Priyanth Manjooran '10
Priyanth Manjooran’s Blog
The Internship
In January, I participated in an internship at Senator Tom Harkin’s office in Cedar Rapids. This internship placed me among the Senator’s officers and case workers performing various tasks. These tasks varied from answering phones and taking legislative intakes and forwarding them to Washington D.C to helping case workers with constituent cases and coordinating projects with other staff.
Week 1 at Senator Harkin’s Office
This block, I am participating in an internship at Senator Tom Harkin’s office in Cedar Rapids. This internship places me among the Senator’s officers and case workers. The first week was a new and interesting experience. I arrived at a time when the offices were being completely renovated. The entire office had already been in a state of transition for a couple months due to the effects of the flood. My first day was primarily spent moving and organizing furniture, files, and books. However, I received a special treat that afternoon. I was invited to go along with some of the other officers to a special meeting about flood relief. This was a great experience because there were many government officials and politicians present. There were a couple current and former senators. There were also many district representatives, mayors, and other influential people present. Getting to sit in during this meeting was special because I was able to learn many of the strategies local politicians were planning on implementing.
After the first day, I started working on projects I would become very familiar with in the ongoing week. The Senator’s office handles a lot of casework and thus led to an opportunity to learn about topics such as immigration, social security, flood relief, labor, and various others. There are three main officers in the office. One deals primarily with cases regarding immigration and the army. The other officer deals with disaster assistance and social security. The last officer deals with cases regarding labor and unemployment. These are all topics that are very active today. As a result, many of Senator Harkin’s constituents call in asking for assistance in situations dealing with these topics. The officers are very eager to pass on their knowledge and give me opportunities to deal with the constituents. This has really helped me learn a lot about topics I was very unclear on. Another task I do is respond to constituent calls. Many times, constituents call in to complain or bring up and issue to the Senator’s attention. This has made me become more aware of current events and as a result, government action towards those events.
I am definitely sure to learn a lot from this internship. The sheer amount of cases and issues I work with and made aware of has already helped me learn about representative governments. The many constituents that call in are counting on the Senator to represent them in order to augment their chances of getting the government to do what they want. I have also been exposed to the ability of the Senator’s office to quicken and facilitate actions taken in other areas of the government. This has helped me gain a greater understanding of the various departments and branches of government as well. I am looking forward to learning more about my government as I continue with this internship.
Week 2 at Senator Harkins Office
I have been an intern at Senator Tom Harkin’s office for two weeks now. My first week was filled with new experiences and had me learning many new things. The second week made me feel a lot more comfortable in my surroundings. I quickly picked up on how things worked around the office. I learnt how to use the software efficiently and I also learnt how casework was handled.
This week, I was exposed to a lot of casework. The officers in the Senator’s office got me involved in many cases they were handling. I got to hear of many constituents who had problems with social security, army affairs, immigration, disaster relief, labor, unemployment, and military academy nominations. I was able to communicate with these constituents and also learned how to help them. I was frequently in correspondence with many government organizations. This helped me learn how many of the cases the constituents had could be resolved. These cases taught me how government organizations work together and how the assistance of the Senators office facilitates the faster resolution of these cases.
Along with the plethora of casework, I am also exposed to many constituents who want to voice there opinions on current events and the Senator’s actions regarding those event. Many constituents call in to voice their concerns of the economy, disaster relief, and the FOCA (Freedom of Act). Many times, this provides the opportunity to expose myself to differing views and opinions. Sometimes, people call in with opinions so far from reality, trying to explain facts to them allows me to exercise my own mind. This has so far proved to be an interesting experience.
Final week at Senator Harkin’s office
I am at the end of my internship at Senator Tom Harkin’s office in Cedar Rapids. It has been a great 3 and a half weeks where I got to experience and learn many new things. At first I thought 3 and a half weeks was not long enough to fully get engrossed in the process, however being in the office 40 hours a week has made me very familiar with everything happening in the Senator’s office.
During this last part of my internship, the office was very busy. The inauguration, Tim Geithner’s Secretary of Treasury hearing, and the developing stimulus package made for quite a hectic week. We had to deal with many calls from concerned constituents regarding current issues. We also had to deal with many issues regarding inauguration ticket problems. With all of this, the many calls and cases regarding the flood didn’t stop coming in.
These last three weeks, I have been exposed to many flood related stories. I was also fortunate enough to learn the many methods that Iowa is planning to use to provide relief to the community. One of the more interesting parts of my internship had to be my visit to the University of Iowa to tour its flood damage. We had the opportunity to eat lunch with the schools attorney as well as tour the many buildings and landmarks devastated by the flood. Seeing the damage was incredible and saddening. There is so much to do to return things back to normal. This is true for the university as well as Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.
I learned that the total cost for flood recovery would be about 500 million dollars. The devastation to the flood affected areas is so great that many estimate the flood relief efforts will go on for about a decade. I learned a lot in terms of flood relief, however I was still exposed to a lot of other issues. The valuable tidbits I get from the Senator’s officers has been a great source of knowledge. I now have much greater understanding in how the U.S. government deals with issues of labor, immigration, and social security.
The internship has also been a great help because it has allowed me to gain some valuable contacts. I have met with some people who said they would be glad to help me in future endeavours. This networking has been a valuable part of my internship.
I have enjoyed my time at the Senator’s office. I have learnt a great deal of how our representative government deals with many issues. I have had personal experiences with many government organizations and understand many government processes. I also have gained a greater understanding as to the relationship between the Senator and his constituents. I am grateful for this opportunity and as a result am more confident about my future in law and politics.