The Iowa Senators throw a party

This was the scene outside the Russell Senate Building, just a few blocks from where we live, this morning. A long line of people standing in the cold wind!

We were in this long queue.  Why? Because Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst invited us, that's why!

It was the annual Spring Break Reception for Iowans, hosted by the two Iowa Senators.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of either of those senators. Their voting records and their public personas have been known to make me exclaim "What is the matter with [him/her]?" I mean, "Make 'em squeal"?  I mean, working to repeal Obamacare because "Republicans campaigned on it. That's pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill." 

But really, they are my elected officials, even if I didn't personally vote for them. And plus, I am curious: I wanted to know how many other people would be there, why they might go to the reception, etc. etc.

Because the line to get into the building was long, it gave me plenty of time to talk to the people around me and ask them what brought them here. Not all of them were there for the Iowa reception.

Two women behind us were there from Atlanta and were going in to visit with the Georgia senators about support for foster care issues. "Senator Grassley is one of our champions," one of the women says. "He supports foster programs." Another woman was there as part of an MBA program.

The Russell Senate Office Building, where the reception took place, was built in the early 1900s. It's very stately and grand.

And this room, where the reception was held, was where the Titanic Hearings were held back in 1913. The Watergate hearings, the Iran-Contra hearings, and Clarence Thomas's nomination hearings were held in this room, too.

Inside the elegant reception room,  there was a big crowd, milling about and enjoying coffee and donuts. I'd been hoping for a reception line, like at a wedding, to shake the hands of the senators. But no: at first, it was more like a couple of scrums.

After eating a donut for sustenance, I decided to make an attempt to shake one of the senators' hands. Near Joni Ernst, a line was forming out of the scrum, so we decided on her.

In the line with us were lots of other Iowans, at the reception for different reasons:

• a garrulous, bearded guy with a Farm Bureau pin on his lapel. "What do farmers want from the senators?" I asked. Apparently they want low property taxes (probably not in a Senator's area--that's a state issue). And they are horrified by Trumps tariffs, which will hurt agricultural trade, or at least that's what the farmers fear.
• a family from Indianola, in DC for spring break, and just wanting a photo op with the senator
• an attorney from Cedar Rapids, who wanted to bring employment issues (medical leave, etc.) to the Senator's attention
• a group of people lobbying for continued financial support for TRIO, a Federal government program that offers support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Coe has a TRIO program, so I was glad to talk with someone from that group!)

As I stood in line, I planned what I wanted to say:

1. Thank Senator Ernst for holding this reception, 
2. Thank her and her staff for responding to my calls and emails. 
3. Urge Senator Ernst to do anything she can to financially support the arts and humanities. 

Yes, there were many other things I could have bent her ear about. But as a US Senator, she can't do anything about these stupid ideas that I have strong feelings against: states deciding to arm teachers, lifting clean water regulations in Iowa, cutting education funding in Iowa, electing Donald Trump--so I chose something that she was just lobbied about by a colleague and other Friends of the Humanities. The federal government has always provided financial support for the arts and humanities in the US. We want that to continue.

So that's what I did. She shook my hand. She listened (or at least looked like she was listening) and said the expected things. An aide was taking notes. He also took this photo for me.

She is not a particularly tall person.

All in all it was a good morning. I'm glad the Senators provided me this opportunity to talk to people about what matters to them. Oh, and to shake Senator Ernst's hand, too.