[PHOTO/CAPTION: The renovated lobby of the Holiday Inn Capitol, filled
with Federationists checking in for the 2005 Washington

[PHOTO/CAPTION: The renovated lobby of the Holiday Inn Capitol, filled
with Federationists checking in for the 2005 Washington

The Braille Monitor
March
2005
(back)
(next) (contents)
Washington in Winter
by
Barbara Pierce

The
renovated lobby of the Holiday Inn Capitol, filled with Federationists
checking in for the 2005 Washington Seminar

The last weekend of January
brought snow, slush, and freezing rain to the nation's capital. It also brought
well over four hundred blind people to attend seminars, workshops, and committee
meetings and to tour the National Center for the Blind and the NFB Jernigan
Institute. Some even found time to do a bit of sightseeing before settling down
to visit every Senate and House office on Capitol Hill to discuss the issues
of concern to blind people this year. In other words, the NFB 2005 Washington
Seminar began Sunday, January 30, and ended Thursday, February 3.
We pushed the Washington
Seminar back a day this year in hopes of seeing more actual members of Congress
by
making appointments
on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This meant that the students could meet
on Sunday, and almost two hundred Federationists could tour the Institute on
Monday. At the same time those who remained at the Holiday Inn Capitol, on Monday
could attend workshops on mentoring blind children or orientation and mobility
as a career. Lawyers enjoyed a stimulating seminar, as did merchants and seniors.
Those who wanted an advanced look at the issues for discussion with Congress
spent a couple of hours talking with Jim McCarthy, NFB director of governmental
affairs, early Monday afternoon.
In
short, by the time the gathering-in meeting was called to order at 5:00 Monday
afternoon, January 31, everyone had already put in a very full day. President
Maurer and Dr. Zaborowski reported on recent activities in the Federation and
at the Jernigan Institute, and the two Jims (Gashel and McCarthy) discussed
legislative and logistical matters for the week.
Some
of us can remember all the way back to a time before the appointment schedule
and visit reports were computerized. In those days we picked up our fact sheets
from the Mercury Room and then wandered off, sometimes to begin calling for
appointments once we were actually on the Hill. For us the structured and purposeful
activity of Sandy Halverson and her team of volunteers in the Mercury Room never
fails to delight. On one side fact sheets and other materials available for
preparing Capitol Hill folders are laid out on a long table. Affiliates supplement
these with additional brochures, newsletters, scholarship forms, and other state
material that their congressional delegations should have. By the time the folders
are assembled, we have a significant amount of material to hand over to legislators.
The
opposite side of the Mercury Room also sports a long table. This one has several
volunteers seated behind it, waiting to take down appointment lists or write
reports in Braille. On the side opposite the entrance are the computer station
and the files for the cards on which the reports are written. Phones ring incessantly,
and the staff member in charge makes frequent announcements asking people who
are finished with their business to move on so that those who are still working
can hear themselves think.
This
year people found plenty to do elsewhere. The hotel restaurant had again ordered
in peanut butter pie. The deli again had Krispy Kreme doughnuts in addition
to the sandwiches, salads, and bagels one would expect. The bar (now called
the Twenty-First Amendment), which also serves food till midnight, has been
expanded in the recent lobby renovation. By the time we return in 2006, a Starbucks
will be open in the corner of the lobby. But the only excitement the Starbucks
caused this year was a small fire on Tuesday morning that brought out six fire
trucks and a lot of police. Happily, it was so quickly contained that hotel
guests did not have to be evacuated.
The weather for Washington
Seminar this year fell far short of spring-like temperatures, but by Monday
the sun was shining, and it continued to shine until we left town. Now that
the dust is settling and the House and Senate security guards can again point
their directions to visitors instead of putting them into words, we are getting
down to the long, slow business of maintaining contact with legislative staff
members responsible for the bills in which we are interested. Jim McCarthy will
keep us posted throughout the year about what more has to be done. Immediately
following this article are the 2005 fact sheets.
(back)
(next) (contents)