My 26 Hours on Capitol Hill

      

by:  Christine Insinga

    When our Assistant News Director- asked if I wanted to go to Washington D.C. to cover the House's second vote on the $700 billion dollar rescue plan, I couldn't say "YES" fast enough!  I'll admit- I was a bit nervous.  My last trip to D.C was for a school music trip in 19--.  I'm not going to fill in the blanks -- but suffice to say, it's been a while.  I really didn't know the 'ins and outs' down there and was thrilled to know our ACE reporter and ANCHOR-IN-CHARGE- Scott Feldman would be there a few hours ahead of me.  I grabbed my copy of The Long Island Guide to Local Public Officials- hopped on a shuttle and PRAYED I would do this historic story justice.

    I arrived and found Scott and one of our talented photographer- Drew Singh (see pic)  in Congressman Steve Israel's office- editing their piece for the 5 o'clock show.  The Congressman wasn't there but he allowed us to sort of camp out to do our work.  All 5 members of the Long Island delegation- in fact were STILL en route to Washington. 

    After Feldman worked his magic at 5 it was up to Drew & me.  Over the next 2 hours we tracked then all down:  Reps. Peter King- Carolyn McCarthy- Gary Ackerman- Steve Israel & Tim Bishop.  (They all looked quite a bit happier than they would the next afternoon as you'll hear.)  We quickly got acquainted with the many buildings and security guards that make up 'The Hill'.

     In case you were watching and wondering- our live shots (as they're called) were done in the Senate Rotunda located in the Russel Building.  (The first was at 10:30 Thursday night)  I have to tell you- I was probably there about 4 hours before I just took a deep breath and looked around...and up.  That place is nothing short of spectacular.  Marble everything:  floors- walls columns to the ceiling. 

   

The ceiling painted with these majestic red squares with gold trim.  Right outside the window- the Capitol Building glowed like the moon...how on earth did I get here?

Drew and I left our hotel at 4am on Friday and were live from 6-8:  what was the feeling?  Would they pass the bill- were they happy with it? No one was really sure.

We then had the privilege of eating breakfast in the House Members Club with Congressman Steve Israel & two members of his press office.  (We all paid our own way- so don't get any ideas folks)  the Huntington Representative and Drew are both pretty big history buffs so it was fun to go along as Israel gave us a quick tour of some of the places in the building he found most interesting.  One of them- the marble steps outside the House dining room in the Capitol Building. 

Israel mentioned that as people climb these steps everyday many say  "geez, can't somebody clean these..'?"  The answer to that is no.  Israel told us these are the steps where Rep. William Taulbee was shot  back in 1890- by Louisville Time reporter Charles Kincaid.  The blood seeped in to the porous marble and cannot be removed.

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After that history lesson, it was hurry up and wait.  What was going to happen? When would they vote?  How? Who could give us that vital information the quickest?

Finally, early Friday afternoon the chatter in the rotunda grew louder.  They were on the floor and voting!  We made our way passed a few performance art protesters (commonplace these days on Capitol Hill) and perched at the bottom of the Capitol steps.  Soon the steps were littered with hurried lawmakers trying to rush home.  Word was out- the bill had passed- yet only an occasional smile was cracked.  Mostly- their faces were long.  Each LI Representative would tell me they voted 'yes' for the bill; each of them would tell me they wished there was another way.  Rep. Carolyn McCarthy said the only vote more stressful was the one for the war.  The emotion was palpable. I knew how terrible of a story this really was.  I knew I was reporting on history.

 

After the 5 o'clock show our business was done for the day and so was theirs.  I was running on just over 3 hours sleep but when I arrived home at 11:30 Friday night- one of the last things I wanted to do was go to sleep.  It was one of those days you know you'll never experience again and you just don't want it to end.

Comments

[John]

While it's probably obnoxious to just say, you and Scott did a good job, but our Representatives really dropped the ball, and I wish the situation would've been made clearer. Legislators never have "no other choice," and they certainly shouldn't be falling for shakedowns like this--"If you don't give us money, bad things might happen to the economy," was, basically, the description.

Perhaps someone can follow up with the Congressmen. How'd that panic decision work out for you...?

Sorry. I grew up reading stories about the old-fashioned muckrakers, and I smell a load of muck whenever this bill rears its head.