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Heard on the Hill: Girl Scouts Tagalong With Female Members of Congress

Those girls tagging along behind Members of Congress on Tuesday weren’t the youngest-looking interns to hit the Hill — they were Girl Scouts scouting out possible careers as political leaders.

And, alas, they didn’t bring any Thin Mints, Tagalongs or Do-si-dos.

The badge-flaunting scouts shadowed 20 Congresswomen one-on-one for four hours to learn what it’s like to be a female American leader.

Lucky scouts: Members don’t allow just anyone to tail them around the Hill for a day. But it appears the sisterhood is strong, especially since almost every Congresswoman who participated is a former scout.

The group of 16- to 18-year-olds, most of whom are pursing the high-level Girl Scout Gold Award, followed Members to hearings and listened to policy briefings.

Rep. Jackie Speier took her scout with her when she talked on the House floor and later brought her to an Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.

“She was drinking from the firehose,” said the California Democrat, whose daughter was also a scout.

The scout who accompanied Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) around the halls of Congress for the day observed a bill markup at the Natural Resources Committee (poor kid), and a tipster overheard Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) lecturing her designated scout on the banking industry as they shuffled down the hall. 

Here’s hoping that didn’t scare them away from Congressional careers.

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