US Senate Floor Has One Senator as Begich Presides

We took the Metro to Union Station today, then walked to the Russell Senate Building.
(#1 on the map below.)

We passed through lovely, tree filled park, for the three or four blocks from the station.

Security at the Russell Senate Office Building was like at the Federal Building in Anchorage.  Bothersome, but not that big a deal.  And then we were free to roam the halls of the building.

Senator Begich's office was where all those people were.  We were there to get tickets to get into the Senate Chambers.  It turned out we needed someone to take us there and that person turned out to be an intern from the University of Alaska Fairbanks named Adrian.   And they suggested we get him to take us on a tour, that he was the best guide.  So we did.

This the outer office in Senator Begich's office with some other Alaskans there talking to the staff.

Here's Adrian on the train from the Senate Office Building to the Senate itself.  I'd read already that you had to check in your cameras before going into the Senate Gallery.  We also had go through security again.  We'd seen on a C-Span screen that Sen. Begich was presiding in the Senate.  It turns out this was not despite his low rank in the Senate, but because of it.

There was only one Senator on the floor - Sen Sessions of Alabama - giving a speech about a new Judge candidate who he accused of taking her liberal agenda to the bench and making decisions based on politics not the law.  Sen. Begich checked his blackberry and read documents while Sen. Sessions talked to an empty chamber - except for those of us in the Gallery.  Then Sen. Sessions departed and Sen. Dodd of Connecticut began a similar speech about the Republicans forcing all 41 of their members to block a vote on the upcoming financial reform bill.  During this speech, another young Senator came to replace Sen. Begich on the podium.

I'd heard that this went on, but watching it brought home the absurdity of it all. People get to stand up and give their speeches to the C-Span audiences (which aren't shown the empty chambers) and get their words into the Congressional Record. On the bright side, not all the other Senators have to waste their time listening. For the record, I did not see this happen in Juneau. Since I couldn't take pictures in the Senate chambers, here's a picture of the OLD Senate Chambers we saw later.


Adrian and the other interns were meeting with Sen. Murkowski, but he had two other people to show around an hour later, so we went to lunch and rejoined them later on for the rest of the tour.

There were lots of domed ceilings and chandeliers.  I'm not sure what this one was.

Here's a bit of floor tile.

This is Albert Caswell, the Poet of the Senate.  You can read about him in this  Politico post.

Here's a brief excerpt from a poem posted in the Congressional Record April 27, 2009:

He cries .....
As half his face is gone, has died .....
In this face of courage we see .....
The true definition of beauty .....
Countless operations, courage's full measure .....
All in faith's affirmation .....
Both Beauty and The Beast .....
As his shot is heard around the world .....
As his courage is unfurled ..... beyond belief .....
A Beautiful Man .....
With every step, reloading .....
With the Height of Courage exploding .....
He takes command!

I'll let you make your own assessment of his poetry. 

This is the Senate Capitol Rotunda dome.

Our group in the Rotunda.

High on the Rotunda wall is a frieze depicting the history of the US from Columbus to the Forty Niners digging for gold in California.  

When we rode the underground train back to the Russell Senate Building, we shared the ride with Sen. McCain.

Then we got our Metro ride back to J1's place, walked Kona, then went out for dinner at Bombay Bistro in Rockville with an old friend and his family.  It's late so that's it.