Skip to content
RollCall logo

Heard on the Hill

Word on the Hill: Weekend Plans?

McCain honored, and movies and tennis ahead

The Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
The Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
By Alex Gangitano
Posted July 7, 2017 at 5:04am

You can spend your Saturday eating good food and watching baseball. The Washington Nationals are celebrating D.C.’s cosmopolitanism with the second annual Taste of the World celebration, billed as a culinary event heard ’round the world.

The participating embassies of Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Qatar, Romania, and South Korea will serve food and drink samples starting at 1:30 p.m., followed by cultural dance performances at 2 p.m. Participants get to take home a set of Nationals salt-and-pepper shakers.

The first pitch for the Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves game is at 4:05 p.m. Check out how to get tickets for the whole afternoon at Nats Park.

Liberty Medal goes to McCain

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is the recipient of the 29th annual Liberty Medal, the National Constitution Center announced Thursday. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., as chairman of the center’s board of trustees, will present the award in a ceremony on Oct. 16 in Philadelphia. Previous recipients include former presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton, and former Maine Sen. George J. Mitchell.

Staffer shuffle

Michael Burns is starting as communications director for Rep. Nita M. Lowey, D-N.Y., on July 17. He currently serves in the same position for Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., D-N.J. His last day in Payne’s office is Tuesday.

Reggie McCrimmon’s last day as director of member services and external affairs for the Congressional Black Caucus is today. He is moving to HQ Community to do diversity and inclusion work.

Don’t forget to catch a film

“LOC Summer Movies on the Lawn,” an annual six-film series hosted by the Library of Congress, kicks off Thursday. Movies are at 8 p.m. in the area between the Supreme Court and the LOC’s Jefferson Building.

While tickets are available, they are not required and people can enter on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees are welcome to bring picnic food, and there will be food trucks parked in the area.

Here is the schedule:

July 13: “The Princess Bride”

July 20: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

July 27: “Raiders of the Lost Ark”

Aug. 3: “Back to the Future”

Aug. 10: “Top Gun”

Aug. 17: “Ghostbusters.”

Save the date: Congressional tennis

The fifth annual Washington Kastles Tennis Classic that features Republicans and Democrats playing a series of doubles matches to raise money for D.C. schools and food banks is on July 27 at 7 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center at George Washington University.

So far, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Reps. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., Charlie Dent, D-Pa., Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va., Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., and Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., are scheduled to play, along with Brett Baier of Fox News, David Gregory of CNN, Jonathan Karl of ABC News, and Albert Tillman of Bloomberg.

This is the 10th year for the Kastles, one of six teams in the World TeamTennis league. The team is a six-time league champion and winner of the WTT’s King Trophy, named after tennis great Billie Jean King. Players expected to participate in the charity event include head coach Murphy Jensen, Sam Querrey, Madison Brengle, Bruno Soares and Anastasia Rodionova. 

Here’s more information on purchasing tickets.

Lawmakers celebrate 43rd president

Former President George W. Bush turned 71 Thursday and lawmakers took to Twitter to congratulate the Texas Republican.

Happy birthday to …

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., 64.

Sunday:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., 62.

What’s going on?

Have any tips, announcements or Hill happenings? Send them to AlexGangitano@cqrollcall.com.

Recent Stories

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., greets President-elect Donald Trump at the Republican convention in July.

In a surprise, GOP panel recommends Mast to lead Foreign Affairs

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and ranking member Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., are sparring over a bill that would expand the federal judiciary. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

House sets up vote on bill to add dozens of new federal judgeships

Senate Republicans under incoming leader John Thune, seen in the Capitol last month, are planning as much as $85 billion for border security as part of an initial bill for budget reconciliation. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Republicans start making immigration plans for next year

Rioters are seen on a monitor during testimony to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol hearing in 2022.

Trump says he will look at pardons for Jan. 6 attackers on ‘first day’

Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be director of the FBI, leaves a meeting Monday with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Hart building.

Trump’s pick to lead FBI identified ‘Government Gangsters’

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, center, has scheduled 31 five-day work weeks in 2025, which was music to the ears of Rep. William R. Timmons IV.

Help wanted: Spending more time and effort in Congress