I've worked briefly in the United States Capitol when I was in my very early 20s. I've visited this place many times as a tourist both with and without my family. Today, however, I played lobbyist.
My mission today was to visit with both of Nevada's Senators and all three of its members of the House of Representatives to appeal for some legislative changes with regard to charitable tax law.
Ah, the joys of the minutiae of the charitable provisions contained in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.
I was hoping to post a picture or two from my visit to Capitol Hill, but these legislators are so ridiculously busy that meetings occur in the most unusual places. One Congressman was in the middle of a committee hearing, only to step out so we could meet in a shared staff room right off the committee room. Another Congressman was in the middle of a series of votes on the floor of the House of Representatives. That meeting occured standing in the hallway right off the floor of the House.
The most interesting thing is that this is completely normal business around the Capitol building. In each case, a number of other members of Congress were nearby also holding meetings standing in hallways or in the corners of some borrowed room.
We had only 15 minutes or so each time so using any of it to awkwardly find a place to pose for a picture seemed a waste of time.
And thus, my visit to the Capitol itself went pictureless!
The good news is that on the walk from the hotel to the Capitol, I did find some interesting things.
For instance, I passed the headquarters for the Environmental Protection Agency...
It's hard to see, but on the doors in the upper right corner of the picture above, you'll see a sign bragging that, "This building runs on GREEN power."
Ironically, directly across the street from this entrance to the EPA is this building...
The Internal Revenue Service.
I suspect that the IRS is really the "green power" running the EPA's building.
I was also saddened to know that in this political environment of partisanship and accusing your critics of working for the terrorists that independence is broken...
Or at least the Independence Street sign is broken.
Then again, it appears that American history is at an end anyway...
Well, the National Museum of American History is closed, after all.
Last night I did walk through Chinatown and although it's really obvious in retrospect, I was surprised to see how much was written in Chinese. That includes street signs...
A sub sandwich shop...
A Starbucks...
And my personal favorite...
Yes, authentic Texas Barbeque for the Chinese community!
What other nation's capitol would be so welcoming to those who are different? Ya gotta love America!
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