Placement Report to the
IEEE-USA Government Fellowship Committee

Randall J. Brouwer,Ph.D.
2005 IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow

February 2005

During 2005, I will be serving in the office of U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA46) as a legislative assistant in the areas of science, space, and technology. My choice of this office was influenced by many factors, including:

1. Placement, midyear, and final reports of previous fellows which are found at this web site. I found these to be very insightful as to the reasons previous fellows selected particular offices.

2. Conversations with past, present, and new IEEE Congressional Fellows. In particular, Dr. Steven Watkins was extremely helpful in acquainting me with the people and workings of Congressman Rohrabacher’s office while he was serving as an IEEE Congressional Fellow.

3. AAAS Orientation. The AAAS Orientation program is run in September of each year. This program is very useful in introducing new fellows to the working of Congress and Washington DC. During the orientation, there are numerous opportunities to hear from current and former fellows about advantages and disadvantages associated with member offices, committee offices, the Senate, and the House. In addition, AAAS provides quite a bit of information about offices that are looking for fellows. Following the orientation, I was fairly sure I wanted to work in a representative’s personal office. Two of my goals were a) regular direct interaction with a member and b) opportunities to work on a wide range of issues.

4. Rapport with the member and his senior staff. I had the opportunity to meet with the senior staff and the member in September during the orientation program. I could see why IEEE fellows have been in this office for many years.

My work began on January 10, 2005. The office was extremely busy with preparations for the presidential inaugural activities. Now that the inauguration celebration is done, the office seems to be back on a regular schedule. One change this year is that Congressman Rohrabacher has been term-limited off the chairmanship of the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee and will likely have a significant role in one of the International Relations subcommittees.  As chairman of the Space subcommittee, he could hire an additional staff member to assist with space issues. Without that person, I will be covering all of the space, science, and technology issues.

It should prove to be an interesting year!!
 

IEEE-USA