The purpose was care packages, but the star of a charitable event Wednesday at the Rayburn House Office Building was Cookie Monster.

The beloved “Sesame Street” character joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the United Service Organizations' (USO) biannual care package project.

But the baked-good-loving creature needed a bit of help putting his package together before it was to be shipped off to one of thousands of military families stationed around the world.

Since his hands are only good for one thing (eating cookies), Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) assisted Cookie Monster in creating a care package, which was filled with basic necessities such as toothpaste and toilet paper.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) was seen offering the furry blue monster a Slim Jim at one point during the festivities.

A member of the House who spoke on the floor wearing a USO sticker drew a quick warning on Wednesday that members are not permitted to wear "communicative badges" while speaking in the chamber.

Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) was the first to deliver a "one minute" speech on the House floor on Wednesday. He had just been assembling a care package for overseas members of the Armed Forces and had left his USO sticker on his suit jacket.

SPOTTED: Three power couples getting their nosh on Tuesday at hot new Penn Quarter eatery nopa Kitchen + Bar.

Vice President Joe Biden called NBA star Kevin Durant to thank the Oklahoma City player for pledging a $1 million donation to the victims of Monday's deadly tornado.

"You're not only a great athlete, you're a great humanitarian. On behalf of all of us, thank you for your generosity," the vice president told Durant, according to his official Twitter feed.

The Associated Press reported earlier Tuesday that Durant had pledged the donation to the Red Cross through his family foundation. 

Michelle Obama and actress Kerry Washington will visit Savoy Elementary School in Anacostia on Friday.

Washington, the star of ABC's "Scandal," adopted the Savoy school under The Turnaround Arts Initiative, which is part of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The actress is a member of the committee of which the first lady is honorary chairwoman.

She is one of several celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Forest Whitaker and Yo-Yo Ma, who have adopted a school under the program. 

Sen. Barbara Mikulski put her singing chops on full display Monday night, as she belted out “You are My Sunshine” as part of a farewell tribute to a retiring Washington T.V. meteorologist.

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) came into Congress with a trademark catchphrase.

“I just want to be able to close and say, ‘I’m Randy Weber, and that’s the way I see it from where I sit here in America,’” the Texas Republican explains to ITK of the expression, or some variation of it, that he typically tacks on to the end of his remarks on the House floor.

In the digital age, Weber says, “I think it’s important that people know who you are and what you stand for.”

That’s why he pegged his third-person patriotic phrase. “I wanted to make it kind of my tagline, so if people are going to send YouTube videos around — of course that doesn’t mean they won’t edit it out — but I wanted to make sure that people knew who I was because, you know, I’m pretty opinionated at times.” Read more...

The co-creator of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” is apologizing after posting a message on Twitter Monday saying the tornado in Oklahoma was aimed directly at conservatives.

Lizz Winstead reportedly wrote Monday, “This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives.”

She also wrote:

How long has Obama known about this Tornado?

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) May 20, 2013

Following an outcry from some of Winstead’s more than 75,000 followers, she contended she was making light of last week’s revelation that the Internal Revenue Service targeted Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status.

“If Its not OK to YOU for me to combine news stories to point out hypocrisy AND Im not making fun of victims u shld Unfollow,” the New York Daily News reported Winstead tweeted.

Freshman Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) on Tuesday marked Harvey Milk day, which is tomorrow, by reading a famous speech on the House floor from Milk, the first openly gay person to win election in California.

Takano, the first openly gay non-white member of Congress in U.S. history, recalled Milk's comments that the election of gay people helps bring hope to gay children across the country.

"Two days after I was elected, I got a phone call, and the voice was quite young," Takano said as he read Milk's speech. "It was from Altoona, Pa. And the person said, 'Thanks.'