Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-Calif.) innocuous resolution that passed without fanfare last week as part of a suspension bill has a lot of meaning for him. The resolution recognizes the second century of Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization he joined 18 years ago when he became a big brother to a 7-year-old boy being raised by a single mother.

In 1986, when Schiff went into the Big Brothers Big Sisters of greater Los Angeles to become a big brother, he was asked how he’d feel about having an African-American little brother. He said that would be fine. From among three applications he chose David McMillan because of an answer he gave to the question asking for “three wishes.” The boy’s first wish was for a big brother. The second was a puppy. The third was for a beautiful world.

“It was pretty amazing for a 5-year-old to use one of his wishes for something so intangible,” Schiff says.

Schiff, 44, and McMillan, now 26, have become close over the past two decades — they’ve gone to the beach, to the movies, out to dinner, to the park, and roller-skating. Schiff watched him in school plays and attended his college graduation from Yale and his graduation from film school at the University of Southern California.

“He became a part of my family,” the congressman says. “He was one of my groomsmen in my wedding.”

Schiff is convinced that the little boy he watched grow up, who is now a writer for “Judging Amy,” will one day be a household name. The lawmaker, who is on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, will see McMillan next month at the annual meeting.

“The work I do in the Congress is very satisfying and interesting, but being a big brother you get to see the really tangible result of your involvement every day with a single person, far more tangible than the other things we do in life,” he says.

Rep. Dreier expands press outreach
Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) unwittingly advanced his press relations last week by stopping and posing for pictures with a group of kids touring the House Gallery on the third floor of the Capitol. 

It turns out the swarm he found in the restroom near his office was the Reuters Washington bureau’s Take Your Child to Work Day outing. They were excited to run into the powerful chairman of the Rules Committee. They also thought it was funny that they used the same “potty” as Dreier.

Reps. Howard McKeon (R-Calif.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) later ran into the brood on the Rayburn subway.

Two male chiefs of staff deal with having female first names.

Both are Southern. Both are new male chiefs of staff. Both work for Republicans. And both come bearing the girly first name of Dee.

Dee Stewart is the chief of staff to Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), and Dee Buchanan is the chief of staff to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).

“I am commonly referred to as Ms. Dee Buchanan,” Hensarling’s aide says, explaining that a lot of potential job seekers will send cover letters referring to him as a woman. “I’m not saying they go to the bottom of the stack. There is one staffer on staff who did that. I generally blow it off and look at the merits of each potential candidate.”

Buchanan, who grew up in Lubbock, Texas, says he didn’t get teased about his name until he moved to Washington.

Previously, he was a staff assistant for former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), during which time one of the mailroom aides played a joke on him. One day he received a letter addressed to none other than Ms. Dee Buchanan. The mailroom aide enlarged it and posted it in the staff area. “That was the first professional dig at Dee, and that was 1999,” Buchanan says.

Stewart has also experienced his share of confusion over his name. He shows up to Washington events only to receive name tags that read “Ms. Dee Stewart.” He receives invitations to events geared for young female political leaders as well as trial subscriptions to Young Miss and Seventeen Magazines.

Buchanan and Stewart recently met at a congressional function. They introduced themselves, at which point they both had a good laugh.

Announcements

Aide gets engaged
Chris Herndon, 27, a new legislative assistant to Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), is engaged to be married. Though he won’t name his fianc�e, she’s a third-year law student at George Washington University. The couple will marry in August in Clearwater, Fla.

Lobbyist has new grandchild
Congratulations to Frederick Graefe, the proud grandfather to his new granddaughter, Lily Caroline Dorton, who is about 6 months old. Graefe refers to her as Miss America of 2025.

The newborn’s mother is Erin Graefe of the Glover Park Group, and her father is Patrick Dorton of Rational PR Strategies.

Frederick Graefe, a lawyer-lobbyist, would like to add a new category to the “50 Most Beautiful” list: He’d like it to be the most beautiful grandchild list. Certainly his would be in the running.

Edited by Betsy Rothstein
Tips, complaints and sightings:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it