WASHINGTON -- Arkansas' two new U.S. House members started orientation in Washington last week and began hiring staffs, finding places to live and meeting their new colleagues.
In a packed seven-day orientation session, French Hill, Bruce Westerman and the 56 other House members-elect had their official portraits taken, attended a few lavish receptions, learned about setting up their offices -- including buying enough pens and replacing the carpet -- and sat through hours of seminars on parliamentary procedure, ethics and adjusting to life on Capitol Hill.
Westerman and Hill said they most enjoyed meeting the other newly elected and not-sitting House members.
"Getting to make those relationships and find out about the people I'm serving with, that's been the highlight so far, and I kind of expected it to be," Westerman said.
Hill said he has begun building relationships with fellow representatives and planning for his staff.
"I'm focused on trying to learn all the important facets of my new job," Hill said.
The busy schedule means there hasn't been any sightseeing this trip, Westerman said.
"I've just been doing a lot of reading and studying trying to make sure I'm prepared, not just for orientation, but between now and swearing in, and then after, that I want to hit the floor running," Westerman said, adding that he's read nearly 100 resumes already.
Westerman said freshman orientation means a lot of meetings and a lot of new locations.
"I'm trying to learn my way around, but I'm getting it figured out," he said. "I've been out for a run two mornings in a row, so it kind of gives me the lay of the land."
Around the Capitol complex, he has relied on signs and placards.
"Like I tell my wife, I never get lost. It just takes me longer to get there sometimes," Westerman said.
Westerman said he's putting off finding a place to live. Rent for a 400-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment on Capitol Hill can exceed $1,500 a month.
"I'm going to live in my office while I look. Some members just continue to stay in their office. I'm going to see how that works out, and it may be what I end up doing," Westerman said.
Hill's wife, Martha, is in Washington to help him apartment hunt.
"I'm going to work on that project some this weekend," Hill said Thursday. "She obviously wants us to have a good place. It's been a help to have her with me."
The new and returning members of the state's delegation met briefly early Thursday at the Capitol Hill Club, a popular Republican hangout, for a breakfast arranged by U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.
Boozman, who will be the state's senior senator, said they talked about committee assignments, finding places to live and hiring staff members.
Boozman said he was overwhelmed when he made the transition from Arkansas to Washington in 2001 and is trying to ease the transition for the new members.
"I didn't know anything. I went from the school board to Congress and had really never been to Washington. It's just overwhelming. The good thing is that there's lots of people up here, lots of nice people," he said.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said he told the new members to take the time to enjoy the experience.
"I wish that I had gone a little slower and taken a little more time to sort of take all the significance in of exactly what it is you are doing here and why you are here, how you got here," Crawford said. "But the fact is, they throw a lot at you in a short period of time, and you just have to sort of digest it as quickly as you can."
The rest of the delegation, all Republicans for the first time in more than 140 years, are ready to help, Crawford said.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack said he urged the new representatives to learn from the current ones and said he invited Westerman's district staff members to shadow his staff members.
"There is a lot of work to do in a very short space of time," Womack said, adding that the current delegation told the new members to "be alert and take good notes, and pay good attention to the lessons that have been tried by members like ourselves."
He said when the 114th Congress starts Jan. 6, new members will have to adjust to life on Capitol Hill, where a lawmaker's time may be scheduled in 15-minute blocks and it can take months or years to pass legislation. Also, many lawmakers fly home and back every week.
"They are all going to be drinking from the fire hose," Womack said. "The best advice I can give them is to be patient through the process."
Orientation continues this week, starting with a class photo on the Capitol steps and ethics training before members select their offices through a lottery Wednesday.
The office lottery traditionally has new members picking from available space in the Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn House office buildings on the south side of the U.S. Capitol along Independence Avenue.
An office on the first floor can mean a short walk to go vote. Space on the top floor may mean a good view. In between are many windowless offices far from committee rooms and elevators.
Westerman said he'd like to be in Longworth, but he isn't overly concerned about where he'll end up.
"It doesn't really matter to me. I just want an office where I can get to work and get busy," Westerman said. "It's probably kind like a hotel room -- they all look pretty much the same inside."
Hill said he hasn't decided where he wants his office, but he has been told that the office lottery is one of the most interesting parts of freshman orientation.
Arkansas' U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, who is moving to the U.S. Senate, hadn't started packing up his House office Thursday. He and his staff have to be moved out by Friday.
On Thursday, Cotton got the keys to his temporary office in the basement of the Russell Senate Building, and his staff will operate from there until next spring or early summer.
"The Senate, in all things, moves at a slower pace than the House," he said of the lengthy process for senators to select offices. "But we'll make it work."
He doesn't have a preference on which of the three Senate office buildings his new office will be in.
"I'll just be happy whenever we have an office where Arkansans can come and visit us that has a window, as opposed to the basement," he said.
Orientation for the 12 senators-elect is less of a public process than is the extensively covered House orientation.
"Obviously it's much smaller, so there's more personal and intimate conversations between the current senators and the newly elected senators," Cotton said.
He said having a staff already in place in Washington and Arkansas has made orientation easier.
Senators have larger staffs and larger office budgets, and resumes have already started coming in, Cotton said.
"There's lot of people who are eager to help their state and help their country," he said.
Boozman is weighing getting a new office, as well. But he doesn't have to decide until March 3.
On Friday, returning House members each got 20 minutes to decide whether to switch offices. Womack decided to stay in his office on the first floor of the Longworth Building, which is close to a crosswalk to the Capitol and to his committee's meeting rooms.
By Friday afternoon, Crawford still had 50 representatives in line ahead of him. He said he wasn't sure if he would move from his office on Longworth's top floor.
"It's not worth moving if it's not a bigger office," he said.
When the state's two departing lawmakers have to leave depends on what chamber they're serving in.
Sitting senators have to vacate by midnight on the day before their successors take the oath of office in January. Staff members for departing U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor said they weren't ready to talk about the logistics of their move.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin had boxed up much of his office by the middle of last week. Left on a table in the entryway was a basket of rice-cereal treats from Riceland -- the "essentials" as his staff called them.
Griffin said dozens of boxes will be shipped to his house by Friday's move-out date.
"It's going to be a lot of weekends of going through stuff," he said.
For the remainder of the year, his office will be relegated to a computer and cubicle in the basement of a House office building.
His suggested that new legislators hire experienced staff members -- including possibly some of his staff -- watch their health and try not to say "yes" to too much.
"You can't deliver your best work if you're spread too thin," he said. "Pick the things that are really important and spend time on them."
He said it is bittersweet to watch the new members go through orientation.
"One of the things you come to grips with here is it's always changing," he said. "The only constant is change."
Metro on 11/17/2014