“Better Know a Republican” Event A Huge Success
June 27th, 2006 by Jack's Interns
Today, Congressman Kingston organized an “Intern-Only” event in a room in the Capitol. The room was overflowing this morning with about 75 eager interns waiting to “Better Know” some Republican Members of Congress.
Although Jack could not make the event due to two days of flight delays, Rep. Patrick McHenry from North Carolina (the youngest Member of the 109th Congress) stepped up and got things going by speaking to the group for a few minutes about his “underdog” story and how he eventually rose to success through organization, a dedicated staff, and hard work.
Rep. McHenry spoke about his experience on the Hill only 11 years ago noting, “I’ve worked on the staff side…I have a different perspective than most members of Congress on how this place works…It’s you, the interns and staff, that actually make all difference and get things done.”
To be sure, all of the interns in the room appreciated his empathy and acknowledgment.
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina came in next, broken arm and all, and talked about her path to becoming the third woman from NC to ever be elected to serve in Congress.
Finally, Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia joined the group and all three Members fielded questions from the interns for about 40 minutes.
The interns were enthusiastic and attentive, asking a number of interesting and thoughtful questions. Reps. McHenry, Foxx, and Gingrey expressed deep concern with the growth of the Federal Government. When asked about the biggest issues they are currently facing in Congress, they all said immigration and fiscal irresponsibility.
Rep. Foxx also mentioned defense, highway maintenance, and National Parks as essentially the only areas that the Federal Government should play a role in, saying that, “Even Republicans have fallen into the trap” of federal power. The event left everyone in the Kingston office excited for future intern events to come, as we are working on several for the rest of the summer.
Special thanks to Reps. McHenry, Foxx, and Gingrey for taking the time out of their extremely busy schedules to speak with us. And of course, thanks to Jack for putting all of this together.