CFP Celebrates 50 Years

Meanwhile, the staff has been working on projects connected to this year's 50th anniversary of the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program to be celebrated over the Labor Day Weekend with the Association's centennial at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. One major anniversary project has been to prepare a revised Alumni Directory, including office assignments and updated contact information. As the last edition predated the use of email, it is especially important that all former Fellows send us their current position and office address, as well as their home address, phone number, and email address to cfp@apsanet.org.

Another project involves producing a brief chronicle of the program's 50 years. The history of the Fellowship would is largely contained in oral accounts accumulated over the years by long-time supporters like Walter Beach and Fred Holborn. Until the appearance in 1968 of PS, most of the notices about the fellowship appeared in the APSR. These notes tended to repeat only the names of the Fellows and their assignment changes year after year. Even the fellowship's Advisory Committee was notable only for the long tenure of its stalwart friends. It has been a challenge sifting through these scant archives to produce a brief yet stimulating account of the program's history. However, our work is far from finished. We would greatly appreciate any anecdotal material, heavy on good humor, to avoid a dry-as-bones rendition of a program which is seldom dry. Any stories or suggestions may be sent to the email address listed above.

Members of the 2002–2003 class of Congressional Fellows and CFP staff at the International Student House/Philippine Embassy-sponsored “Filipino Night” in February.

We are also in the process of organizing several panels featuring former Fellows at the 2003 Annual Meeting. One such panel would be a decade-by-decade review of the changing views of Congress. Another would focus on the nexus between academic and applied politics and the legislative impact of the discipline. And finally, some sort of dinner uniting current and former Congressional Fellows seems appropriate, albeit daunting in scope. We've tentatively reserved a room at the nearby Union League Club and have written speaking invitations to several high-profile former Fellows and Advisory Committee members.

Should those guests not pan out, an alternative would be to have a former Fellow from each of the fellowship's five decades reminisce briefly on their experiences. While our annual Capitol Hill reception tends to feature DC alumni, dinner at the annual meeting would hopefully draw Fellows from all over the country. We haven't determined the cost of such a dinner, but if interested in an evening of nostalgia on Friday, August 29th or Saturday, August 30th, please let us know. Please address your email: Philadelphia Dinner.

50th Class of Fellows Secure Office Assignments

The only constant in the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is that it is always in flux. The character of each class of Fellows serves as a mirror to changes within individual career paths and the direction of the country as a whole. Where once the typical political scientist was an Americanist specializing in the legislative process, today's Fellows include internationalists keen on the legislative role in foreign policy formulation and judicial specialists curious about influences on the advise and consent role of the Senate. Similarly, a decade ago most Robert Wood Johnson health policy Fellows were doctors from academic settings. Now, one is just as likely to be a public health professional on a Navajo reservation as the chair at a university School of Medicine.

As the Fellows have changed over time, so too has the institution of Congress. Each year brings fresh challenges and rewards to the search for congressional assignments. The CFP staff has typically sent out some 750 letters each year announcing the Fellowship to the House and Senate Chiefs of Staff and the majority and minority committee staff directors. This year, to avoid lingering irradiation delays from last year's anthrax scare, these letters were sent via email. This resulted in much more rapid responses from offices, including many that had never before had a Fellow. The Fellows also adapted their searches electronically by devising a listserv to keep in touch throughout the process and to pass on helpful tips. These messages ranged from the prosaic, “I don't know how the snow will affect resume drop-offs Friday,” to the candid, “Just FYI on this guy… Very young staff with more electoral experience than legislative experience.…”

One obstacle to the search for assignments was presented by the drawn-out reorganization of Congress following the elections, including the switch in the Senate majority. National Security Agency Fellow Ed Garrant, for one, expressed disappointment that freshmen Senators were not in a position to hire immediately. These delays were accompanied by prolonged negotiations over committee assignments and many Fellows found that offices could not make offers until staff and space had been reallocated. Like a number of his colleagues, Bureau of Land Management Fellow Rem Hawes waited more than a month before his top three offices could offer him a position, as the Thanksgiving holiday, the congressional recess, and the closing lame-duck session froze hiring. Yet, as Knight Foundation Fellow Jennifer Crowe discovered, “Patience and persistence were key.” Recognizing that congressional staff were often hard to get in touch with, she learned to “sweet-talk my way behind the wall for an interview.” To counterbalance the effects of “the surplus of free labor,” Political Scientist Fellow Art Ward found that “blanketing the Hill with resumes, emails and phone calls” resulted in success. And although Defense Intelligence Agency Fellow Steve Haaga sometimes got “the sneaking suspicion that 22 year-olds were throwing my resume in the trash as soon as I moved down the hallway,” he was pleasantly surprised by the advice and referral offered by offices that were not in a position to hire.

This year's interview process was particularly marked by the major policy issues facing the nation, including homeland security, the possibility of war with Iraq, divisions within NATO and the UN, threats of terrorist attacks, and the economy's continuing stagnation. As a result, congressional offices actively sought Fellows with expertise in foreign affairs and placed a premium on security clearances. The longtime core of the fellowship, political scientists and journalists, continued to receive favor for their abilities to identify and analyze complex issues, to write cogently and quickly, to handle a wide range of policy issues, and to provide verbal briefings. And, given the increased scrutiny of Congress, press skills were also in high demand. Finally, although land resource expertise prompted many job offers last year, this year health care and Social Security topped the list of domestic policy concerns.

