Day One of My DC Trip

Congressman Guinta and I on the steps of the Capitol

My trip to Washington DC was great and it was really awesome to meet everybody!  I did so much I am going to do a 3 part blog and blog about day one, two and then three.

On Monday, my mom and I flew out of Boston on our way to Washington DC.  After the flight, I met the pilot and when I told him why I was going to Washington DC, he said he thinks horse slaughter is inhumane and cruel and should be banned too.  After we talked, he showed me how to take off and land the plane and I got to use the controls and move the seat around!

Next, we went to our hotel to unpack and then went to the air and space museum for a little while before my first appointment.  There were lots of cool planes and spaceships.  There were also engines and models.  I played a game where you had to land a plane on an aircraft carrier and it was really tricky and I thought it was really cool!  I took some great pictures there too.

In front of Congressman Frank Guinta's office

Signing in at Congressman Frank Guinta's office

We went back to the hotel to get ready for my first appointment with Congressman Frank Guinta (NH) and then went to his office.  

Congressman Guinta and I during our meeting

Congressman Guinta looking at the letters

We sat down in his office to talk and I told him how I started helping horses and why I think slaughter is wrong.  I brought copies of all the letters I had collected and gave them to him.  Congressman Guinta said that the letters were amazing and he was very impressed and he started to read some of them.  He told me that I should continue working hard and I was doing a great thing trying to help the horses and he was glad I came to meet him.  He even gave me his cell phone number and asked me to keep in touch.  I gave him Children 4 Horses t-shirts and bracelets for his children along with a picture of a horse I had drawn.  He said I am a really good artist and he was surprised I had drawn the pictures myself. 

After we talked, Congressman Guinta took me through the tunnels under the Congressional buildings to the Capitol building so we could go onto the floor of the House during a vote.  In the tunnel, there a two pictures from each state hung up that are chosen by the Congressmen from an art contest.  Congressman said that he's going to talk to someone about lowering the age limit so I can enter the contest.  We got to go up to the floor of the House on a special elevator that are only for Members and my mom went up to the Gallery with one of Congressman Guinta's assistants.  During the vote, I got to vote for him and a few other Congressman too!  Congressman Guinta introduced me to a lot of Congressmen and when he introduced me, he told people why I was there and that I was fighting against horse slaughter.  I met Representatives from all over the country including Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia and even the Majority Whip, Kevin McCarthy and I got their autographs too!  Congressman Guinta and I were even on C-SPAN that night!  A few people said that they saw me on TV!

"Congressman Gregg"

After being on the floor of the House, Congressman Guinta and I went to the cafe and he told the other Congressmen how I'm a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, so they asked me to show some Tae Kwon Do moves and I did a front snap kick.  Congressman Kevin Yoder (Kansas) was there, and he asked me to show him my fighting stance too.  Congressman Guinta had already told me a funny story about his son Jack and how Jack likes Star Wars and how he had called Representative Yoder,  Mr. Yoda when they met!  I thought that was really funny, and when I met Representative Yoder, I was thinking about the story!  Congressman Guinta also told me how when he was first in office, they were unpacking everything for his office, and he and his daughter Colby were having an interesting conversation with the former vice President's son, Congressman Ben Quayle (AZ).  His son Jack was getting bored so he took one of the packing boxes and hid under it in the hallway and started shaking and moving it when people would go by, which worried some of them and they called the Capitol police who came to check it out.  They found Jack under the box and told him that he couldn't do that!  Representative Guinta has a rule of ruining every kid's dinner who he takes to the Floor by giving them ice cream, so we went to the big freezer and got a Klondike bar on our way out.  While we were in the cafe, I got a few more autographs.           

I spoke with Congressman Guinta's assistants Kayla and Emma  too and they thought what I am doing is really great and congratulated me.  It got pretty late, so after some pictures outside in front of the Capitol dome with Congressman Guinta, we went back to our hotel, had some dinner and I went to bed. I have to say that Congressman Guinta's rule worked because I didn't have much for dinner since I was already kinda full from the Klondike bar.

~Declan