Each year one of the focal points of the Youth Tour to Washington, sponsored by the nation's electric cooperatives, is a day spent on Capitol Hill. Students representing cooperatives meet and ask questions of their Congressional representatives. They also tour the Capitol Building and witness their government in action. It was a busy day last June with a full agenda.
7:30 am — Arrived at the Capitol.
"I liked looking at how big the actual Capitol Hill is! That was cool." —Ken Bass, Youth Tourist from Lincolnton representing Rutherford EMC.
Congressman Mike McIntyre of Lumberton challenges the Youth Tourists to have the drive and determination to meet their dreams.
8:00 am — Discussed with members of Congress issues important to Youth Tourists. Ten of North Carolina's 13 congressional representatives visited the students in the Cannon House Office Building.
"My favorite part was being able to see people that represent your district, your state, and being able to talk with them and ask them any questions. They were really relatable." —Jordon Edwards, Youth Tourist from Ennice representing Blue Ridge EMC.
"The group that you are here with is one of the best groups that you could ever imagine. They invest back in the community. They invest truly in their communities through memberships." —Congressman Mark Meadows, Highlands, who represents portions of French Broad EMC, Haywood EMC, Rutherford EMC and Blue Ridge EMC service areas.
Noon — Journeyed through the secure underground tunnels to the Capitol.
"People get lost all the time. I spent 42 minutes when I was an intern once pushing this cart with a projector on it all through the subbasement level. I was totally lost." —Cyrus Artz, energy legislative assistant for Congresswoman Virginia Foxx.
Padraic Hohenstein of Hertford, representing Albemarle EMC, photographs Senator Richard Burr as he addresses the Youth Tour delegation.
12:30 pm — Spoke with Sen. Richard Burr and Shaniqua McClendon, Sen. Kay Hagan's education legislative assistant.
"This is always a great group I look forward to on an annual basis getting together with. Hopefully it's been educational and fun." —Sen. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem.
Camera phones got good use on the tour of the Capitol.
2:30 pm — Toured the Capitol.
"The statues were really cool. I love photography so I took a picture of every single one." —Padraic Hohenstein, Youth Tourist from Hertford representing Albemarle EMC, who took more than 4,000 pictures on the trip.
3:30 pm — Observed Congress in action in the House and Senate galleries.
"It was really interesting because when we got to see the Senate gallery it was watching our government work, which is really cool." —Emily Murphy, Youth Tourist from Stallings representing Union Power Cooperative.
Youth Tourists gathered on the northeast steps of the Capitol for a picture at the end of the day.
4:30 pm — Photographed on the Capitol steps, then boarded the bus back to the hotel.
"I thought that it was awesome that we got to go into the actual Capitol instead of just looking on the outside. We actually got to look from the inside and see how everything works. That was my favorite part of the trip." —Yesel Trillo-Ordonez, Youth Tourist from Jacksonville representing Jones-Onslow EMC.
