What A Week! A Glimpse Inside DC

Last week, I spent some time in our nation's capitol and observed politics first hand. I was there for an America Bikes board meeting and squeezed in additional meetings with the National Park Service and AASHTO. While we accomplished a great deal in these meetings, the really interesting part came at the end of week.

That's when I attended the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting where representatives discussed, amended, discussed and amended the House version of the next federal transportation bill.
As you can well imagine, attending a committee hearing in person is far different from watching proceedings on television. First, you have to get in line. And just like kindergarten, there are cheaters (well I think it's cheating). These come in the form of "line sitters" -- people hired by lobbyists and others to sit in line for money.

Of course, those of us there representing bicycling and Safe Routes to School National Partnership didn't have line sitters. As you can see, we sipped our coffee, checked our email and discussed the bad, bad and ugly of the bill. My hat goes off to Caron Whitaker (left) and Margo Pedroso (right) for all their incredible work on behalf of these programs and our America Bikes coalition.

During the next hour, I watched in wonder as the "door police" (also know as "chamber sergeants") monitored who was allowed in and out of the committee hearing room. It was an art, not much different than the job of a carnival barker. Orders were barked both at the attendees and at the other "door police" by one very experienced gentleman who had the prestigious obligation of presiding over the main doors.

At first I was squished along the wall with several others. This was extremely uncomfortable since I still had my carry-on luggage (a week's worth of clothing) with me. As things settled down, the presiding "door policeman" led me to a seat in the front row. I sat eye-level with the chamber recorder, and as such, I had direct eye contact with the representatives on the bottom row and a side view of several staffers' backs as well.

I am not going to go into the theatrics of the hearing - hopefully you tuned in and watched, nor am I going to offer comment here on the bill itself (although I urge you to learn more about both this bill and the Senate bill and contact your representatives right away). I will tell you that being present at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting left me in wonder and was an experience that I won't soon forget.

Photos by Ginny Sullivan

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CONNECTIONS is posted by Ginny Sullivan, Adventure Cycling's special projects director and features the cultural, historical, geographical, and human connections created through bike travel. Find out about our award-winning Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/02/what-week-glimpse-inside-dc.html

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