Monday, February 20, 2012

Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Another Full Week On Its Way

Welcome back to the blog. I apologize for the long delay of a new post but it was either keep it short and lack details, or full of stories from my time in DC and my internship.

The newest piece of legislation that has been floating around the Hill is the HR 7 Transportation Bill. In short this bill was written "to authorize funds for Federal-aid highway, public transportation, and highway motor carrier safety programs, and for other purposes." This bill is one of those pieces of legislation that go around the hill and get extreme levels of feedback from both sides stating the pros and cons but nothing every really happens with it. I really have no opinion of this bill until I can see how it develops further in the House. If you would like to learn more about this bill or any other bill go to thomas.loc.gov for the best source of information.

 This past week I also had the chance to tour the White House and tour the Capitol Dome. The experience was absolutely breath taking and I wish I could tell you more about it other than you must take one of these dome tours for yourself. Pictures will be up from the tour soon.

Incase you haven't been watching the news this past Friday, the 17th, there was an attempted suicide bombing at the Capitol Building, however no one was ever in any real harm. This was a sting operation from the FBI who received intelligence stating that there was a man living in Alexandria, VA that was connected to Al Qaeda. He was monitored by the FBI and also given fake explosives by them as well. So thankfully no one was ever in any real danger and justice was served in that the man was brought down and is now incarcerated.

This past weekend I decided to go out with some friends to Alexandria, VA to see the George Washington Masonic Memorial and explore the city down there for a bit. One thing that I found to be much more of a relief in Alexandria as opposed to Washington DC is that every restaurant serves sweet tea, and you have to understand being that I grew up in the south sweet tea is like a drug for me. Visiting the memorial could not have come at a better time considering that today is President's day and George Washington's birthday. I was able to learn about the fascinating traditions that our forefathers use to help build this nation. I will also be posting pictures from this past week on the blog soon so be sure to check out each week what photos I add.

On top of this week marking Ash Wednesday it also marks Fat Tuesday. Being that my roommate is from Mississippi and grew up in Louisiana a big thing for him is Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. So in honor of that we decided we would throw a little get together at our apartment and invite Tina and Cynthia as well so that all the FSC interns could be included. I will keep you all updated on the week since exciting things are supposed to be happening in the city and we are out of session for the week, which will give me plenty of time to keep experiencing the city and post about it on here.

Until next time Thank you and God Bless,

Gage Nicholas

7 comments:

  1. Sounds great -! Tell us more about the transportation bill -- who authored it? What interest groups support it or do not?

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  2. The sponsor of the bill is Rep. John Mica (FL-7) and as soon as I found out about the interest groups that support it and those who oppose it I will be sure to inform you! Like I said its one of those bills right now thats just sitting there and not much is happening to it.

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  3. Sounds like you're having an awesome time! A question that people keep asking me is how far in advanced do you need to make for a tour of the White House and what is the best way to get that done? Also wanted to know how what other bills are coming up before the House?

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  4. Good question, Wes. There is no exact time that you need to allow to schedule a White House tour but it is recommended that you do so about 3 months in advance to secure it. We actually have to request tours and not schedulr them. And this week is a constituent work week so if any news bills come in for me to talk about then it would most likely happen next week at the soonest.

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  5. Cool man. we want pictures!

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  6. Courtney, the pictures are at the bottom of the page

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