My 9-5 Day on the Hill

I spent all day yesterday on the hill, attending three hearings. In the morning I went to a press release and a panel discussion with Representative Carolyn Malony who has done a lot of work in the House for labor trafficking and child labor in the shrimp industry. Also the US Ambassador for Human Trafficking, Mark Laygon, who heads the trafficking office, spoke and the Executive Director from the Solidarity Center all spoke about a new report released on the shrimp farming industry and what countries the US buys tainted shrimp from. For example, Bangladesh and Thailand. I hear about all these great events from Polaris Project, they have so many connections and resources it is great.

Then the next event I attended was on NATO and the Bucharest Summit last week. There were a bunch of Eastern Europeans there speaking all sorts of different languages, it was great. So i had to leave early to make a hearing on Tibet, called a Path Towards Peace, and of course there were a bunch of Tibetans there. For people who don't know, there have been huge peaceful protests in the last couple of months in response to the increased Chinese oppression in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. CHina claims a One Country Policy, claiming right to govern over and control Tibet, but they have been infringing on Tibetan rights and sovereignty for years and today is the outcome of this. So Barbara Boxer was the Chairwoman holding the hearing and it was so great to see her in action asking strong questions to the panelists, such as the Undersecretary of State, Mr. Negroponte who is Under Secretary Rice. Then to my surprise, wondering why there were forests of press, Richard Gere came in and was nother one of the Panelist members to talk about Tibet. He plays a major role in calling attention to abuses in Tibet and winning their freedom. He is a Chairman on the International Campaign for Tibet and does a lot of work with the Tibetan Autonomous Region with the Gere Foudnation, of which he is the President.

So it was a great day. Last night I also had my last International Children's issues course. It is wierd to think my semester is almost over. I am so comfotably settled and like DC and am left with the yearning for more. Maybe I will haev to move back here one day. There are so many opportunities and NGO headquarters here...it is like a candy store for me.