Nethercutt Foundation Fellows' D.C. Experience Blog

Whenever I am asked the questions about influential figures in my life, I think of the immediate answers that are similar to most everyone’s: my family, a coach, or maybe a teacher I have encountered somewhere along the line. I now have a wonderful man to add to that list, Congressman George Nethercutt. There has been so much talk of all of the "great" people that we have met during our trip...and they have been great...but when I look back at my most memorable, influential, and downright enjoyable experiences, I will always think of Mr.Nethercutt. He is such a wonderful man and I feel so blessed to have had this incredible opportunity. I still remember what he told us all at our first meeting, he said "I am going to give you all the time of you’re life, whether you like it or not". He chuckled after saying it, but he was not kidding. He truly cares about others, and my praise for him has been echoed by each of the prominent leaders that we have met with during these past two weeks. It has been such a pleasure to be on this trip with Mr. Nethercutt. He has a genuine interest in our lives, and really wants us to succeed in our futures. There have been a few nights in which Mr. Nethercutt has stayed out with our group until eight or nine at night, just talking. He is so full of knowledge, and loves taking the opportunity to share it with us. He created this foundation solely for the benefit of the students, investing his time and money so we can become more civically educated. I am forever grateful for the experience.

Congressman Nethercutt loves his country, and he is dedicated to working with tomorrow’s leaders in order to preserve our wonderful nation.  Thank you, Mr. Nethercutt, for providing us with this great opportunity!  You have forever changed us!

When the last meeting ended today, and we got back to the hotel, it hit me that today was the last full day in the nation’s capitol. While I’m excited to go back to see my family and friends, I also feel great regret having to leave this life-transforming city.

These past two weeks have been beyond amazing. The foundation has surpassed all of my hopes and expectations that I had of Washington D.C. To be able to meet with great leaders in both industry and government was remarkable. Moreover, to sit down with them one-on-one and listen to their life stories was an amazing experience. They talked about the qualities of a great leader, shared their views on the political process and gave insight into the workings of our government. The life stories and depictions of all the admirable people we met helped me straighten out my own priorities as well as gain new insight into the leadership qualities I want to develop and posses.

These past two weeks have changed my life tremendously. I can’t help but look upon everyday situations in a different light because I am now better informed on how our government deals with these issues.

Thank you Congressman Nethercutt for providing us with this wonderful opportunity!

We were on the metro to the Pentagon when I started getting nervous. Waiting to meet us were Major General Philip M. Breedlove of the Air Force and Brigadier General Joseph P. Disalvo of the Army...and I must admit I was intimidated. Looking back I realize that my nervousness was for naught, as the people we met at the Pentagon were some of the most down to earth people we have encountered. We were met by Commander Kistler and Commander Devaney who were genuinely excited about our trip and happy to show us around. We were briefed on the basic Pentagon functions and how they interact with both the executive and legislative branches of the government by Col.Weirick. General Breedlove turned to us for questions and he candidly answered ones posed on China, AirBus, and safety regulations. We were then given a tour and as we walked by a McDonalds, a flower shop, and a DMV, I was astonished by the shear size of the Pentagon. Approximately 26,000 people work at the Pentagon any given day sending more than 1 million e-mails a day. It truly is an impressive structure filled with impressive people. Towards the end of the tour we were brought to the Pentagon’s 9/11 Memorial. As we looked out the windows it gave me a feeling that’s hard to explain in words, but it brought me back to that day. Sorrow, Anger, Unification.

I am truly grateful for the service these men and women provide that we may continue to enjoy the freedom we have here in America!

Today we continued our meetings with Congressmen, meeting
with former Congressmen Charles Bass and Steve Largent, and
Congressman Frank Wolf, a Representative from Virginia. Both Largent
and Bass are no longer in Congress, but each of them are CEOs in major
industries of the business world. All three of these men were a
pleasure to meet with, and as I have from each of my meetings, I took
a valuable piece of information away from each experience.

