Aaaahh!! That woman has no clothes! And what's that on her back? Is it a tattoo?! Egad! John Ashcroft would throw a fit. That's why I love this template. Isn't it snazzy? I downloaded it from some graphics joint.

I know nothing about computers. Nothing. When I encounter a foreign one, I spend about five minutes scratching my head and stomping my feet at it before I grab the nearest eight year-old (who usually finds the "ON" button in point-five seconds and then looks at me as though he could score higher than I on the SATs). Thus, this site took me a long while to set up. If it is difficult to navigate, or if I misspelled or misquoted anything, kindly E-mail me and inform me of my errors.

Anyhow, I went on the trip during the week of March 9 - March 16, 2002 (Spring Break). Click on the "About" link in the menu to read the information about the Bill Archer Internship Program and the rules I had to follow in order to participate. I also wrote some information about the other kids who went.

In the "Words" section, I typed my notes and comments on each of the people I met.

Itinerary:


Sunday, March 10, 2002:

11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. -We attended service at the National Cathedral, which apparently combines several Christian denominations into one humongous service. They happened to serve Communion the morning we were there; I and several other Archer interns were apparently the only people who did not participate, which probably seemed odd to everyone else. I actually liked the sermon; it was about social responsibility, as I recall.

1:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. -We ate lunch at and toured around the American History Museum. I liked the exhibit about the World War II Japanese interment camps. The museum also collects and displays some of the items people leave at the Vietnam Wall Memorial; I thought that was the best exhibit.

7:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. -We walked around Georgetown.


Monday, March 11, 2002:

10:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. -We walked up the main drag of the Arlington National Cemetery, which is on property that used to be owned by Robert E. Lee's wife's family. It is now owned by the federal government and contains the graves of many many servicemen and women. It is also where John F. Kennedy and his immediate family are buried.

2:00 to 2:30 P.M. -We met with Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman. She told us the table around which we sat was over two hundred years old. I checked underneath to see if John Adams or Benjamin Franklin scratched their monograms into it, but the table was disappointingly spotless.

3:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. -Our official meeting with Congressman John Culberson. He posed with us on the House steps for a picture, and then he took us out on the House floor (which is under normal circumstances closed to tourists).

5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. -We walked around Union Station and purchased various items we did not particularly need. I bought a dragon ring at Claire's. My roommate (Carly) walked into a bookstore and bought me a copy of J. D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye, because I told her I had not read it. She's such a thoughtful girl.


Tuesday, March 12, 2002:

10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. -We sat with several other tour groups for a brief guide of the Supreme Court judges' room. A fresco runs around the ceiling and portrays the figures (such as Justinian) who influenced the American judicial system. A six-or-seven year-old kid stood up and had the college girl who was our guide count every single one of them. I think she got to twenty-four before she quit. That was most amusing.

2:00 P.M. to 2:35 P.M. -We sat for a lecture from Secretary Norman Y. Mineta in the press room of the Department of Transportation. I liked him; he looks like an Asian version of my grandfather.

3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. -We met with former Representative Bill Archer, who started this program in 1970. He was a good, affable speaker.

4:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. -After Mr. Archer left, Julie Mason, a correspondent for the Houston Chronicle, commented on all his anti-media statements, which was loads of fun for us.

8:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. -I got all dolled up for the performance at the Kennedy Center of Sheer Madness, an audience-interactive play. I wore a dress, folks, and I had a girl photograph me in it. But the picture did not turn out. I suppose my stunning figure scrambled the camera film.


Wednesday, March 13, 2002:

9:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. -We went to a conference room at the Longworth House Office Building for a session with pollster Dr. Frank Luntz. He ran it like a mock debate, which was pretty fun. He had a kid state his stand on an issue; then he would argue for the other side in order to demonstrate both. Most of the other kids liked listening to him the most.

9:45 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. -We were the kids standing behind the speakers at an education press conference (about that whole "No Child Left Behind" thing) that aired for two seconds on C-SPAN. I did not feel at all used. One of the other kids (Kanwar) fainted and had to be carried out of the room. We laughed that up after we learned he would be fine. Someone brought us some bottled water afterward. The camera crew stole what was left of it.

10:30 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. -After the press conference we went back to the Longworth House Office Building for a lecture from Governor Mark Olson of the Federal Reserve Board. When we admitted we had no idea what he was talking about, he toned it down into layman's terms for us, which was most helpful.

1:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. -The group branched off for a tour of the Library of Congress. My guide was a pretty (the boys called her "hot") college student who came here from some Eastern European country (I forget which). The library had a nice Japanese art exhibit, at which I lingered (shoeless, because my feet were screaming) until it was time to depart.

3:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. -President Bush's Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, did not meet with us, because Bush called a "surprise" press conference that afternoon. However, one of the deputy secretaries and his assistant met with us, instead. He turned out to be one of the best speakers; we wanted to stay and listen longer as he told us about working in the television industry.

4:55 P.M. to 5:15 P.M. -House Majority Whip (now Majority Leader) Tom DeLay spoke to us in his office until he had to run down to the House floor to vote on something or other. He explained the importance of his job and partisan politics in general.


Thursday, March 14, 2002:

9:00 A.M. to 9:30 A.M. -Kay Bailey Hutchison had something to vote on and could only stay long enough for a photo op and to answer some brief questions.

10:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. -A flurry of House Representatives came to speak with us:

Gene Green
One of Kevin Brady's staff members
Joe Barton
Jennifer Dunn
Todd Platts
Tom Osborne

1:20 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. -Speaker of the House Denny Hastert took us around his Capitol Building office and the private balcony overlooking the Washington monument that he gets for being House Speaker. We "oohed" and "ahhed" at the view.

2:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. -More meetings, with:

Ken Bentsen
Tom Davis
Andrew Shore (legislative director for Congressman Phil Crane)

7:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. -We ate ice cream and walked around Old Town. I buddied up with a couple of guys to look at the red brick houses. I bought some stuff from a couple of antique shops (it was a bit like Montrose; maybe less "colourful").


Friday, March 15, 2002:

9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. -We walked through the White House as part of some humongous tour session. This was just after they opened it up again. I payed more attention to the men with guns than anything else. I figured heavy sanctions would come to anyone who stepped on the grass.

11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. -The Department of Treasury building is one of the more aesthetically pleasing ones. We visited the old vault after we listened to one of the department workers. We took a group picture with Treasury Secretary O'Neill, which is kind of odd, now, because he is Secretary no longer.

1:00 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. -We were late to the meeting with Congressman Barney Frank, and he seemed more than a little mad. Eep. The session got cut short, unfortunately; I liked listening to him.

3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. -Elizabeth Seale Scott, a department director, took us around the office of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary. It was a nice office.

8:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. -We walked around the Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korean War memorials (which are all right next to each other).




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