Summer of a Young Lifetime

Amelia Warriner's voice sounds like she's channeling the Cheshire cat.

Warriner, soon to be a 12^th-grader at the Asheville (NC) School, just completed three weeks of serving as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives, roaming the Capitol and surrounding Washington on her free time, culminating in an invitation to a White House luau and watching a controversial energy bill passed in the House.

She found time to write an article for this newspaper (see this page) about her experiences and talked about them during a trip home this week.

"I had a wonderful time," Warriner said. "It was fun to roam around the Capitol with ease (because of her special badges as a page).

"I learned a lot about how government works. Three weeks of watching the energy bill passed, it pretty much was going on the whole time I was there and passed the day before I left, I learned a lot about how laws are made, about amendments and how that process works."

A page, Warriner explained, is pretty much a messenger, running messages in and out of the chambers to representatives or messages to each other.

They are sponsored by individual representatives, passed to the House leadership, reviewed by the Speaker of the House and approved. Warriner said she was among 70-75 pages working during the three weeks she was there.

She was sponsored by Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida).

"That was really, really nice of him," Warriner said.

While there were spells that are frequently viewed on C-Span, of a lone representative speaking before an empty room, the energy bill and the political maneuvering taking place over its passage made the chamber a busy, noisy place, Warriner said.

And Warriner said bi-partisanship hasn't exactly become any kind of catchword to describe what she observed.

Start with the pages themselves.

Because of the Democratic majority, there were more pages sponsored by Democratic representatives. When the bench for pages to sit in the back of the chamber was full on the Democratic side, there had to an incursion into Republican page territory, which did not sit well with the pages on that side of the aisle, Warriner.

She recalled it, though, the only instance she could remember of friction in the ranks.

"I made more friends that I have my entire life," Warriner said.

 The representatives, well, they tended to be a noisy, often cantankerous lot, paraphrasing Warriner.

"What I learned as that while congressmen are very educated, they are very educated kindergartners," Warriner said with a laugh. "The way they talk over each other. They can seem like they have something to say, something important, but you listen to what they say and it can be pretty funny.

"We went to the Senate one day and its very clean-cut, very (business-like). On the House they are a lot more busy, there is a lot more going on and you have more than 450 representatives in the House but only 100 senators."

In late June, Warriner had the opportunity to attend a White House luau. Boyd received an invite, extended it to Warriner, who was called from the floor of the House chamber, excited.

She received the private tour of the White House, she said, not the public tour, leisurely walking through the East Wing to the Rose Garden for the festivities.

She saw the playful president try to dunk one of his Cabinet secretaries in the dunking booth and had her photo snapped with Boyd and President Barack Obama.

"He saw the congressman, they had a short conversation and (Boyd) asked is I could get a picture with him," Warriner said.

While she had little time for words with the president, she did have a chance for a brief conversation with the president's wife, Michelle.

"I told her I admired her and what she had done, how she had given hope to all moms," Warriner said. "She thanked me and said she was glad to meet me."

When she returns for her senior year of high school on Aug. 22, Warriner's how-I-spent-my-summer story will surely be among the best.

"The whole thing I will never forget in my whole life," Warriner said. "I had so much fun.

"I mean, I saw (Speaker of the House) every day because she was always walking around the House floor. I met some of the most powerful people. It was an experience I'll never forget."

Aloha Obama: Luau at the White House

By Amelia Warriner

Special to The Star

Two months ago I received a phone call from Congressman Allen Boyd (D-Florida) regarding my acceptance into the Congressional Page Program.  I had submitted an application to the Congressman's office and spent a couple weeks nervously awaiting the result so when I finally received the call that I had been accepted I was ecstatic. 

In a nutshell the Congressional Page Program is a program where rising junior and seniors are given a chance to work in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.  I was given an opportunity to work for some of the world's most powerful people. 

While in Washington I was able to witness one of the most important energy bills ever passed in the United States.  The votes were very close the Yeas stood at 219 and the Nays at 212.  Two hundred nineteen votes was the number of votes that the Democrats needed to have the bill passed in the House. I met many established politicians such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), and most importantly President Barack Obama.

I had the chance of a lifetime to meet the President of the United States last Thursday night, June 25.  Congressman Allen Boyd contacted me while I was working on the House floor and invited me to the Congressional Luau hosted by Barack Obama and the First Lady at the White House.  I immediately accepted the generous invitation and went back to the Page Residence Hall where I was boarding to get ready for the Luau.

I met with Congressman Boyd at his Office building and we drove to the White House grounds where we had to stand in line to get in.  When we arrived in the Rose Garden I could see all of the festivities.  There were white tents set up all around the grounds that served all sorts of delicious cuisine; a surfboard was stuck in the ground so you could get a memorable photograph taken, Tiki torches, and much more Hawaiian themed paraphernalia. 

Almost immediately as we arrived the president began to give a little speech on the stage that had been set up. 

He greeted everyone by saying "Aloha" and wished everyone a fantastic time.

He then headed over to a dunking booth with his children where presidential staff was waiting to be plunged underwater by President Obama's children.  When his kids had missed the target a few times the President walked up to the target and pushed it and cheered.  He then allowed people to take pictures with him and I happened to be one of those lucky people.

Congressman Boyd introduced me to the President and asked if I could have the honor of taking a picture with him.  The president, Congressman Boyd, and I posed for the presidential photographer and then took one with my personal camera.  I remember the giddiness I felt when I shook his hand and asked for a picture.  I could barely form sentences I was so excited.  It was the most amazing experience that I have had in my life and I will never forget that moment.

After I met the President I was also honored enough to be able to meet the First Lady, Michelle Obama.  She was wearing a beautiful floral dress and a purple.  She was also walking the "first dog" Bo. 

My trip to Washington D.C. ended up being a very memorable trip.  I met many friends within the page program, met the President of the United States, and had a chance to work for Nancy Pelosi.  I thank everyone one of the staff in Congressman Boyd's office in Washington DC for making this opportunity happen.  Special thanks go to Congressman Boyd who sponsored me throughout the program and invited me to the Congressional Luau.  The opportunities I had were some I will never forget.