A Congressman’s day - U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul
A Congressman’s day - U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul
Written by Staff Friday, 07 March 2008
During the last week of September, three of the Community Impact Newspaper staff, including publisher John Garrett, editor Cathy Kincaid and assistant editor Christi Covington, traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with local congressmen. The goal was to follow their normal schedule and report on efforts to meet local needs on a national level.
Congressional District 10
Bio - U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul is serving his second term, which ends next year, representing the 10th District of Texas in the United States Congress. He plans to run for re-election.
Born in 1962, McCaul is originally from Dallas, where he attended a Jesuit preparatory college. He went to San Antonio and graduated with a bachelor’s in business and history from Trinity University. McCaul also received his Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program of the School of Government at Harvard University. He eventually served as Texas Deputy Attorney General and as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice.
He is married to Linda Mays McCaul. Together the McCauls have five children.
Local Office: 5929 Balcones Drive, Ste. 305, Austin, 473-2357,
House committees
- Committee on Homeland Security
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Committee on Science and Technology
- Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
- House Republican Policy Committee
Reporter’s Note: The day we spent with the Congressman was marked by two primary activities: walking and talking. We went back and forth from the Capitol and other surrounding buildings. Between meetings, McCaul’s staff briefed him on the bills up for vote throughout the day. While interesting and informative, the day was anything but glamorous. -Christi Covington, Assistant Editor
8 a.m. | Breakfast - U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul attends breakfast with members on the Homeland Security Committee.
9 a.m. | Anti-terrorism caucus meeting - McCaul organized the bipartisan meeting with guest speaker and Austinite Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize winner for his history of Al-Qaeda, “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.”
With his book as the basis, Wright opened his one-man play “My Trip to Al-Qaeda” at the LBJ Library in Austin. He also performed one week in Washington D.C. McCaul’s staff arranged for him to speak with congressional members to share his experiences in the Middle East. The meeting was closed to the general public to allow members to ask questions freely. It was a bipartisan group of around 20-30 attendees.
10 a.m. | Childhood cancer press rally at the Cannon building terrace - McCaul appears with Congresswoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio in support of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006. The legislation would give $107 million in funding. It is currently
co-sponsored by more than 70 congressional members. Supporting cancer research is one of McCaul’s priorities. He had a friend who died of childhood Leukemia in the fourth grade. His father also died of cancer. McCaul recently spoke about the need for more research and development of cancer treatment to the World Health Organization at the request of the United Nations.
10:30 a.m. | Security check - We returned to his office for a few minutes break before the next press conference.
When entering the Cannon building, we are not checked by security as McCaul’s guests. He must be wearing his congressional pin on his lapel as he escorts his companions inside. This is a privilege exclusively allowed to members of Congress.
11 a.m. | Vietnam Wall conference - Returning outside to the same spot, with the Capitol dome in the background, McCaul speaks at a press conference held by U.S. Rep. John Carter’s office, which called attention to vandalism at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The congressional members and veterans demanded the justice department make every effort to find the vandals. A veteran’s group offered a $5,000 award.
11:15 a.m. | Office wait - McCaul returns to his office, waiting for a warning buzzer that announces the voting time to sound.
When it sounds, he has 15 minutes to reach the Capitol and give his vote. When McCaul first came to Washington D.C. as an elected official, he said he would leave as soon as the bell rang, nervous that he would not make it in time. However, after awhile, he noticed his senior colleagues arrived nearly at the end of their allotted time. The 15 minutes often stretched to closer to 20 minutes. Now McCaul works a little longer in his office before going to vote.
11:40 a.m. |
In the Capitol - We travel through a maze of corridors underground between the Cannon building and the Capitol. Before entering the gallery to watch the voting, everyone, including McCaul’s staff, had to check-in their cameras, cell phones and recording devices.
The only cameras in the room belong to C-Span, which are mounted just below the balcony. McCaul’s said it is to protect congress members from the concern that their words and opinions would be taken out of context.
Inside, the congress members walk around the room below the balcony. No one has an assigned seat. They can go to any spot and cast their vote, by inserting their identification card and then pushing the button that corresponds with their decision.
1:15 p.m. | Committee briefing - Mandy Bowers, a senior staff member for Homeland Security, arrives to give a briefing on Project 28, a pilot project that builds 28 miles of wall along the Mexico-U.S. border.
Project 28 has $8 billion in funding and starts initially in Arizona. It is later expected to expand to Texas, however the pilot program has not gone as well as hoped. It began in April and the border patrol was supposed to take control of the system June 13, but they refused until it was more functional. When additional tests in July failed, the developers changed management. Now it is expected to be complete around October or November.
1:45 p.m. | Cyber warfare - Kevin Gronberg, a staff member for Homeland Security Committee, briefs McCaul on preparation of a new program designed to combat cyber warfare. The effort will be announced to the public and the media at the beginning of November. The concern is foreign countries could potentially shut down major infrastructure through computer hacking.
3 p.m. | Drop-by visit from Samsung - A lobbyist from Samsung introduces himself and discusses White Space, which is the extra and unused channels that give only grainy black and white images on the T.V. Technology is available to create devices that would stream Internet through those unused channels, but some companies have expressed concern about potential problems with interference. If the channeling device is too close to someone else’s T.V. it could cause problems. The lobbyist told McCaul that Samsung supports using the White Space channels, but wants any channeling devices in a fixed location to prevent interference.
4 p.m. | The president - McCaul gets an allergy shot before going to the White House for a special dinner with the president. The congressman is invited to the White House about four times a year with a few other members.
7 p.m. | Final votes - After another dinner, this one more casual, with other Republican members, McCaul returns to the Capitol to cast his last votes for the day.
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