First weekend

This weekend I checked out The National Book Festival - which had been on my agenda for a few weeks now. I recently purchased Laura Bush's memoir, Spoken from the Heart, and was very excited to read online that she would be at the festival. While she did not offer signatures like I was hoping for, she did give an incredible speech (which was more memorable than a signature)! Mrs. Bush explained her role in organizing the first festival ten years ago and then gave a reading from her book. The section of her book which she read from described her every emotion, action, and thought experienced on September 11, 2001. The manner in which Mrs. Bush read her story brought out emotion in every person in the crowd and still gives me

goosebumps when I reflect on her reading and the day in general.

In addition to The National Book Festival, I stopped by the Eastern Market and thoroughly enjoyed the experience! The booths filled with arts and crafts and the smells of local businesses cooking up some of your favorite "down-home" meals offered for a fun afternoon. It also made me feel like I was back in small town, Ohio at a county fair or community event :) All in all, it was a fantastic first weekend in D.C.!

This week at my internship things have been slowing down for the most part since the House is taking recess at the end of the week (supposedly) and heading back to their districts to campaign. Today, I sat in my second House committee hearing. Both hearings I have attended so far have been for the House Committee on Financial Services. The first hearing was last week and involved members asking Secretary Geithner their various financial reform questions. Today was a subcommittee hearing on the trends of terrorism financing.

Oh, and I gave my first tour of the Capitol this week to a group of Vietnam veterans, which was a fun time!

L. Wilson