Week of November 02, 2009
Titus Potter, a senior political science major at Cal State Long Beach (CSULB), is spending the fall 2009 semester in Washington, D.C. as one of 25 college students taking part in the Congressional Internship Program sponsored by the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy.
Potter and his fellow interns are spending two-and-a-half months in Washington working in the offices of members of the California congressional delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives or for a government agency. Students were selected by the presidents of the 23 California State University campuses as well as the presidents of Santa Clara University and Dominican University of California for their scholastic achievements as well as their interest in politics.
“The Panetta Congressional Internship Program is giving me an opportunity to gain more knowledge about politics and to obtain first-hand political experience,” Potter wrote in an e-mail from Washington, D.C. “I applied to the internship because I wanted to be able to see politics from a national level. I also wanted the chance to apply the knowledge I’ve obtained in the (CSULB) Political Science Department.”
Potter’s initial assignment has been in the office of the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to serving the members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The CMF also serves the institutional offices of the Congress, through staff management training, office facilitation services, publications on best practices and technology research.
Although he anticipated working for a congressional member when he began his internship, he described CMF as a great non-profit to work for, and, he noted, he will be getting another assignment working for another agency in the coming weeks.
While in Washington, Potter is attending regular seminars with key administration personnel on different aspects of government policy, ranging from economics to the environment and foreign affairs to defense resources. Speakers participating in these seminars include former and current cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, U.S. senators and representatives.
The Panetta Institute pays for the entire program, which concludes in early December and provides interns with a stipend during their stay in Washington, D.C. Additionally, each student receives 20 academic credits upon successful completion of the internship program.
The Congressional Internship Program experience began in mid-September with an intensive two-week orientation at the Panetta Institute for Public Policy in Monterey. The orientation provided classes on the legislative and administrative structures of a congressional office, the role of an intern, key California issues, the House leadership and committee roles, the rules and procedures of debate and law making, the budget and appropriations processes, the role of the press, Social Security and health care, and White House relations with Congress.
“While in Monterey, (the) political courses helped prepare us for work on Capitol Hill,” Potter said of the two-week orientation. “We learned about heath care, the relationship between Democrats and Republicans, and we were also given the opportunity to hear from a number of prestigious previous members of congress, an insurance specialist, the parliamentarian of the House and individuals from former President Clinton’s administration.”
Potter noted that this internship is at “the heart of my goals,” both from an education and career standpoint. In anticipation of earning his bachelor’s degree at CSULB next spring, he already is looking at graduate school with plans of earning a master’s degree in public policy and going on to earn a juris doctorate degree. His long-term goal is to become a U.S. Senator and “assist in making America an even greater nation.”