged white men. So sad. Let’s support the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor.

Here’s the press release on the hearing I attended so you can read what it was about:

Subcommittee Reviews Rural Development Programs

WASHINGTON - Today, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing to review the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development programs and the status of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for these programs. Congressman Mike McIntyre of North Carolina is Chairman of the subcommittee.

"USDA rural development policies and programs are critical to the success of our small towns and communities," Chairman McIntyre said. "From key infrastructure and housing to broadband and business loans, federal funds are playing a critical role in helping communities move forward, and it is critical that these dollars are spent wisely and appropriately. This subcommittee will continue to do all we can to support Rural America and ensure that the taxpayers' dollars are being spent in the most efficient manner."

"We are taking a very close look at the coordination of projects, strategic infrastructure planning, and distribution of funding obligations," said Subcommittee Ranking Member Michael Conaway of Texas.

"Today's testimony highlighted several critical barriers to getting funding to where it is most needed in rural America, and we hope USDA will be able to address those problems quickly."

The Subcommittee heard testimony from two panels of witnesses, including Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, who spoke about USDA's rural development programs as well as American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds targeted for those programs.
Signed into law earlier this year, the recovery legislation authorizes $4.36 billion for rural development loan and grant programs.

The Subcommittee also heard from the Department's Inspector General charged with overseeing recovery legislation funds, as well as representatives from rural communities.

The opening statements of all witnesses are available on the House Agriculture Committee website at http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html. A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.

Witnesses:

Panel I

Mr. Dallas P. Tonsager, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Phyllis Fong, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

Panel II

Mr. Franklin Rivenbark, Commissioner, Pender County, on behalf of the National Association of Counties, Willard, North Carolina
Ms. Debra Martin, Director, Great Lakes Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Fremont, Ohio
Governor Chandler Sanchez, on behalf of the Pueblo of Acoma and the National Congress of American Indians, Acoma, New Mexico
Mr. Doug Anderton, General Manager, Dade County Water and Sewer Authority, on behalf of the National Rural Water Association, Trenton, Georgia
Mr. Tommy Duck, Executive Director Texas Rural Water Association,Austin, Texas

Finally, Virginia, my birth state, held its gubernatorial primary for governor yesterday. A candidate who was way behind in the polls a few weeks ago pulled off a stunning upset. It should be interesting to see which party wins this first general statewide election since the presidential election, when the state turned from red to blue. The winner of yesterday’s election is from a rural area and not northern Virginia, which is more liberal and was responsible for the state’s color change.