Fateful times in the capital

I arrived in Washington D.C. just hours after news broke that Osama Bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan. The stunning revelation instantly transported me back nearly a decade, to another lobbying trip I’d made to the capital with Los Angeles County officials.

The date was September, 10, 2001. The next morning all hell broke loose in New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa.

To this day, I can still hear the wail of sirens racing towards the Pentagon. Washington was shut down, with military personnel stationed at key intersections and in front of important government buildings. We were essentially quarantined in or around our hotel.

I vividly remember wondering who would have hatched this murderous conspiracy and why?

The “why” it was done may be a subject for debate and analysis for years. And although the “who” was known to the world pretty quickly, it took nearly 10 long years to find and rid the world of this menace who perpetrated the acts of 9/11.

When I arrived in Washington this week, the mood was not one of elation but rather one of satisfaction that this piece of unfinished business was now suddenly and unexpectedly erased from our national agenda. Frankly, that’s how I felt. I didn’t celebrate, but I was deeply proud of our nation, its leaders and the men and women in uniform who put their lives at considerable risk for us.

Although the news media understandably continues to be dominated by the killing of Bin Laden, the truth is that a sense of normality returned to Washington only hours after the Navy SEALS had returned to their base. Our trip, in fact, turned out to be one of the most productive I can remember.

A relatively small group of county leaders from throughout the nation, myself included,  spent five hours at the White House on Tuesday, meeting with the President, the Vice President, five cabinet secretaries and several key administration officials. The subjects included preservation of Medicare/Medicaid, funding for the subway extension and other transit projects, and how to break the cycle of jails and poverty.

We also spent considerable time meeting with California’s congressional delegation, including our two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Our federal representatives have always been attuned to our county’s needs and accessible to us, and it was no different this time.

I’m often asked what we accomplish on these lobbying visits. I like to think of us as salesmen working our territory. Our product, so to speak, is the County of Los Angeles. It may take some time to know whether we were able to close the deal for the vital resources we need, especially for those individuals marginalized because of poverty, health or other reasons. One thing I can say for sure: failure to work our turf is a guarantee that we will not make the sale. This visit will be a success.

One last thought as I prepare to board my plane home: God bless our service men and women, and God bless our nation.

Posted 5/5/11