Roll Call 07/15/2010 By Emily Heil and Elizabeth Brotherton Scantily clad models handing out free veggie dogs certainly draw a crowd (of mostly male interns, anyway). But not everybody on Capitol Hill approves: HOH hears that seven staffers from four Congressional offices complained to People for the Ethical Treatment of […]
Roll Call 06/10/2010 By Emily Heil and Elizabeth Brotherton A tall, bearded man with a black top hat was spotted in the Rayburn House Office Building on Thursday morning, sharing the secrets of the presidency with a group of local kindergartners. Michael Shank, communications director for Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), […]
The Hill 06/10/2010 By Christina Wilkie Rep. Mike Honda’s (D-Calif.) communications director, Michael Shank, will be putting on a command performance Thursday morning in the House Appropriations Committee meeting room. The theater major will portray President Abraham Lincoln, complete with “a period bowtie and that mole.” The audience? Two dozen […]
Central High School Newsletter 6/2010 Michael Shank is the communications director and policy advisor for U.S. Congressman Mike Honda (Ca-15). Representative Honda, who represents Silicon Valley, Ca, is chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Afghanistan Taskforce, […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 03/26/10 By Michael Shank Traveling recently in a congressional staff delegation to Venezuela, I found my experience was not too dissimilar from my previous experiences in Syria and Iran. This is not to say that I am aggregating these three states into some kind of axis-of-evil or rogue […]
ROLL CALL 03/24/10 By Michael Shank Traveling recently on a Congressional staff delegation to Venezuela, my experience was not too dissimilar from my previous experiences in Syria and Iran. This is not to say that I am aggregating these three states into some kind of axis-of-evil or rogue state conglomerate, […]
The Hill 01/28/2010 By Kris Kitto Title: Communications director Age: 35 Hometown: Amish-Mennonite town of Kidron, Ohio Education: Completing Ph.D., George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (dissertation: climate) Last job: Journalist; communications director, GMU Biggest communications success: Communicating to Rep. Honda during my job interview that two […]
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 12/17/09 By Michael Shank I was not in America feasting on pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. I was in Afghanistan during the Muslim holiday of Eid, also a day to give thanks. Landing in Kabul , I wondered what there was to be thankful for. Poverty plagued the […]
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS 12/12/2009 By Michael Shank Wrapping up a whirlwind tour in Afghanistan, I am overwhelmed with what I found and how far afield it is from Washington’s thinking. Many congressional delegations come to Kabul but rarely experience on-the-ground realities. The way I could guarantee a raw look […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 12/09/09 By Michael Shank Last month I went to Afghanistan, not with a congressional delegation but on my own. My boss, Rep. Michael M. Honda, California Democrat, is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Afghanistan Task Force and has a keen interest in rethinking U.S. strategy there. With […]