[ACE 199 Experiential Study Tour to Washington, DC | Spring Break 2014]

Thursday, our final day in the city, was a highly anticipated day with all of our congressional visits scheduled for Capitol Hill.  To start the day, we all met for breakfast at seven o’clock in the morning.  By seven thirty we were off to board the metro and headed toward the Hill.  After going through security for what seemed like the hundredth time, we met in groups of 4 and conversed about what to expect for the meetings in order to be fully prepared.  Wyatt and I are both in the 18th congressional district so we were meeting with Aaron Schock simultaneously while the rest of our class met with Representative Rodney Davis.  The class met Davis as a group because he represents the district where the University of Illinois stands.  It was a very nice visit because he was inspirational and spent lots of time with us, something most congressmen don’t have time do on a daily basis.  After that meeting, our 18th district group split off to Congressman Schock’s office and waited for him to finish up his work.  Finally we got to spend some time with him and he took us on an exclusive tour of the Capitol.  We even got to view the city from the speaker’s balcony, somewhere you can only go with a Congressional escort!  Other groups had similar visits with their Congressmen and Women and discussions went even better than planned.

After lunch we had an afternoon session with the Senate Agriculture Committee.  We met in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Meeting Room, the same place where the Farm Bill was negotiated and written!  Our first visitors were Joe Shultz, Chief Economist, and James Glueck, Policy Director.  We asked them many tough questions about the 4 year drawn out process of the creation of the most recent Farm Bill.  I think we may have even surprised them on our expertise.  Our next visitor was a special one.  Michigan Senator and Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow, stepped in amongst her busy schedule and took time to talk to us.  This was a very impressive visit and we appreciated it greatly.  She gave us very inspirational advice about working hard and taking opportunities that come our way.  Senator Stabenow plays one of the largest policymaking roles in the agriculture industry and is the main reason the Farm Bill got finished this year.  It is great to think that she would take time out of her day to speak to our class. 

We next had the opportunity to stop by Senator Mark Kirk’s office to speak with some of his congressional staff.  We talked about how many opportunities there really are in D.C.  We discussed internships that were in D.C. and how you can get your foot in the door.  We were told that internships are key in D.C. and that you can move up the ladder as long as you put your time in.  We also then had the opportunity to visit Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s office.  We spoke to Trevor Reushel who is a University of Illinois Alum.  He is Legislative Assistance for Senator Durbin.  We discussed many new topics that have come up recently and also talked about the new Farm Bill.  Reushel talked about the role he plays for Senator Durbin.  He does a lot of research and talks to many experts to find out the main topics and facts, and then he reports back to Durbin on the issues he hears about.  It was very interesting to see how he plays a major role in the Senators position, but also fun to hear what he has to say about his boss.  Trevor commented that if he has to speak to the Senator on any given day, it’s probably not always a good thing; because Senator Durbin is extremely bright and intelligent and even rarely uses the talking points that Trevor drafts for him. 

At the end of the day we headed on over to MadHatter in Dupont Circle to eat with University of Illinois alumni.  It was amazing to see what they accomplish in D.C. and that we have a very big alumni base in the area.  There was a large range of alumni from a Senior Editor of Politico Newspaper to Congressional Staffers to federal agency researchers and private sector professionals.  The alums gave us great advice on how to get involved in policy.  All in all it was a wonderful day to get to meet and talk to these people and how grateful they are to take time out of their busy schedule.  We greatly appreciate the time they put in and how special it was to meet them. 

It’s hard to believe that our trip has come to a close, but safe to say that many of us will be back to make an impact in the agricultural policy arena very soon!