Javier Carmona: Blogs

Walmart Shadow Day

The shadow day with Walmart was a great experience after being on the hill for the whole internship. It was nice to see the corporate side of D.C. and where the work is done off the hill. Shadowing Sarah was a great experience and she was really engaged in showing Karen and I what exactly her day was like. It was nice to see that Walmart is working hard to make a difference not only in the United States but across the world. I really liked how Sarah was nice enough to step out of her way to make sure that we got the most out of our experience while shadowing her. It was nice to see that the organization that has made such a big sponsorship to CHCI was also working with other organizations to help minorities. Walmart does so much for organizations and it was amazing to hear the amount of money that was given out last year to help those in need. Thank you to everyone in the corporate Walmart office for taking out time from your day to show us what life is like off the hill.

Recess in D.C.

With a two week recess for Congress, there was a lot of down time. Going from the phones ringing constantly to the phones rarely ringing was the biggest thing I noticed. In the office, things were really quiet and there was a lot of time to rest. It felt like a day and night difference from prior to this when we were dealing with health care. To relax while in the office, I found ice cream breaks kept me going through the day. Outside of work, it was a lot of sight seeing and enjoying the fresh weather. This past weekend we did a lot of walking and doing D.C. 'stuff'. I, along with Edwin, went to the Nation Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and had a lot of fun. From the parade, we went to a street festival where my fellow interns, Edwin and Victor, got me to go on stage to participate in a McDonalds quiz and we won! After this we went to the Lincoln Memorial, but on our way there we stopped to watch the Service's Drill Team competition. All in all, these past two weeks of recess have been a lot of fun outside of the office. Now we race to the end as we get back into session this week and back to the fast paced work environment.

Health Care and Higher Education

With history recently made with the monumental health care bill, emotions have been so high. It all begins with the emotions in the congressional office. Receiving calls all day urging the representative to either vote for or against the bill was intense. The people that made the effort to call were very strong in their feelings and reasoning as to why their representative should vote for or against the health care bill. The whole week leading up to the vote, we got an increased amount of calls, so working in the office, we had to pick our pace in order to receive the calls and take down the constituents concerns. In the end, when a few interns and myself were able to be in the gallery to hear the debates and watch the final vote happen, we knew all of our hard work in the office paid off.  It was such a victory to watch the vote count hit the magic number of 216.  Never did I think that I would get to watch such a monumental vote happen right in front of my eyes. It was very interesting to see how the representatives acted on the floor before and after the vote. The excitement could clearly be seen on the democratic side of the floor as they were victorious and chanted “yes we can”. Now that it is all done and over with, it has been great receiving the thank you calls.

Attached to the health care bill was the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. “The legislation would eliminate subsidies to banks in the federal student loan programs, and instead originate all federal student loans directly through the government”. Seeing my boss, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, present at the “fixes” signing bill and then having him be mentioned by President Obama was a big accomplishment. With Congressman Hinojosa acting as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness, it was a huge success for him, his office, and the committees. “This sets a landmark in higher education as the single largest investment in education since the G.I. Bill of WWII”. The fact that this bill is so large, it makes room for all types of controversy. It is only natural that the country would be concerned about such a huge piece of legislation. In the end, there are so many people that will benefit from not only the health care legislation but also the huge investment of education. This has been such an amazing week as the other interns and I have been meeting powerful people here on The Hill. This week has been the absolute best week since first coming here to D.C. Although, the end of the program is a month away, there is still so much to experience and everything we have already experienced only makes this internship so amazing! -Quotes come from http://hinojosa.house.gov/2010/03/congressman-rubn-hinojosa-joins-president-obama-for-signing-of-historic-student-loan-and-health-care.shtml

Having the job of Director of the Census

If I had the job of Robert Groves as the Director of Census it would be hard to do more that what he has already done. I think the work that has been done for this census is remarkable. The way that the message is being altered to meet the different needs of the different communities is quite amazing. The encouragement towards getting Latinos to fill out the census could not have been more appealing. Although I think one thing I would change would be to have more of a grassroots movement from young Americans. I would use the students in high school to do more of the vocal outcry for Latino participation. With these student being so young and not yet impacted by the outside world it is a great opportunity for them to start the spread of the message. This not only would give young Americans a great learning experience but seeing a Latino so young speak about something so important can make a big impact.

After being in Washington DC for a little over a month, what has been the most challenging and most exciting moment in your internship experience?

Being in DC for almost a month has been a great experience that feels like it just flew by. But with that being said, getting off to a late start did not make things bad. While being snowed in for eleven days wasn’t really what we expected, it allowed us to have ample amount of time to get to know each other a little bit. I joke that the most challenging part so far was the walk in the blizzard where I felt like it was the most physical and emotional work out ever. Having to think about not falling and then having to keep your balance, phew what a challenge. Jokes aside, I think the most challenging experience has been the fast pace of the work environment. When something has to be done the timeline, most of the time, is now or by the end of the day … or in the case last week, one hour. This challenge is not something that can’t easily be overcome. Once I learned the pace, I was able to adjust what I had learned and use the challenge to then benefit me. The most exciting part so far in the internship has been being “behind the scenes”. We get see things in the media that happened right within our building, such as the Toyota hearings that recently took place. I think it is something very simple, but yet so exciting. With six weeks left I feel like, now more than ever, it is time to live the D.C. experience to the fullest and use these challenges and exciting moments to propel us through the end.

Based on Monday’s training on Good Public Policy: Grassroots Organizing and Electoral Politics, what do you think the role of grassroots organizing is in the political process of this country?

The role of grassroots politics in our country was clearly visible in the past presidential election where President Barack Obama’s campaign was driven by grassroots efforts.  A lot of movements are being driven by grassroots organizing in today’s world.  The role of grassroots organizing in the political process is everything.   Things must be built up from the bottom.  Once there is a stable base then there is somewhere to build from.  With grassroots being the base there is now something to build off of and grow from. In public policy grassroots is where a lot of ideas start and grow from.

What was your first week like working on Capitol hill?

I feel like my first week can be summed up in one word: educational. In just one week, I have learned so much about legislation and the work that goes on behind it. I was able to get a hands-on experience by going to a hearing which discussed the Recovery Act and how it has affected the education system. There were many jobs saved and other jobs which were created. Success! I also was able to further the learning process of the education committee by doing some research for the education Legislative Assistant in my office. I enjoy being able to help in any way possible to learn as much as I can through this great opportunity provided by CHCI. I also was able to go to the House Financial Services Committee hearing where Mr. Bernanke was questioned on the financial system. After this hearing, I was able to meet Congressman Barney Frank. The best thing about this hearing was  seeing information about it later in the media. I could then say, “I was there”. It was a very exciting and eventful week to say the least. But, not only did I learn in the office I was also able to learn out of the office through the ropes course that we went to this week. I learned that even though the other interns and I know each other on a personal level we really didn’t know each other on the professional level. We don’t get to work together in a business environment much, but getting to know each other on this level was a great success in my opinion.

What are some new ideas that you have heard this week in terms of leadership? and What new perspectives have you gained about Latinos in the United States?

In just one week at CHCI, I have learned and dealt with the term leadership more than I ever could have imagined.  With this week being the building block of the next twelve weeks, I felt that it was necessary to soak in as much information as possible.  Through this week of what I would consider leadership training, there were many times where we were taught the importance of being a Latino in the United States.  For one, the statistics of Latinos attending and graduating college are not very high.  We can definitely make a change to this and increase the statistics just by educating Latinos and letting them know they can go far in life through education.  I feel that as a leader, part of our role in society is to educate those around us.