Before heading into its July 4 recess this week, members of Congress had a busy schedule of hearings and floor speeches — many of which their constituents can easily view on YouTube. Ten different eastern New England members of the House and Senate posted 20 new clips of themselves in just the final two days before the break.
One of the oldest forms of social media, YouTube remains essential to many members' communications efforts — although the results vary widely.
Rep. Stephen Lynch of Boston posted a speech he gave on the House floor, skeptical of President Barack Obama's trade negotiations. Rep. Ann Kuster of New Hampshire posted clips of herself demanding answers at a Veterans Administration hearing. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island posted a speech he gave at Rhode Island Energy and Environmental Leaders Day in Washington. Both Rep. William Keating of Massachusetts and Sen. Angus King of Maine recorded video messages about the Charleston murders.
Sure, some in Washington are starting to experiment with newer video applications — Snapchat, Vine, Meerkat, Periscope — but YouTube remains the go-to, for its simplicity in sharing with constituents back home, and others interested across the country.
Those clips are often the best, if not the only, way constituents can see their D.C. representatives in action. Clips of their questioning of witnesses at committee hearings are particularly good at conveying a sense that they are fighting hard on issues of importance, staffers tell me.
In a league of her own, Sen. Elizabeth Warren's videos have been viewed more than 7 million times – including three clips that have each passed the million-view mark.
Her channel has more than 25,000 subscribers, who are notified when a new video goes up. But most people find them through other social media, where progressive fans of the senator share the clips with one another. Warren has her own staff digital director, Lauren Miller.
Sen. Ed Markey can't touch those numbers, but he's been a believer for a long time; as far back as 2007 he posted what he claimed was the first YouTube video of a committee hearing from the chairman's perspective, filmed and self-narrated by Markey in his archetypically quirky manner.
“Sen. [Markey] always says, 'The revolution is being televised, and the clip of it is on YouTube,'" says Giselle Barry, his communications director. "He wants the people of Massachusetts to know that he is their voice in Washington, and they can literally see and hear that."
Markey has 340,000 total views. He's topped in the region by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, with 732,198. Rep. Jim McGovern, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, and Sen. Susan Collins are the only others above 100,000.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's official YouTube channel has had 47,750 views since 2009. Rep. Frank Guinta of New Hampshire has a channel he used during his previous term in the House, but has not used it since returning to Washington this year.
Rep. Seth Moulton used YouTube during his 2014 campaign, but does not have a channel as Congressman. He gets the appeal of video, however: on Friday morning he filmed himself in front of the Supreme Court, giving a statement in support of its same-sex marriage decision. He posted it directly to Facebook.
Bringing Home the Bacon
Videos of themselves in action are good, but what members of Congress really want before a recess is funding that they can go home and boast about. Several got good news on those lines last week.
One big get for the region came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which announced fishing industry research and development grants on Thursday. Roughly $3 million was slated for Massachusetts.
Keating, Lynch, and Moulton, who represent the state's coastal districts, joined Markey and Warren in touting the grants.
The projects recommended for funding under NOAA's Saltonstall-Kennedy grants program include two related to scalloping, and one for the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange.
Rep. Nikki Tsongas was in the state last week distributing a ceremonial oversize novelty check herself. In Lancaster, she announced $400,000 in brownfield clean-up funds from the Environmental Protection Agency, going to the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission.
The Rhode Island delegation took joint credit, along with Gov. Gina Raimondo, for $5.25 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor, going to Raimondo's new “Real Jobs Rhode Island” initiative. The funds, which came through the Sector Partnership National Emergency Grant Program, will be used primarily for retraining workers.
There was also movement last week on the real potential money bonanza: federal highway funding. That five-year package, with billions in spending, was approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Whitehouse, who serves on that committee, announced significant increases in the bill for his desperate home state of Rhode Island — found to have the highest percentage of deficient roads and bridges in the country by a White House report last year. His office says that the state would receive $226 million in the 2016 fiscal year alone.
2016 Sides Forming in Nashua
Two New England candidates for president were in New Hampshire on Saturday. But two of the region's congressional members were in town for their opponent.
As the Concord Monitor reported, Kennedy and Tsongas were in Nashua that morning, rallying volunteers for Hillary Clinton in that first-primary state. Bernie Sanders, senator from Vermont, was across town the same morning as part of his latest swing through the Granite State.
And Lincoln Chafee, former governor and senator from Rhode Island, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, appeared in Hillsborough the same day.
Chafee and Sanders should probably get used to seeing New Englanders in Congress siding with Clinton. So far, that seems to be where most are leaning.
Social Media Photo of the Week
Following Friday's terror attack in Kuwait, the United States Embassy there tweeted pictures of congressmen meeting families of the bombing victims at the Grand Mosque — including this one of Lynch and McGovern of Massachusetts.
