This week was my first week at Congressmember Ted Lieu’s office. From learning of his new position as the first Asian-American to be the Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus at the start of the 118th Congress to reading his refreshingly honest tweets that both poke fun and stand up to harmful political rhetoric, I was eager to meet the district office staff that work to serve the people of California’s 36th Congressional District. As all new internships start out, I spent much of the first week getting acclimated to the office and its practices, as well as meeting the various staff and interns I’ll be working with over the rest of the summer.
The caseworkers of the office make it clear early on that a lot of the calls and casework that we’ll work on in the summer is often related to passport issues. Other issues with federal agencies that can come up include postal service and immigration issues. I was surprised to learn that these are the kinds of issues that congressional offices deal with — because neither I nor anyone I know would ever think of reaching out to my congressmember for help on issues we think we must deal with ourselves. In prior positions where I supported lobbying efforts to expand congressional budgets and alleviate work requirements on social safety net programs, I thought specifically of the bureaucratic barriers, inadequacies in outreach, and lack of accessibility that communities faced in receiving support from their government. I learned of various initiatives and policies that rolled out economic relief during the pandemic and wondered who were the people that actually had the linguistic support, economic capital, time, and ability to navigate these systems and agencies and access aid. Which legislators and elected officials effectively shared these resources with their constituents and how?
Interns Angel Yuan, Emma Chen, and Erika Au during a CLA session.
This week also exposed me to the different roles that district office staff take on and how that differs from the jurisdiction and issues D.C. staff take on. I’ve also appreciated the opportunity to learn about the issues of Congressman Lieu’s district — one that I’m closely tied to as a UCLA student — such as veterans’ affairs because of the West LA VA campus and the ongoing housing crisis across Los Angeles. Even while filing papers, I’ve enjoyed reading through past briefings and correspondences to understand how congressional staff support their member in the office and in the field. As I work on various casework intakes over the summer, I’m excited to support constituent-facing work by resolving issues individually, rather than the top-down or “bigger picture” work I’ve been involved with in the past. My favorite part about being an undergraduate is the ability to weave in and out of different workplaces and spheres of advocacy, and my time at Congressmember Lieu’s district office promises to be another unique opportunity to support positive change. While I have long been on the sides of nonprofits and political campaigns, it has been exciting to observe and experience the official side of this work, supporting the efforts of a fifth-term member of Congress.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Emma Chen, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.