More on my trip to DC

I thought I’d share a little about the experience of working with an advocacy group in talking to MoCs. Our day on the Hill started with a breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club. The CHC is right behind the three buildings that hold the offices of Senators and Congressmen. It is also the home of the National Republican Club of Washington DC. The CHC is well decorated in formal style and houses quite a large collection of elephant statues and trinkets. I ate my breakfast under a large portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower next to a cabinet full of little crystal elephants. But they served no peanuts…

After breakfast, we all made our way to the Rayburn office building to hold a press conference. The Imaging folks gave us all T-shirts to wear at the “presser” – which I thought was a bit hokey. The room held about 100 people, including the 30 or so patients. The PR firm that organized the conference also made hand-painted signs – ala a grass roots protest. They asked some of the older ladies in the front of the room to hold them up in their seats. I thought this was a bit cheesy as well (see pic above). The speakers were allotted 4 minutes each for about 6 or 7 key people to make a short statement. The first to go was the CEO of Colon Cancer Alliance – the group that sponsored my visit. He took 20 minutes. The next was a doctor who runs an imaging clinic in Arkansas. He took another 20 minutes. By then, several patients had to leave to start their day of meeting with MoCs! They cut the speakers to just two more – each of which took their allotted 4 minutes. As a result, the press conference ran about an hour instead of a half hour. And I have now added a new expression to the “Great Book of Brianisms” – “Give a man a seat and he’ll chat for 5 minutes, Give a man a podium and he’ll talk for an hour”

After the “presser”. I had a few hours to kill so I returned to the hotel for a quick lunch and a good nap.

I was a bit surprised that you don’t need an appointment to get into the MOCs office buildings. You just go through a metal detector and you are free to roam the halls. And there are plenty of halls! All marble with high ceilings. As you stroll about, you pass the offices of Senators and Congressmen along with doors marked for committees such as “Ways and Means” or “Democratic Caucus”. I arrived at the appointed time at Rep. Schwartz’ office but she was in the Capitol voting. So, her staffer in charge of health (who was meeting with us, too) took us to the basement. There, you go through another metal detector, have your bag hand inspected and get a little pass to wear on your jacket. From there, we went through a passageway into the Capitol and up an elevator to the floor where Congress meets.

We waited for the Representative in a large room – about the size of a tennis court - with a very high ceiling and a huge portrait of George Washington. The room was packed with people meeting in small groups at sets of couches and conference tables. At the largest conference table, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was holding a meeting. Several other politicians I recognized came through as well, including Sen. John Boehner (R-OH, Minority Leader) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) . I’m sure there were many other Reps there as well who I just didn’t recognize. The room was loud and a real buzz of activity as the various parties huddled together to hear each other. After Rep. Schwartz finished voting, she came out and we met in this room – standing – as all the seats were occupied.

For my later meeting with Rep. Pallone, we met in his office. The office suite for a congressman isn’t very large. It had three rooms and a foyer. The two staff rooms held more than one staffer each. Rep. Pallone’s office is spacious, with a seating area of couches enough to hold about eight people. He also had a framed poster of Bruce Springsteen on his wall (after all, he represents Asbury Park!)

After my day of meetings, I returned to my hotel and then went to dinner with my cousin at a nice place around the corner. It was a very long day, but quite interesting. And you can definitely sense the atmosphere of work and activity in the Congress.