Lobbying in DC

I had the opportunity to visit Washington DC last week as a part of a leadership class of young swine vets, sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. It was a great experience and very eye-opening. We learned a lot about public policy and how things work in our government and had meetings with several legislators on Capitol Hill. I had a chance to take a few of these pictures during my visit too.

After meeting with my IN Representative, he took us to the steps of the Capitol building for a picture with him. It was interesting to see how much power congress members have compared to us regular people. It happened that the Mexican president was in town the same time that I visited, so security was very tight. This was the first time I have actually seen M-16 rifles in person! Anyway, we were with one of the Congressman's interns and they would not let us near the Capitol since the Mexican president was there. But as soon as Representative Visclosky came out, we were free to go wherever he took us.

After the photo on the Capitol steps, my congressman took us to the gallery above the House of Representatives floor while the House was in session. He showed and told us all kinds of things about how the voting process works, how the House floor works, etc. It was really kind of cool. His intern then showed us around some of the rest of the Capitol before our next meeting. I thought that this view of the Capitol rotunda was neat. The artistry and architecture is amazing!

Here is the White House. There was a large screen in front of the White House, presumably to add privacy for the Mexican President's visit that night.

This staute of three weary soldiers stands by the Vietnam Memorial wall. It is a sombering piece of art that really makes you think about this War.

I also had a chance to see the Lincoln Memorial, which is even more massive in person that I could ever have imagined.

As I mentioned, this was a very eye-opening trip for me. I did learn a great deal about the lobbying process and it is much different that I had imagined. I met with a total of five Congressmen, or their staff, and it was not nearly as intimidating as I had imagined. For the most part, we were meeting with them to let them know who we are and to educate them on some livestock policy issues. One bill in particular that we addressed with all legislators deals with banning non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics and therefore limit how veterinarians can help the livestock that we oversee. But I made some great contacts with my Congressmen and plan to continue that relationship and continue to make my voice heard about issues that I care about. I found that legislators actually do care about what their constituents think and like to hear from us. Every phone call, e-mail, or letter is documented and tallied, then used to make voting decisions. After experiencing this opportunity, I do definitely believe that my voice is actually heard and does make a difference. I also found that our legislators want to hear from us and are more open to our opinions that I originally thought. So I encourage all of you to also become more politically active and feel comfortable to pick up the phone to call your legislator's office and voice your opinion!