Mr. Bass gave a good lesson on perseverance; he was defeated twice in running
for office before he was elected to the House in the 1990s.
Congressman Wolf spoke some inspiring words to the people of my
generation when he said “there are no giants anymore”, meaning that
there is a lack of great leaders in our country today, and we young
people need to step up and prepare to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Later, we met with Steve Largent, who is a born leader. He is a Hall
of Fame wide receiver of the Seattle Seahawks, he served 8 years in
Congress, and now he is the CEO of a major industry association. He emphasized
that the most important thing, no matter what the situation, is to
stick to your core values. He said this was the key to his success in each
of his careers.

Each of our meetings on this trip has been extremely
beneficial, and I feel honored to have had the opportunity to meet and
learn from some of our country’s greatest leaders of today.

Wow!  Time flies!  Tomorrow we embark on week two of the Nethercutt Fellows' trip to Washington, DC.  We had a busy weekend full of sightseeing...the National Archives, Georgetown, the National Art Gallery...just to name a few.  We topped the weekend off with a Sunday afternoon National's baseball game and a Barbeque at the house of George and Mary Beth Nethercutt.

We have an exciting agenda planned for the next week and we hope you will continue to join us as we "blog" our adventures!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Morning:

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Library of Congress

Afternoon:

• Meeting with the Honorable Trent Lott, President of Breaux-Lott Leadership Group
• Meeting with Les Blumenthal, Washington State Correspondent at The McClatchy Company

Evening:  Tour the Natural History Museum

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Morning:

• Arlington National Cemetery
• Newseum

Afternoon: 

• Holocaust Museum

Evening:   The National Cathedral

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Morning:

• Meeting with The Honorable Charles Bass, CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership
• Meeting with Congressman Frank Wolf (R-10th, VA)

Afternoon:

• Pentagon Tour
• Meeting with The Honorable Steve Largent, President & CEO of Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Morning:

• Meeting with The Honorable Cal Dooley, President & CEO of GMA/FPA
• Meeting with Pat McGinnis, President & CEO of Council for Excellence in Government

Afternoon:

• Meeting with James Goldstein, Director, Congressional Operations for Motorola, Inc.
• Meeting with Dave Warren, President of National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

Friday, June 27, 2008

Morning:

• Meeting with Steve Bennett, Chief of Staff, Brookings Institute

Afternoon:

• Wrap-up
• Depart for Spokane, WA 

We went to the National Archives and had a private guided tour. (It pays to call ahead and make reservations.) In this building you will find the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights on display. The room that houses these documents is very dimly lit for their preservation. It is a surreal place when you’re in there and practically alone with these priceless pieces of history. It was hard to believe I was looking at the very parchment that holds the words that make up the concepts that govern our great country. I feel the concepts on these papers are inspired from God through our founding fathers. To see them was for me, a very emotional experience, to the point of bringing me to tears. You know the feeling when you have a lump in your throat and you have to swallow to help keep the tears back. This is something that I will never forget and will cherish forever.

Then, if that were not enough, they had a document on display that actually involves one of my ancestors. The Magna Carta is on display in a different part of the building. King John, who was the brother to King Richard, signed it. King John is more famously know through the “Robin Hood” story as Prince John. John Plantagenet played a major role in giving the common man the ability to own land. Today I saw that document with my own eyes and enjoyed the feeling of knowing that in a small way I am connected to it.

Washington DC is so rich with history that I find the hair on the back of my neck standing up with nearly every step I take. It is an extremely humbling experience to walk where so many great figures in American history have gone before me. To stand face to face in a nearly empty room with a number of the original copies of the most important documents in our country’s history, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta is quite impressive. It is difficult to fathom that I walked through the White House, where all but one of our President’s lived while serving their term in office. I stood on the same front porch, overlooking the same river as George Washington likely did everyday from his estate at Mount Vernon. I viewed the places where both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln took their last breaths. I strolled through our nation’s Capitol Building, where paintings on the ceiling walked me through time, presenting all of the great moments in our country’s great history. I have walked through George Washington’s garden, where he kept all of his cherry trees (no axes allowed), and I stood just feet away from his tomb where his body lays today.

