While anyone has the ability to draft a bill, only members of Congress can introduce and sponsor legislation. There are four basic types of legislation; bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions and simple resolutions. The official process for legislation starts when a resolution or bill is numbered as H.R.xxx, which signifies it as a House bill … Read more
When you must testify before Congress, it is a good idea to know what to expect and how to conduct yourself in order to obtain the best results. In most instances, you will only have a few minutes to make your case if you are going to be testifying in support or opposition to legislation. … Read more
Testifying Before Congress with William LaForge 45 minute video presentation on CSPAN BookTV, July 22, 2010 About the Program William LaForge discusses how to successfully prepare and deliver testimony at congressional hearings. He spoke at a lunch event at the Hall of States building in Washington, DC. About the Author William LaForge is an attorney … Read more
Testifying Before Congress with William LaForge on BookTV, C-SPAN 2 Saturday, August 7, 2010, at 9pm (ET) Sunday, August 8, 2010, at 10am (ET) Monday, August 9, 2010, at 4am (ET) About the Program William LaForge discusses how to successfully prepare and deliver testimony at congressional hearings. He spoke at a lunch event at the … Read more
I’ve been wondering why the Washington Post spent two years putting together the story that it rolled out this week — “Top Secret America.” The report essentially covers the world of classified contracting, and it was delivered with the fanfare that the Post usually reserves for a Woodward exclusive or a big, deep scandal. . … Read more
Congress receives more than 86.9 million pieces of snail mail annually, and more than 200 million emails each year. How effective are these communications? Joshua Tauberer, the creator of research tool GovTrack says that in his personal experience: […] what Congressional staff say is that two things happen with letters and other communications. First, Representatives … Read more
Legendary political journalist Daniel Schorr passed away on July 23 at a local D.C. hospital after a brief illness. Schorr worked in the broadcast and print journalism industry for more than 70 years and was an author of non-fiction books, including his own 2001 memoir, Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism. Schorr described himself as a … Read more
Are you contemplating a stint as a Congressional intern? Most of these internships are not paid, but the competition for them is still high. Some of the most powerful people in Washington began their careers as interns on Capitol Hill. Former Vice President Dick Cheney began his political career as an intern for Rep. William … Read more
Carte Goodwin (D-WV) was sworn in Tuesday as an interim replacement of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), who passed away on June 28 while in office. At 36 years old, Sen. Goodwin is the youngest current Senator, and is filling the shoes of the man who was the oldest and, as we mentioned yesterday, the longest-serving Senator. … Read more
A Virginia-based record label, County Records, is reissuing Mountain Fiddler, a bluegrass album by former Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who passed away late last month at the age of 92. Sen. Byrd was the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate in history, at 58 years. Byrd was a self-taught fiddle player, heavily influenced by legendary … Read more