Report to the IEEE-USA
Government Fellowship Committee

CONGRESSONAL QUARTERLY
(January-March 2001)

Peter S. Winokur, Ph.D.

As I end my first three months on the Hill, I thought it appropriate to share some of my initial impressions. As advertised, life on the Hill is faced paced and, at times, chaotic. The word "now" is measured in minutes and at most hours. There is no right and wrong here; it’s politics, people, process, and patience. In the Senate, you need to know who’s up for election in 2002. It’s an incredibly partisan atmosphere. If we were all asked to change sides tomorrow -- all Dems become Repubs, and all Repubs become Dems -- we’d enjoin the battle with the same vigor and passion as we do now. Fortunately, I work for a wonderful, decent man, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. It also helps that we’re "right" on most of the issues (there I go again).

Although the pace is fast, the resources available to the staff are phenomenal. If I need information on some issue, I call up the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and speak to their experts. In a matter of minutes via fax or e-mail, I can get a quick summary of basic information on many topics. There are also "info packets" on most hot issues like energy deregulation or climate change. CRS has experts in just about any area. I’ve written memos to the Senator on everything from the Clean Air Act to Rooftop Telecommunications to Space Tourism to UFOs. Also, people have a tendency to return phone calls from a Senate office, whether it’s the Attorney General of a state, the chief counsel of the FCC, or the COO of a California utility. To be honest, I don’t mind making quick decisions - what can you do in thirty minutes but get your hands around the basics and use some common sense? Don’t get me wrong, having a science background helps a lot. Without an understanding of the scientific endeavor, you’d have a hard time distinguishing fact from fiction, and there’s folks on both sides of nearly every issue on the Hill. Science and technology plays an increasingly important role in making policy. My impression is that most offices on the Hill really value their science fellows.

I’m working on legislation to promote the development of clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal heat. The Congress is considering a major Energy Bill this year. Senator Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the Republican bill in late February and the Democratic Bill is due out shortly. My "energy" assignment fits in well with the interests of Senator Reid, who is the ranking member of both the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. Reid holds the opinion that stewardship of the environment and energy use is inextricably linked. He believes that diversifying America's energy portfolio to include a greater percentage of renewable energy will yield national security and trade balance dividends, and would also result in major air and water quality improvements. The Senator is committed to making renewable energy technologies a priority, and so am I.

On February 6, Senator Reid introduced S. 249, the Renewable Energy Development Incentives (REDI) Act, a bill to expand production tax credits for renewable energy technologies. Under the legislation, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, or geothermal get a credit of 1.5 cents for every kilowatt hour of energy produced. For wind production, that lowers the cost from 4.5 cents to 3.0 cents per kilowatt-hour, making it very competitive with fossils fuels. In my first few weeks on the job, I worked quite a bit on S. 249. I got to spend a few days with the tax code -- well, it was an experience and really nothing a scientist can’t handle. With help from my legislative director, I prepared the floor statement used by the Senator to introduce the legislation. Senator Reid didn’t quite follow the script, but his presentation was great. The Senator is really excellent with information and facts. He seldom (if ever) gets them wrong. After the speech I went to the Records Room, where the staff (me in this case) typically have 3 hours to make changes to the floor statement. This edited floor statement actually becomes the Congressional Record. I made a few editorial changes, but nothing substantive. Once again, the Senator seldom gets facts wrong and it’s not a staffer’s job to change the style of a presentation. I also prepared information for press briefings and some fact sheets on renewable energy sources.

I got off to a very fast start and I expect everyone does. I was writing memos to Senator Reid in the first two weeks. I advise the Senator whether or not to support certain pieces of legislation that are in my bailiwick, and my bailiwick is energy, defense, and technology. Everyone in a Senate office is spread pretty thin. By the way, I’m referred to as a "legislative fellow" and I’m part of the legislative staff. Fellows are always concerned they’ll need to answer constituent mail, but it’s really not a problem in a Senate office, where we have several legislative correspondents to handle most of the mail. I get called in to answer letters from trade organizations or business people, often to prepare the Senator for a meeting with them. It’s amazing how open this government is. It’s amazing how much effort we spend responding to a single constituent. Part of that is due to the fact that Nevada has less than 2 million people, so we can take more time than a Senate office like California or New York. But everyone in Congress pays careful attention to his or her constituents. "Going Washington" is a problem for a Senator or Representative, who can find themselves voted out of office in a heartbeat. It is mandatory for all of Senator Reid’s legislative staff to come over to the Capitol from 8:30 to 9:30 AM on Thursday to "Welcome to Washington" citizens of Nevada. "Putting Nevadans First" is our primary goal in all the legislation we sponsor. An issue has to matter to the citizens of our state. Before I recommend that the Senator co-sponsor a piece of legislation, I ask the question: "Does this matter to the citizens of Nevada?"

Working for Senator Reid is a little different than working for other senators because he is the Assistant Democratic Leader or Minority "Whip." I have an 8:30 AM meeting on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at his Whip Office in the Capitol to go over press and legislative strategy. The Senator attends these meetings a few times a month. It is insightful to see politics in action and to know in advance what’s going to unfold on the Senate floor. Senator Reid has gotten some real kudos as the Minority Whip. The Democrats are more united, more moderate, and more focused than they have been in years, and he intends to keep them directed in the middle of the political spectrum. The Senator also has a reputation for working well with Republicans on bipartisan legislation.

In closing, you should know there are a lot of people on the Hill working very hard. In general, they don’t get paid much, but I assume they’ll get rewarded somewhere down the line. My basic workday is from 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Throw in 2 hours on the Metro where I read as much as I can, and it’s a 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM day. Then I get home to read my Sandia and IEEE e-mail. But I’m learning at an incredible rate and everyday is a great experience. I’ve seen Alan Greenspan testify before the Budget Committee, Ted Kennedy lose it during the confirmation hearing of Senator Ashcroft, and my fair share of Senators. I was on the Senate Floor the day S. 249 was introduced, February 6, my birthday.

In the next Congressional Quarterly I’ll cover CRS Institutes, some interesting twists of the legislative and budget process, and my favorite topic so far, lobbyists.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America