Placement Report to the IEEE-USA
Government Fellowship Committee

Isidor Kerszenbaum

IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow
(Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia
of the House Committee on Int'l Relations)

I would like to start by noting, that, in my opinion, the September orientation organized by the AAAS is critical in preparing the new S&T Fellow to confront the intricacies of "The Hill". If there is a single advice I would offer, it is not to make a final decision before the conclusion of the Orientation, about where in Congress one would like to be placed. In my experience, for instance, I had my mind made up to work in the office of a member of Congress, and if possible, one from California. So much so, that I considered sending a few feelers to the offices of a number of Californian members of Congress before the Orientation (which by itself may not be an ethical thing to do). However, three weeks of Orientation later, I decided I would rather work in a committee, where chances are one can meet several Members, and more often than in the Member’s own office. Also, the work in some committees is less partisan in nature - something that suits my druthers well. Additionally, I came to the Orientation with a misguided preference for the Senate, and although I had in there promising post-Orientation interviews, I opted for accepting an offer from one of the House’s subcommittees.

Most probably, this year has been the most exceptional for an AAAS Orientation in a long time, if not ever. Six days into it, the September 11 terrorist callous aggression occurred, when all of us where just getting used to the omnipresence of the Social Security "lock box", the energy crisis in California and its political undertones on the Hill, and among other partisan issues, the travails of Representative Condit. However, everything changed that day, and so, I was prepared for a radical change in my agenda for the year in Washington. I came to the Orientation with a strong desire to work on a range of energy issues, in particular deregulation of the electric power industry. After the September eleven, suddenly my earlier experience living and working overseas, and the additional foreign languages I speak, landed my an offer from the House’s Committee on International Relations, specifically: the Subcommittee for the Middle East and South Asia (MESA). Foreign policy and international politics have always been my favorite interest outside engineering, so I felt this offer not only dovetails beautifully with that interest, but affords me the opportunity to get involved with Congressional activities that are central to the post-9/11/01 experience, and will be so for some time to come. I had the great honor of receiving the offer in person from Congressman Henry Hyde. So, all I can say is that I am very pleased so far with my experience with the IEEE-USA Congressional Fellowship.

The main issues the Subcommittee for MESA deals with are: Arms Control; Energy; Economic Development; US aid. I had the opportunity to meet with the Subcommittee’s Staff Director towards the end of December, who kindly took time to explain in detail the work in the Subcommittee. He also instructed me about what topics he would like me to initially become engrossed with. These include some issues directly related to energy. I feel my technical background will be a welcome addition to the Subcommittee, given that whole ranges of topics covered therein have a technical/engineering dimension. I also received the OK to prepare preliminary background material on a pet-project I am very interested in pursuing this year, about certain dimension in the relation between the USA and the countries under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America