Tonight I had the opportunity to sit on the top step of the Lincoln Monument and look out over the entire city, the same city that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. looked upon while he gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It was at this point when I really processed how lucky I am. This town is so full of history, which as I said earlier, is extremely humbling, but it is equally inspiring. At my age, each of these individuals was no different than I. I have realized I have the ability and duty to work to make a difference in my school, community, state, and in my country.

Many years ago, I remember talking to a naval pilot about his job. I asked him about what it was like to land his F-14 Tomcat on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the night. He told me that it was like taking a dime and flipping it into a large living room, then turning off the lights, jumping into the air and landing with your nose in the middle of the dime. He went on to tell me that as scary as that was the scariest thing about his job was the fact that all the people that were responsible for keeping him in the air were high school aged kids.

Today we met with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that is a research and information "think tank" to help governmental leaders make better-informed decisions when it comes to the policy making and implemention process. We met Nanette Everson, Director of the Young Leaders Program; David Barnes, Assistant Director of the Young Leaders Program; and Greg D’Angelo, who works with their health policy studies. David and Greg are bright, well informed college graduates in their their mid 20’s.  That is when it hit me...twenty six year olds run this country.  Let me explain.  Every Congressperson has a staff that helps them to stay informed and on schedule. Each staff member has an assigned topic to study, so when a piece of legislation comes up for a vote that member of Congress can turn to the staffer responsible for that topic to help them make a more informed decision. The average age of these staffers looks to be about twenty-six. It is amazing to observe how diligently they work and how much responsibility is given to these young college educated professionals. The Heritage Foundation is heavily staffed by the same type of highly intelligent young adults. Their purpose is to research ideas, educate the public and help legislators formulate and promote conservative public policies.  The Heritage Foundation is interested in getting young people involved in the political process and informed about the issues today. If I were young I would love to be involved with the Heritage Foundation. Unfortunately, they only take interns under the age of 40.  So, just like the Navy is run buy a bunch of high school aged kids, so a bunch of twenty six year olds participate in running the capitol.

Congressman Dave Reichert represents the 8th district of the state of Washington. In his freshmen year in the House of Representatives, Congressman Reichert was appointed chairman of the subcommittee on emergency preparedness, only the 6th freshmen in the history of the House of Representatives to be given a committee chairmanship. I asked what he attributed his success to and his answer was luck, plain luck. I think luck had very little to do with it. Congressman Reichert failed to mention that prior to his run for Congress he served as president of the Washington State Sheriff’s Association, spent 32 years at the King County Sheriff’s office, and headed the Green River Task Force that solved the largest serial murder case in United States history. Congressman Dave Reichert is a valuable asset to the state of Washington and a very modest man.

While growing up in Spokane, I became very possessive of the name “Washington”. In my mind, Washington State was the only one and true Washington and the name came to stand for all the beautiful and decent things that I associated with as I grew up there. When I did travel to other places and people would ask me where I was from, I would reply “Washington” and then they would always ask if I had ever seen the President. The answer would always come as a correction “That place is called DC. I’m from the good Washington”.

Today I saw DC in action. I have found that it actually takes a lot of time and compromise to get a bill ready for the President’s desk for him to sign. Recently the House and the Senate put together a long over due farm bill, just to have President Bush veto it. You have to remember that the farm bill is not just for the farmers, it carries such provisions for things like food stamps and nutrition programs that are used to support those in our society that cannot quite make ends meet and especially for children. So, congress went back to work to put together a more comprehensive farm bill. The House and the Senate came up with improved versions of the bill. Our own Cathy McMorris-Rodgers was on the committee that brought the two versions together in the final form. It was then sent to President Bush’s desk for the second time this morning, only to have him veto it again. Congress swung into action and by early afternoon the farm bill had passed through the House of Representatives with the two-thirds majority that it needed to override the veto.

