Membership has its privileges

My wife's uncle has a friend who also happens to be a tour guide for the United States Senate. So today we took a tour of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. and, after the standard tour, we were treated to the VIP tour. This included many trips down corridors reading "No Entry" and "Members Only."

The first VIP stop was the "Speaker's Balcony." First, we headed down the restricted corridor holding the large offices reserved for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Capitol Police greeted us at every corner and intersection.) One of the perks of the Speaker is that there's a large balcony directly in the center of the Capitol that looks down over the Washington Mall. Directly below us, a large stage was being set up for Fourth of July celebrations. We snapped a couple of pictures, the Washington Monument looming large in the background.

After this, we headed down the floor of the House of Representatives. (For reasons not entirely clear, the Senate is held at a higher state of security than the House). Not the gallery around the chamber but the seats warmed by the actual Representatives. We were right down on the floor to the right of the speakers podium and directly across from the floor podiums. Behind the rows are the voting stations where Reps put their securty cards and press green or red buttons for "Yea" or "Nay."

Our host waxed about some favorite Senators and Representatives. Apparently, Barbara Boxer is pretty popular among the guides, along with "Dr. Frist" and Connecticut's Chris Dodd. Anyway, it was a rare and special treat. There are some additional details (and some pictures) but I don't want to run afoul of any security laws I don't know about.