Sara Cline- January 28th

I have the day off tomorrow, so it is a short week for me!

I spend a lot of time this week doing research on earmarks. Basically I had to pull together data on the earmarks secured by different Senators and Reps across all appropriations bills for FY10 and back. It is very interesting to see what different Sens/Reps are able to secure earmarks for.

Again, I spent a lot of time working on the Greek Lobbying Effort- some outreach to students selected for the April visits, and working on a presentation for someone to give about what is going on with Greeks in Congress.

On Tuesday, I went to a breakfast fundraiser for Sen McClaskill (D-MO) on behalf of the FRATPAC (Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee). She was extremely lively and made a lot of interesting remarks!

Yesterday afternoon, I accompanied Jess to a Senate hearing on energy conservation. It was my first time attending a hearing, so I didn't know what to expect. Jess on behalf of a client, and she invited me to go a watch, to get a feel for it in case I need to cover one in the future. I found it a little hard to hear what was going on, but generally very interesting. There were a number of witnesses testifying- including representatives from the DOD, DOE and USPS. Prior to the hearing, I wondered why a rep from the USPS was going to be there, but it is amazing all of the efforts the postal service is taking to go green. It seems like they're thinking about it from every angle, and even looking into replacing their regular mail delivery trucks with more energy efficient/green versions.

That's pretty much it. As with everyone else I have talked to, there is a lot more going on here, but many things are confidential.