Congressman-elect Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge said Congress hasn’t changed all that much since he last served there almost three decades ago.
Security used to be easier to navigate, he said. And they don’t use beepers anymore to notify you when it’s time to vote. Life as an elected official on the Hill was different in the 1990s.
One more thing. Fields said the three-day orientation he endured upon first being federally elected now takes two weeks. Technically, he isn’t a freshman, so Fields attended what he could, but left some of the process this go-around to “a group of people that I’m leaning on.”
As far as staffers who will work the Beltway and the Baton Rouge-based district, Fields said just before Thanksgiving he’s still in the process of building his team. Ultimately, he plans to have three full-time offices and two satellite offices.
“People in the 6th District will have an office that they can go to and a person they can talk to about their issues in Washington, D.C.,” he said.