Senate Chamber Visit

What an exciting day today! In the morning we got the opportunity to tour the Senate Chamber, which is rare for the public to see. When we went through security I was very surprised that the Senate side of the Capitol was much stricter than the House of Representatives side. We were prohibited from bringing any food or drinks in with us, which I found interesting because no other building did this. But, once we entered through security we made our way to the Chamber. This chamber absolutely breathtaking and is ornately decorated. It is set up differently from the House Chamber, which is much bigger and does not have desks. In the Senate Chamber, each Senator is assigned a desk based upon their seniority. The more seniority a member has, the closer to the front they will sit. Our professor also told us how each Senator will engrave their names into the desk. I love learning about these unique facts that most people are unaware of.

In the afternoon we got to meet Senator Mark Begich of Alaska. This was different from our other meetings with Senators because Alaska is different from the rest of the states due to its geographical location. I always wondered what it would be like to be a Senator or Congressman that has to travel such long distances to get back and forth from their home state to Washington D.C. Senator Begich described the challenges of having this distance, in relation to his family life and connecting to his constituents. The way he has balanced his family and work is by moving to the District. He believes this was an important move because it is difficult to maintain a normal family life when you only spend a limited time together. Senator Begich walks his son to school every morning, which proves his dedication to his family while also working such a prestigious job. I thought this spoke a lot to his character and to the type of father that he is. I was impressed by his concerns for both his family and constituents. I would hope the other members of government would also try to keep this balance in their lives.