We picked up the farm bill when it hit the Senate floor. We watched as the leaders of both parties stated why it was important to pass this into law, after which the Assistant Legislative Clerk was asked to “take role”. At this point he began to call out each of the Senators names. When their names were called they would answer with a “Yea” or “Nay” and their votes were recorded. As I watched the Senators enter the floor for the next thirty minutes and vote, I felt like I was rooting for the home team. In the end, the Senate passed the bill with the two-thirds super majority that was needed to over ride the Presidential veto.

As I watched Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell approve a bill that Cathy McMorris-Rodgers helped put together, I was amazed to see that Republicans and Democrats were actually working together. (Something we don't see too often on TV).   I felt pride in our political system as true democracy happened before our eyes...right here in Washington, DC!   You know what…I just might let them use the name “Washington” here after all.

Welcome to the Nethercutt Fellows' "Blog" of their Washington, DC experience.  Over the next 11 days we will be meeting with political and business leaders, visiting some of our nation's greatest monuments and historical sites, and learning more our our Country's history, political process and how we can be active, informed citizens making a difference in our own communities.  We invite you to join us as we share our thoughts, ideas, and lessons learned. 

Our itinerary is a full one and we are excited to share it with you!

Monday, June 16, 2008

The Nethercutt Fellows travel to Washington, DC to experience civic involvement and leadership first-hand!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Morning:

• Tour of the Capitol
• Meeting with Adam Morrison (Fellow), Senate Appropriations Committee

Afternoon: 

• Jim May, President & CEO of the Air Transport Association
• Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Evening:  View debate on the House Floor

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Morning:

• Coffee with Senator Murray (D-WA)
• Tour of the White House

Afternoon:

• Meeting with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris  (R-5th, WA)
• Meeting with Senator Cantwell (D-WA)

Evening:  Watch debate on Senate Floor. 

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Morning:

• Meeting with Frank Nutter, President of Reinsurance Association of America
• Meeting with Doc Hastings (R-4th, WA)

Afternoon:

• Meeting with Congressman Jerry Moran (R-1st, KS)
• Meeting with Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-1st, CO)
• Meeting with Congressman Dave Reichert (R-8th, WA)

Friday, June 20, 2008

• Meeting with Nanette Everson, Director of the young Leaders Program for the Heritage Foundation
• Tour:  Mt. Vernon
• Tour:  Alexandria

Today we visited the Pentagon. I was automatically impressed by the vast size of this building. One particular piece of information that I found interesting is that the Pentagon is the largest low-rise office building in the United States. Looking down one of the hallways, it was easy to understand how large this building really was. The hallway extended as far as the eye could see. It was quite a site. Despite the Pentagon’s size, I was surprised by how quickly we were able to navigate through the building. More impressive than the building, however, was the friendliness and hospitality of the servicemen who guided us through our tour. One such individual was Commander Kistler, a man who was both genuinely friendly and informative. He had a vast knowledge of the Pentagon and told us of the daily functions of the building. It was easy to see how someone as friendly as commander Kistler was able to work his way up in the military. I will hold one piece of advice in high regard as I enter the workplace wherever that may be. He said that many people who come into the military are arrogant and act as if they know the most. These individuals quickly fall because no one is willing to help them. Furthermore, others notice their attitude and let them fall. On the other hand, friendly people admit when they are uninformed and actively seek help. These people are the ones that make it far in the military. I think that you can apply this example to the business world and politics as well. Those who ask for help will receive it whereas those who assume knowledge will soon be caught at fault or take-on too much responsibility. I’ve realized that wherever I decided to work in the coming years, I will actively seek help, guidance and mentorship so that I can learn from my predecessor and benefit from their knowledge. It is easier to assume ignorance when entering a new job than to be unaware later down the road.