8-24-2016: The First Day

Today was my first day as an intern in Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s district office in Toledo, Ohio. Throughout the day, I had to mentally adjust myself to a new working environment; however, I’m sure I’ll feel comfortable by the end of the internship.

Me, sitting at my desk in the Toledo office

After talking about the office, the role of a United States House Representative, and my own interests with the internship coordinator, Theresa Morris, one of the first tasks I had was to sort messages from constituents.

Most Congress members receive messages from their constituents. Congress members must answer to their constituents; after all, their job is to represent them. Congressional offices receive opinions and ideas from citizens of the district, and members of Congress use what they learn to guide them in how they decide to vote. Constituents may express their opinion through written letters, phone calls, or emails to the office.

However, in order to assist constituents, the office must first know whether or not the individual resides in the congresswoman’s district (in this case, Ohio’s ninth congressional district). The office cannot assist individuals who live outside the district because it would be disrespectful to the other representatives of their own districts. In other words, assisting with casework of an individual who resides outside of the district would come across as overstepping boundaries, barging into another representative’s district. This policy is called congressional courtesy.

My project today was to do some research for Theresa regarding the heroin and opiate addiction epidemic; the problem affects individuals across the ninth district, the office is trying to raise awareness about addiction being a disease, and move away from the mindset that it is a flaw in the addict. I spent a lot of time looking for articles with scientific research on the effect of drugs on the brain, how society views addiction, as well as some solutions to treating this epidemic.

Finally, I spent some time reading a list of news articles selected by one of the staffers. These articles may pertain to current events in the district, interests of the Congresswoman, or even a mention of the Congresswoman herself. All staffers are expected to read all news articles.

I really like this policy of required reading, and here’s why: many constituents have problems caused by current issues, and they turn to the Congresswoman for help. It would be difficult for the Congresswoman and her staffers to help constituents without knowing what else is going on. Additionally, Theresa mentioned that one of the important things about the office was having real people who are in touch with the district, and without knowing what’s going on in the district, it would be very easy to become insincere or lose touch with constituents. Finally, I also think that this required reading is good because some articles may express people’s opinions on certain issues or topics, and the goal for Congresswoman Kaptur and her staffers is to understand its constituents so the Congresswoman can better represent them.

Even though I’m just an intern among the many staff members across the Congresswoman’s multiple offices, I realize that we all represent Marcy Kaptur. Any behavior that is less than courteous, polite, and professional not only reflects badly on the office, but the Congresswoman herself.

Although today was a little slower paced, there are many events and activities planned that will involve interacting with constituents or improving Congresswoman Kaptur's district. I’m very excited for what’s ahead of me!