Ironically, at a time when the United States finds itself dealing with the realities of global policy on multiple fronts, more effort was required of our international fellows to secure an assignment than of any other group. Although they offered fresh international perspectives, not to mention expertise, they were often handicapped by not having the security clearances required for many international relations staff positions. They were less conditioned to their voice and email messages not being returned by harried congressional staff, and during interviews, seemed to be more routinely “tested” on their understanding of U.S. policy. As a group, however, they brought that ingredient most essential in securing interviews and eventual assignments: tenacity. Accepting the CFP staff advice to “cast a wide net,” one of our international fellows sent out more than 50 resumes. Their patience paid off as they all found excellent assignments that matched both the needs of their congressional office and their own long-term career goals.

While the search for office assignments was challenging, it was not without its rewards or moments of levity. Matt Hicks described one such anecdote on the subway between the Capitol and Senate: “On board was an older gentleman who asked me where I worked and what I did. I mentioned the fellowship… then asked him who he works for. ‘Well, I'm Senator Kyl of Arizona,’ he said as I was standing up to leave.” Ed Garrant considered his best interview one that took place in an elevator, and described a feeling of awe when seeing Senator Kennedy playing with his dog in the park. As the 50th class of Fellows adapt to life on Capitol Hill, they find themselves quickly becoming valued and necessary members of their respective personal and committee offices.

American Sociological Association Fellow

• Susan Dimock, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego: Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). Health care.

Mark O. Hatfield Fellow

• Kevin Simmons, employment and training specialist, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde: National Congress of American Indians.

German Marshall Fund of the United States Fellows

• Lars Berger, M.A., Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena: Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA). Iraq, Middle East, defense, and Homeland Security.
• Marcus Menzel, M.A., University of Koblenz-Landau: Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY). Foreign affairs.

Senior Fulbright Fellows

• Beata Plonka, assistant professor, Jagiellonian University, Poland: Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA).
• Beth Soriano, professor, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Philippines: Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA). Women's issues, veterans affairs.
• Mariana George-Nascimento Avenda˜no, lawyer, Chilean Senate: Representative Jim McDermott (DWA). Human Rights Caucus, U.S.-Philippines Caucus, Brazilian Caucus, human rights, civil liberties and crime, banking, campaign finance reform, foreign aid, foreign affairs.

Asia Foundation Fellows

• Bara Hasibuan, founder and partner, Puri Consulting, Jakarta, Indonesia: House International Relations Committee.
• Shanti Ruwyastuti, manager of special programs, Metro TV, Jakarta, Indonesia: Representative Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI). Defense, transportation press.
• Duck-Weon Suh, training division assistant director, Korean National Assembly Secretariat: Representative John Conyers (D-MI). Foreign affairs, human rights in Asia, agriculture.

Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows

• Mark D. Carlson, professor, Case Western Reserve University, and Vice Chair, University Hospitals of Cleveland Department of Medicine: Senate Judiciary Committee, majority staff, office of Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
• Daniel Bernard Crimmins, community services director, Westchester Institute for Human Development: Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT).
• Michele G. Curtis, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Texas, Houston Health Science Center: Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-MN).
• Thomas N. Denny, assistant professor of pathology, laboratory medicine and pediatrics, New Jersey Medical School, and Director, Center for Laboratory Investigation: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.
• Susan L. Goezler, professor of anesthesiology and internal medicine and the Ralph M. Waters M.D. Distinguished Chair of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin Medical School: Senator Bill Frist (R-TN).
• Julianne R. Howell, health sciences planning director, University of California, San Diego, and associate clinical professor of family and preventative medicine, UCSD School of Medicine: Senator John Kerry (DMA).

Foreign Affairs Fellows

• William Buhrow, operations officer, chief of the Regional Military Assessment Group, Defense Intelligence Agency: Senator George Allen (R-VA). Armed services, foreign relations.
• Zelda Cook, senior plans officer, director of Central Intelligence Center, Central Intelligence Agency: Representative John Spratt (D-SC). National security, defense, veterans' affairs, House Armed Services Committee support.
• Peter Gadzinski, financial analyst, Office of Development Policy, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State: Senate Foreign Relations Committee, office of Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). International trade and finance.
• Edward Garrant, analyst, Intelligence Directorate, National Security Agency: Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA). Defense.
• Steve Haaga, senior intelligence officer, Deputy Directorate for Intelligence Assessments, Doctrine, Requirements and Capabilities, Defense Intelligence Agency: Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Defense, foreign affairs, veterans affairs.
• Mark Hanna, branch manager, Crime and Narcotics Center, Central Intelligence Agency: Representative Howard Berman (D-CA). Foreign affairs.

Federal Executive Fellows

• Margaret Connelly, strategic planning and resource assessment coordinator, Forest Service, USDA: Representative James Oberstar (DMN). Natural resources, transportation.
• Rem Hawes, public outreach coordinator, Office of Public Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, USDI: Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Western Senate Coalition, natural resources.
• Andrea Lee, materials engineer, Structural Integrity and Metallurgy Section, Materials and Chemical Engineering Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). Energy, natural resources.
• Ellen Louise Lohans, branch chief, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Office of Appellate Operations, Disability Program, Social Security Administration: Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-HI). Environment, energy, agriculture, senior citizens and social security, health, insular affairs, Resource Subcommittee.
• Nancy Schoenberg, supervisory attorney advisor, Woodlawn Decision Writing Unit, Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration: Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). Health, mental health, suicide prevention, energy workers compensation, senior outreach.

Sarah Dougherty