Word on the Hill: This Isn’t ‘House of Cards’

By Alex Gangitano

Posted July 27, 2017 at 5:00am

The author writing a book about Frank and Claire Underwood in Netflix’s “House of Cards” was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday — well, the actor who plays him was.

Paul Sparks, who plays Tom Yates on the show and also stars on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” testified before the Senate Aging Committee on diabetes research.

“Washington isn’t really like that. I want to go on the record,” Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said about the hit Netflix show while introducing Sparks to the committee.

His wife, Annie Parisse, who stars in the new Netflix series “Friends From College,” and the couple’s children also attended.

Actress --- sat with the couple's two children while her husband spoke on the panel. (Alex Gangitano/CQ Roll Call) — Actress Annie Parisse, Sparks’ wife, sat with the couple’s two children while her husband spoke. (Alex Gangitano/CQ Roll Call)

Sparks, 45, said he was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 28.

“The research and the advances in care are so important,” he told the committee. “Today, nearly 30 years after my diagnosis, I use inhaled insulin. … I wear a continuous glucose monitor. These advances have transformed my life.”

Girls Nation

The American Legion Auxiliary’s annual Girls Nation program brings two high school female students from each state to D.C. for a week to teach them about the federal government and to “empower them to be leaders today and in the future.”

The inaugural ceremony to welcome the students is from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. today in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Invite-only.

Tennis anyone?

We’re monitoring how possible late-night floor action in Congress could affect the attendee list, but the fifth annual Washington Kastles Tennis Classic featuring lawmakers is scheduled for tonight.

Republicans and Democrats play doubles matches to raise money for D.C. schools and food banks. It begin at 7 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center at George Washington University. Here’s how to purchase tickets.

Whistleblower panel

Ahead of National Whistleblower Day on Sunday, a panel today on how “whistleblowers have transformed the U.S. government” will feature co-chairs of the Senate and House Whistleblower Protection caucuses. Sens. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Reps. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, and Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., are scheduled to attend. Invite-only.