Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has brought on Laura Capps, the daughter of Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and the late Rep. Walter Capps (D-Calif.), to serve as his Iowa press secretary, sources familiar with the hiring said Friday. [IMGCAP(1)]

Prior to accepting the job with Kerry’s presidential campaign, Capps was the director of government affairs at the University of California at Berkeley. Capps has also a speechwriter for then-President Bill Clinton.

Capps joins Kerry Iowa state director John Norris, who has Congressional connections of his own. Norris ran and lost a race for Iowa’s 4th district in 2002.

Whole Wide World. House staffers can now comb the news with a service that searches 8,000 publications in 22 languages from 118 countries.

The product, Factiva.com, a joint venture between Dow Jones and Reuters, will replace the outdated NewsEdge Insight 4 service. The service provides new features not currently available on the House’s news wire search software, which will remain available through the end of the month.

The new service is available via the “Media/News” section on HouseNet. Additionally, each office will have the option to register for login account access to Factiva.com, with up to two personalized accounts (more for leadership and committee offices).

Ten training courses will be offered from the House Learning Center until July 10. In addition, Factiva will host a kickoff in the Rayburn House Office Building foyer from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

DNC Gears Up. The Democratic National Committee will hold the first of its five major fundraisers on behalf of the eventual presidential nominee on June 25 in Washington, D.C.

The event is expected to raise $1.5 million for the DNC, according to Communications Director Debra DeShong. Comedian Al Franken will host the proceedings, which will take place at the Mayflower Hotel.

“We are incredibly excited that it is a sold-out crowd,” said DeShong. “It is going to feel like the convention, and we are looking for a great kickoff to our presidential fundraisers.”

False Alarm. A malfunctioning alarm caused Capitol Police to evacuate the Rayburn House Office Building on Thursday night.

Congressional staff received an e-mail notice from Capitol Police instructing them to evacuate the building around 8:40 p.m. A second notice issuing an “all clear” was issued about 20 minutes afterward.

The Architect of the Capitol’s office determined the audible alarm had malfunctioned, a Capitol Police spokeswoman said.

— Chris Cillizza, Suzanne Nelson and Jennifer Yachnin