Last weekend, the nation’s capitol got a wallop of snow. And I do mean wallop. I live in the DC suburbs, and we have close to 2 feet of snow in our yard. We in the mid-Atlantic are not a snowy people, so this kind of snowstorm can be debilitating –– shutting down schools, businesses, and the federal government for days on end.
While most of the region was huddled in their homes with hot beverages and endless blizzard coverage, some intrepid Senators and their staffs made their way to the Capitol to gavel in a session of the Senate. And who were these dedicated public servants? I’ll tell you one thing: they weren’t men.
For the first time in the history of the Senate, everyone at work there on Tuesday was a woman. Senator Lisa Murkowsi of Alaska took note of this fact as she addressed Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who was presiding over the short session. These two veterans of many a winter blitz were hard at work talking about energy issues. Their female staffers also made it in for the day, as did female pages, female parliamentarians, and female floor managers. Senator Murkowsi remarked that when she looked around she noticed that “something is genuinely different, and I think it’s genuinely fabulous.”
I don’t know where the guys were that snowy day, but one thing is very clear: if you want something done in the Senate, send a woman to do the job.