Today and Tomorrow have the potential to be the best two days of our trip so far!
On Wednesday we made friends with a couple of cool kids from Montanta. They ended up giving us tickets to sit up in the gallery for a session of Congress. So yesterday six of us went to watch the last session of congress before the Inauguration. To say the least it will be a day that I will remember forever. By total chance and luck we got to sit in on a very exciting and historic day in Congress. The morning session with Joe Biden giving his farewell speech to the Congress. He stood at his desk (which was just below us) and gave a long, emotional goodbye speech to his friends. He spoke of the first time he entered the Senate floor (at age 21, by mistake), former Senators who left lasting impressions on him, his family tragedy and what being in Congress has meant to him. His talk brought tears to my eyes and made me realize that I was the beginning the start of a new part of history.
After Biden’s speech some small Senate business took place and then we got to see Hillary Clinton give her farewell speech. We had a perfect view of her desk and it was extra special to see my own Senator resign and bid her position goodbye. Compared to Biden’s speech, Clinton’s was far shorter and much less emotional but nevertheless moving. She spoke at length about the people of New York and what representing the state has meant to her. Being a New Yorker I felt honored to be there as it was like she was saying goodbye personally to me (as a constituent).
We were so close to the floor and saw all the high ranking Senators. We saw Reid, Byrd, McCain, Kerry, Schumer, Milulski, Cornyn, and McConnell just to name a few. In the afternoon we watched Dick Cheney swear in Roland Burris. It was a day I will never forget and help solidify the feeling that we are witnessing history this weekend.
I am actually writing this Friday morning because the Internet was down and we took some time to catchup on some sleep as we have a busy weekend ahead. Look for another post tonight as we are going to Smithsonians today!
