Week One: A Week of Firsts

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Friday, June 8, 2018

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Sarah Monk

As I made my way down D Street, I repeated the words I had been telling myself for weeks. “You were chosen to do this, you can do this, everything will be fine.” My breath caught in my throat as I approached the door, sure that at any moment someone would tell me I wasn’t dressed appropriately, I looked out of place, I didn’t belong here. I stepped through the door, placed my bag on the x-ray conveyor belt, and walked through the metal detector as I reminded myself to breathe, lest I look suspicious. I had only been here once before, and only vaguely remembered where I needed to go, taking my first tentative steps to the elevator. Stepping off onto the third floor, I glanced at the arrow on the wall directing me to my destination. I advanced towards the door, took a final deep breath, and stepped inside for my first day as an intern in the Minority Office for The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

Agency plaques of the organizations under the Committee of Science, Space, and Technology

My first day was short, so there wasn’t a lot to do. I read through the Intern Briefing Binder to familiarize myself with how things work here. I took my time reading about all the committee members, wanting to be able to recognize them on sight, I was terrified of embarrassing myself in front of a Member of Congress. I tried to retain as much information as I could, not wanting to do anything wrong. I met the other office interns, Rohni and Monica, who helped put me at ease about the office. Before I knew it the day was over and it was time to head back to the apartment to tell my roommates all about it.

The next day I received my first project! I was so excited to prove that I was ready for this job. I also got an assignment to do a write-up for a markup the following day, and was told I would get to attend a hearing on Thursday. I got to meet more of the office staff from various subcommittees (our office holds the subcommittees of Energy, Space, Environment, Research & Technology, and Oversight), and even learned that one of the staff members of the Space Subcommittee went to The University of Maryland as well! He was really encouraging, telling me a story of being rejected by NASA right after college, at the time crushing his dream, but after working in government he was eventually asked to oversee NASA in the committee. He told me that though your dreams may not come true immediately, they will come true as long as you have passion. I was so excited for all these new experiences, but really the most exciting part of my day was that I got my official U.S. House of Representatives ID Badge. I have never felt so official!

On Wednesday I learned what a Markup was. Maybe something I should have known previously, but hearing about it and watching it live are completely different things. This was the Appropriations Committee Markup on The Interior-EPA Spending Budget for the 2019 Fiscal Year. Perhaps not the most exciting topic, but I enjoyed hearing from so many members of Congress. I tried my best to keep up with who was talking and which District they were from, frantically taking notes the entire time. I didn’t want to leave anything important out of my write-up. After 25 amendments that took 6 hours(!) to discuss and vote on, the bill was passed by the committee to be moved to Congress for vote. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge previously on how these processes worked, and it was enlightening to watch it unfold.

Thursday was the day I had been waiting for: my first hearing! This would be my first time seeing the Congress Members of my committee in person. The Subcommittee on Energy would be holding the hearing on “The Electric Grid of the Future.” Rohni and I would be preparing the Congress Members’ lounge, setting up the dais, and taking photos at the hearing. I was interested to hear what the members had to say on the topic of the energy grid, and President Trump’s recent declaration to try to save failing coal and nuclear plants. I listened to Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson’s (D-TX) opening statement intently, silently agreeing as she spoke.

“There is no reason that we can’t have a secure, clean, reliable, and resilient energy sector that takes advantage of a broad range of our resource and technology options, including renewables, energy storage, nuclear power, and fossil fuels with carbon capture, without going to such extreme, ill-conceived lengths to save one particular resource at the expense of the others.” - Eddie Bernice Johnson

It was interesting to hear what the witnesses had to say. Even having only been in the office a few days now, I felt a personal sense of pride as our witness, Mr. Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, LLC., was speaking. He backed up Congresswoman Johnson's words with sound science and logical thinking.

"All types of power plants are vulnerable to reliability and resilience threats. Coal plants are vulnerable to disruption or congestion in rail and barge deliveries of coal. During recent droughts, coal and nuclear plants have been forced to reduce their output in peak summer demand periods due to cooling water constraints." - Robert Gramlich

 The Honorable Bruce J. Walker, Dr. John Sarrao, Mr. Robert Gramlich, and Dr. Joseph A. Heppert

The hearing was briefly interrupted when the Congress Members were called away for a vote, but upon their return, I got to hear them question the witnesses, and see what they had to say themselves. I was most excited to hear from Congressman from Illinois’ 11th District, Dr. Bill Foster. Dr. Foster is the only Physicist currently in Congress. It was clear from his interactions with the witnesses that not only was he highly invested in this topic, but he is also extremely well-informed, asking questions regarding the science and details behind the grid and energy systems. I just hope that sometime this summer I’ll get the chance to talk with him.

Congressman Dr. Bill Foster (D-IL) shaking hands with minority witness Mr. Rob Gramlich

This first week has been so full of new experiences that were exciting, frightening, fun, enlightening, and overall amazing. I’m so grateful to have the chance to prove myself in the House of Representative, and especially on the Committee for Science, Space, and Technology. I’m looking forward to nine more weeks of firsts, and know it will be over before I know it. I plan to take advantage of every minute.

Sarah Monk, Stephanie Williams, Daniel Morales, and Sam Borer on the metro to the SPS Intern Orientation
The Science Committee Room during the hearing on The Electric Grid of the Future

Sarah Monk