Senator Inouye employs approximately 20 full-time employees in his Washington, D.C. office; there are approximately 16 employees in Hawaii. He selects his interns on the basis of academic performance, letters of recommendation, and a writing sample. His intern program is not limited to Hawaii students. Students with ties to Hawaii are encouraged to apply.
The Senator generally selects between four to six students to serve on his staff for the summer. Senator Inouye receives approximately 40+ applications for summer internships. For the fall and spring semesters, the Senator usually selects two to three college students who are in the Washington, D.C. area attending school or participating in an internship program through their respective school.

Description of Program

Each intern will perform a variety of tasks. They are broken down into two categories: clerical/support and legislative. While these tasks may seem menial, they provide an intern with the opportunity to learn about the inner working of a congressional office, as well as the inner workings of Capitol Hill.

Clerical/Support:

Set forth below are the primary tasks that the interns perform to assist the Senator's staff.

• opening mail
• answering phones and greeting visitors at the front desk
• giving guided tours of the U.S. Capitol to constituents
• copying and distributing daily clipping of articles of interest from Hawaii newspapers
• running errands for staff and the Senator
• answering letters and working on constituent casework.

Legislative:

Set forth below are some of the responsibilities that our interns perform under the supervision of the Senator's legislative assistants.

• attending hearings and preparing summary memos for appropriate legislative assistant and the Senator
• preparing memos for the Senator on legislation
• joining assistants in meetings with constituents and lobbyists on legislation
• attending seminars on a particular subject and the legislative process
• performing research for assistants and the Senator on a particular topic.

Interns attend our full staff meetings, as well as our legislative staff meetings. Lastly, each summer intern is required to submit a research paper to the Senator at the end of their internship. The issue is selected by the intern and the Senator. The Senator is hopeful that the paper will have a lasting impression on the student. The purpose of this paper is to provide the intern with an opportunity to learn a new issue, one that he/she would not otherwise be exposed to.

Documents to submit:

• cover letter providing background information on yourself and your reason for applying for an internship
• resume
• short writing sample
• two letters of recommendation.

Deadlines:

• Summer -- March 31st
• Fall -- July 31st
• Spring -- October 31st

For additional information please contact Senator Inouye's intern coordinator in the Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3934 or via email.