Our day began with a panel of four agriculture and industry advocates who lobby in DC. They shared with us the legislative process and how they work both offense and defense on a variety of issues. We learned about a variety of issues they are currently working on including Water, GMO Labeling, Immigration and the Trans Pacific Partnership. While they shared the challenges of their work, they also motivated us to get engaged in the process wherever we can and encouraged the building of partnerships withour friends outside of agriculture. 

The next speaker was Dr. Susan Martin who helped prepare us for our international trip by educating us about the crisis of Syrian refugees. She shared wth us how complicated the crisis is, that it isn't just one region impacted and more than just Syrian refugees are currently in crisis. There are no great solutions to solving this issue and many hurdles are faced including "donor fatigue" as a result of numerous events. 

Following lunch, we headed to the Eisenhouer Executive Office building where we got a taste of White House level security (which included standing in front of a fan that blows one's scent toward a dog behind a metal barrier). We were then briefed by Assistants to the White House who work as legislative liaisons (legislative staffers). Here we heard from Energy and Agriculture experts on California Water Legislation, GMO Labeling and TPP.