It is hard to believe that it has been an entire year since Jason Chaffetz and I undertook a project with CNN to chronicle, in video and in prose, our first year. Both of us have grown a lot along the way and learned many lessons, and I hope that our readers and viewers have a notion, as we now do, of what it is like to serve in Congress.
In the 19th installment, Chaffetz and Polis discuss the finer points of social networking.
One of my heroes growing up was Jackie Robinson. My mom, an ardent baseball fan from whom I got my love of the game, had an old baseball card of his from the 1950s and told us his amazing story of courage in integrating baseball.
It's hard to believe that eight months have gone by and my first year in Congress is two-thirds complete.
Twelve-year-old Josh Garcia courageously took the stage. Fighting back tears, he told how he came home from school one day to find that his father had been taken into an immigration detention facility.
To be effective in Congress, you must focus. With so many issues and debates occurring at any given time, it is easy to spread yourself too thin and lose sight of your goal.
I often get asked what I do during my free time. The nature of this job is such that there really isn't much downtime. I usually work from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., and spend a few hours catching up on e-mail when I get home.
In the tenth installment, Rep. Polis promotes protecting the environment, and Rep. Chaffetz travels to Guantanamo Bay.
If becoming a member of Congress is like going to college, then crafting legislation is our homework.
America has a new national pastime, CEO hunting, that has driven the House floor into a frenzied free-for-all as members vie to one-up each other in placing blame and pointing fingers.
Technology improves our lives in so many ways -- from our toasters, ovens and refrigerators at home, to our computers, fax machines and BlackBerrys at work. Technology makes once burdensome tasks easy and fun.
One week after watching President Obama sign the stimulus bill in Denver, I was watching him give his first State of the Union address. (OK, so technically it was his "first address to a joint session of Congress.")
In the third installment, two freshman Congressmen document their experience on the Hill.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz suits up in black tie for a Washington dinner where he scoffs at the fancy first course and sheepishly meets Miss America.
Patience, they say, is a virtue. Yet in times of emergency, the government needs to be able to make snap decisions and take bold, decisive action to protect the American people.
What's it really like to be a new member of the world's most powerful legislature? Two new U.S. representatives are teaming up with CNN.com to report their "Freshman Year" experience through videos and commentaries.
Members of Congress wear two hats: one as Washington legislator, the other as listener and community leader back home.
How can I describe my first weeks in Congress? A whirlwind? A circus? No -- a trip back to college.
Colorado Democrats on Tuesday may choose an openly gay candidate for Congress. But the contest has revolved more around his money than his sexual orientation
Jared Polis is no stranger to selling off one of his successful businesses. In fact, it's more of a recurring pattern for the 30-year-old entrepreneur.
How do you make money by giving away free e-greeting cards? Easy: Sell flowers with them. That's what Jared Polis did in 1998 when he launched ProFlowers, an online flower business, alongside his p...
It would be hard to make the case that Jared Polis is typical of the entrepreneurs who populate this year's Big Ideas list. For while others stand poised on the verge, he has already crossed over t...
FSB: 14 Hot Startupsupdated: Sat Feb 01 2003 00:01:00
You've almost got to pity the 14 entrepreneurs profiled in the following pages. Not long ago investors would have climbed over each other for the opportunity to fund these companies. But great idea...
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