Essay: Senate Page Experience
September 2002

On a Thursday late in June, I recited the Pledge of Allegiance with 80 Senators, took a picture with Vice President Cheney, met famed celloist Yo Yo Ma, delivered policy documents to twenty offices spread across two office buildings, and watched in awe as the "greatest legislative body in the world" voted to approve a massive defense authorization budget.

Serving as a Page in the United States Senate had its share of boredom-inducing moments, too -- the seemingly endless Quorum Calls, for example, which Senators use to delay proceedings and meet with their colleagues in the two political parties' respective cloakrooms. But overall, I was thankful to have had the opportunity to work in such a historic, important place.

The Senate typically employs 30 to 40 pages to deliver documents, fetch water and podiums, "run" amendments to various offices, and pass messages on to Senators. During the school year, pages attend the Senate Page School in the morning and serve as a page the rest of the day. Thankfully, I was able to attend the first of two summer sessions. Most pages live in a dorm several blocks from the Capitol; I was a commuter, driving and riding in from Damascus each morning.

Serving as a page led to some unique insights on how the Senate functions. Many of the Senators have their own "water preference," for example -- there is a list inside the Democratic Cloakroom. The Cloakroom of each party is the "communications center" of the party, be it Democrat or Republican -- pages on the floor of the chamber are often "buzzed" to come into the cloakroom to deliver a message or pick up something in an office. Pages also provide lecterns for the Senators (there is a list for that, too -- small, medium, or large). Every morning, we set out calendars, bills, and Congressional Records on each Senator's desk, as well.

Watching how the Senate operates led to some fascinating moments. Watching the Senators meet and discuss in small groups in the chamber was vaguely reminiscent of the hallways at school -- especially when nearly a dozen Republicans were encircled, laughing heartily. "I'm so sick of this administration," a senior Democratic Senator confided to his colleague on the floor Wednesday morning, in an apparent reference to President Bush's administration. Later in the day though, partisanship was put aside when the Senate unanimously approved a resolution in support of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The resolution was approved 99 to 0, with one Senator absent. Senators stood at their desks to vote, a symbolic gesture last invoked during the Clinton impeachment vote in 1999. The next day, at the suggestion of Senator Daschle, 80 Senators stood in the chamber at the opening of business and recited the pledge. On a typical day, few Senators are present for the pledge. "But yesterday was different," the Washington Post observed the next day. "God and the flag had been dissed, and the senators were riding to the rescue." Moments such as these shed light on how the Senate can and does respond to events in the nation and world.

Some bills and resolutions were clear-cut; support was unanimous. However, many of the key pieces of legislation discussed during my term were the subject of heated debate. One of the most memorable speeches came while Senators considered the Local Law Enforcement Act of 2001, which was a bill to provide federal assistance for the prosecution of hate crimes.

"How about sending a message to those people out there in terms of the potential of hate-motivated crimes?," Senator Kennedy said, his voice rising and his face reddening. "We sent them a message when we passed the church burning legislation. We sent a powerful message, and that virtually stopped. How about doing the same thing with regard to hate crimes because of sexual orientation or gender or disability? What is the other side scared of?"

A cloture motion on the bill was filed; cloture is a procedure where debate ends and an immediate vote on the bill takes place. The required number of votes did not turn up, however, and the bill was placed back on the calendar for future debate.

If these procedures and terms seem arcane to you, you're not alone -- some of it still makes no sense to me. The Senate is a complex system of operation. At times, the Senators seem "lazy" -- they arrive at work late on Monday, often leave early on Friday, and most Senators only visit the Senate floor to vote or to speak on an issue close to their hearts. "There's an old saying in the Senate: You can smell the jet fuel," one Virginia Senator told the pages, referring to Senators' proclivity to race out of Washington for the weekend. But the Senate conducts important business as well -- discussing the hate crimes legislation, a terrorism insurance bill, and the national defense authorization act during my three-week term, for example.

Standing near Senator McCain, or sitting on the capitol office building subway with Senator Clinton, or informing Senator Wellstone that the British ambassador is on the phone -- Interacting with some of the country's most powerful people was exciting. Celebrities of another sort abounded in the Capitol, as well. During my three weeks, I met the King of Ghana; took pictures with Majority Leader Daschle and Vice President Cheney; and saw Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, movie star Josh Hartnett, and musician Yo Yo Ma. I attended a joint session of Congress where the Prime Minister of Australia addressed representatives. I delivered documents with descriptions like "a message from the President of the United States in regards to the emergency situation pertaining to the western Balkans."

By the end of June, my three weeks as a Page were concluding. On the last day, on the last hour, I sat in the Senate chamber with several other Pages. The TV lights were off and the Senate had recessed for the Fourth of July break. I heard a siren and said, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that's a fire alarm." A moment later, a police officer told us to evacuate and we were scurrying down the stairs. Smoke had been reported on the House side of the Capitol.

Luckily, we were allowed back inside half an hour later. As I returned to gather my belongings, I went back inside the empty chamber for one last look. The room has been in use for over 140 years ago, since the years of Lincoln and the Civil War. Standing in the chamber where so much has been debated and discussed and voted on, I could almost sense the presence of ghosts of Senate's past. To have shared in even the slightest bit of that made for a very interesting and unique June.