SENATOR ROBERT MENENDEZ
(DEMOCRAT, NEW JERSEY)
Katherine B. Lawrence

            A politics major with a concentration in American studies at Princeton University in New Jersey, Katherine Lawrence is vice president of the 2008 class of student government and community-service chair of her residential Forbes College Council. A member on Princeton’s Pre-Business Society, Katie also participated in the Student Global AIDS Campaign; served on the Career Services Advisory Board; and belonged to Kappa Kappa Gamma, Club Lacrosse, and the Cum Laude Society. She was chosen as the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar, a National Merit Commended Scholar, she won the Citizenship Prize, and was an A.P. Scholar with Distinction. Katherine earned the Smith College Book Award, and she was part of the National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. in 2003 where she was chosen by her peers as the closing speaker. Katie’s SAT scores were 730 in verbal, and 710 in math. Her international experience included the New York Study Abroad program in London. With the help of the Washington Internship Program, which wrote a glowing letter of recommendation on her behalf, Katherine was awarded Princeton University’s Pace Center for Civic Engagement Scholarship on May 19, 2006 for $3,500 for her summer internship. Katie requested a placement in the U.S. Senate with the Democratic Party, and she was accepted by New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez on April 26, 2006 for an internship from June 12 through August 4. During this time, Katie lived in International House – which is operated by WIP for American interns as well as students from abroad within the luxurious home of a former D.C. mayor. Katie wrote of her experience as follows:

            “Before coming to Washington, I took relevant courses in American history, national security, politics, and international relations, and I therefore felt ready to see first-hand how government worked at the federal level. I had lived in New Jersey for most of my life and traveled extensively in England, France, China, Bolivia, Peru, Australia, and Mexico, in addition to other countries around the world. I biked across the southern United States from Savannah, Georgia to Los Angeles, California the previous summer and witnessed different regions, lifestyles, and cultures across the nation from an up-close and personal perspective. I learned in the process that the government in Washington has a truly difficult task in representing such a wide range of individuals with vastly different hopes and expectations. Likewise, my exposure to other countries’ systems of government – particularly through studying in London and visiting family in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and Sydney, Australia – taught me more about America by comparison.”

            “Working in the U.S. Senate showed me how democracy functions on a daily basis. Walking into the Hart Senate office building everyday, alongside employees ranging from staff assistants to deputy chiefs of staff as well as the senators themselves – wearing my security-clearance identification badge around my neck with ‘intern’ marked clearly in bold red print on the front – made me feel like I was part of something great. With coffee in one hand and the day’s paper in the other, I knew that the people around me would be drafting legislation that day which would affect millions of lives.”

            “Although many of my duties involved administrative tasks such as filing, answering phones, and sorting mail, I also attended Senate hearings and briefings covering a diverse range of policies. I wrote memos on these hearings and reported back to legislative correspondents and assistants so they could be up-to-date on recent information. I also responded to many constituent letters and informed citizens about what was going on in Congress, gave in-depth tours of the Capitol, researched issues, and tracked amendments relevant to the Senator’s pending legislation.”

            “It was an incredibly exciting and interesting time to be working on Capitol Hill. Only a few times in each century do moments occur in history that define a nation. World War II was the last such occasion, and today is another era in which our country has both an enormous opportunity to aid the world but also immense pressure on it to make sure that we do not overreach or do wrong. The war in Iraq, the new struggle between Israel and Lebanon, global warming, and Castro’s temporary handing over of power to his brother all have huge implications for our national security as well as the safety of citizens in other countries. Domestic issues like education, Medicare, and stem-cell research are also causing great tension as they divide our country. This summer, three bills came to the Senate floor on embryonic stem-cell research, an issue about which I feel most passionately. By working in the Senate, I was in the middle of the national debate, and I learned about the variety of options and the intensity of the moral dialogue on this topic from the nation’s leading scientific experts. I attended a briefing by Senator Barak Obama on this subject and learned from reputed doctors of the promises it holds for treating spinal-cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cancer, and Parkinson’s among other life-threatening illnesses. I also went to a hearing held by Senator Santorum on alternative pluripotent stem-cell research before he introduced bill S.2754, the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act,which does not advocate funding embryonic research.I discussed the specifics in-depth with the legislative assistant in our office who makes policy recommendations on health issues to the Senator. I conducted research on the topic and took down the votes for H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which would support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells. This bill had passed in the House of Representatives the previous year and passed in the Senate in July, but when it went to the president’s desk, Bush vetoed – using his first such veto in six years of office.”

            “Working in the Senate was an unbelievable experience for me. I learned how our nation’s government works from being there and seeing it with my own eyes.”

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