While my beach-bound counterparts took to the sands in Florida this spring break, two friends and I set out on a different mission. Our week off consisted of something I would have never considered as a freshman: education.
After three days of sightseeing in our nation's capital, our itinerary said it was time for congressional visits. Unsure of how such an experience would work we threw on shirts and ties and headed towards the capital district.
We were just three guys, with three ties, and a list of the offices we wanted to visit. There were no hidden agendas, nothing we were trying to lobby for or against, other than the fact that a couple college students aren't all wasting away on their spring breaks.
Following the mandatory metal detection inspection our first stop was at the office of Congressman Mark Udall (D-Colo.). As we marched down the luxurious hallways we questioned the chances of these important men taking the time to come out and meet us. After all, we were basically going there to say hi, share a few thoughts and say thanks.
My buddy Peter had met Mark and his cousin Congressman Tom Udall (D-N.M.) while in Arizona on a scholarship conference. We figured this was our best place to start.
"Hi, my name is Peter Rizzo, this is Justin Haag, an Iraq war vet, and that is James Raymond who fought in Afghanistan, I was wondering if the Congressman was in."
Moments later a heavy mahogany door opened and a smiling man in a shirt and tie greeted us warmly with handshakes. He was not what I was expecting.
From my experience here at UB I have come to negatively see a "democrat" as associated only with the liberal groups on campus who insist on protesting everything, while at the same time getting in my face telling me how "I should feel" about the war that I fought in. But this man whom I'd never met kindly thanked me for serving, and wanted to know if I was getting all the help that I needed from the government after the war.
He really cared; even assisting my friend, who has lost most of the hearing in his left ear, with the address to a company in his district that was looking for volunteers who had hearing loss to take part in a special hearing aid program.
A photo and a few more handshakes sent us on our way, but our next visit yielded only a less than helpful intern who told us the Congressman was too busy that day.
So we trekked on refusing to be discouraged. With one day allotted in the congressional office buildings we only had time for a few more visits before what I would consider the headliner, Congressman Tom Reynolds.
Congressman Bryan Higgins (D-N.Y.) was next on the list, and his staff assured us that if we came back later in the afternoon we would be more than welcome to meet him. A few hours later we returned, Higgins invited us into his office, and talked to us about our upcoming college graduations, The Spectrum, and thanked us for our service.
Between the Congressman Higgins visits, we met Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y). As a republican living in Buffalo, this was my Graceland. He came out and firmly patted all of us on the back, the way a favorite uncle might, then shook our hands saying how proud he was of our service, and our commitment to the country, noting that he "would never let us down."
Although it was obvious there were a million things he could have been doing he brought us into his office talked to us like adults, and then his staff got a few snapshots. A tour of the Capital from one of his staff members completed the festivities and our final meeting of the day was quickly approaching.
Though the majority of the Congressmen were walking out of the building, we hoped to say hello to one final representative, Tom Udall. We waited quietly in the reception area of his office. Finally his meeting ended and he came out looking tired, undoubtedly from a long day of votes and meetings. However, he pepped up quickly shaking our hands asking us about ourselves and our experiences. Though it was dinner time, the only thing he seemed concerned about was listening intently to everything we had to say.
After around 20 minutes we left and walked down Constitution Avenue with smiles on our faces and minds full of ideals. Who knows, maybe one of our discussions had made a difference.
I'm not so na??ve to think that any of the Congressman remember my name, I'm sure they get hundreds of visits a week, but I can't say enough about how cordial and genuine they were. I'm proud of my country, and proud of my government, as long as Bryan Higgins, Tom Reynolds, and the Udall cousins keep up the good work.
After dropping my friends off at the D.C. airport the next morning, I began the long ride home. I scrolled through the stations until I found the Rush Limbaugh show. Twenty minutes later I decided maybe I would take a break from Rush's ranting for a little while.
As I merged back into traffic heading away from D.C., I decided the silence would be a good time to call my mom and let her know I'd be able to stop in for dinner. Our conversation ended with me saying, "You know what mom? Before I left I wouldn't have ever voted for a democrat, now, I still don't know if I would, but I'd at least consider it."
