Word on the Hill: Congressional Dinner

By Alex Gangitano

Posted March 1, 2017 at 5:00am

The day after President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of the media, gave his joint session address to Congress, members of Congress and the media are getting together.

The annual Congressional Correspondents Dinner is tonight, when the media invites sources and politicians to be their guests for the event.

The 73rd edition, hosted by the Washington Press Club Foundation, starts at the Ritz Carlton (1150 22nd St. NW) at 6:30 p.m. with the dinner at 8 p.m. MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren is the emcee.

CQ Roll Call is sponsoring the after-party and you can follow @AlexGangitano on Twitter for live updates.

Blunt and Leahy awarded

America’s Public Television Stations, a trade group which represents local public broadcasters, is awarding Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., the 2017 Champion of Public Broadcasting award. The award is for leaders who safeguard the ability of local public television stations to provide education, public safety and civil leadership services to communities, according to the APTS news release. The senators will receive their awards at the 2017 APTS Public Media Summit breakfast at the Library of Congress (10 1st St. SE) at 8 a.m.

Singer to D.C. school

Singer-songwriter Kevin Garrett is teaming up with VH1 Save The Music to host a special class with the students Kelly Miller Middle School (301 49th St. NE). The VH1 Save The Music Foundation began working with the school in 2013 by granting a full-band grant of $35,000. Garrett will sing to the children and hold a Q&A session. This is his third school visit with the foundation and the assembly will begin at 11 a.m.

Ken Griffey for prostate cancer research

Baseball legend Ken Griffey Sr., who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006, is joining advocacy group ZERO for its annual prostate cancer summit in the D.C. area. The summit has been taking place at the Key Bridge Marriott (1401 Lee Hwy. in Arlington, Va.) since Monday and Griffey’s appearance will be the main event of today’s final session.

Congressional Hockey coming up

On Thursday night, five members of Congress will be joined by three Canadian MPs and congressional staffers to take on lobbyists in the 9th annual Congressional Hockey Challenge. They’ll face off at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex (627 N. Glebe Road in Arlington) at 7 p.m. An online auction, which includes a signed Alex Ovechkin jersey and T.J. Oshie hat, is currently live and ends on Friday.

D.C. cultural event of the day

The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc., is holding a news conference to kick off the 2017 season and discuss plans for the festival and peak blooming period. The ambassador of Japan, Kenichiro Sasae, and Gay Vietzke, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks are scheduled to attend. The news conference starts at 10:30 at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)

Overheard

“You’ve got a different president who can unleash Twitter jihad.”— Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, on the hard right members of the GOP who remain opposed to an immigration bill that includes a path to legal status because they consider it amnesty.“Fired up, ready to go.”— Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, with an interesting choice of words responding to a reporter’s question about how he’s doing.“I don’t honor this president. I don’t respect this president. And I’m not joyful in the presence of this president, and so I will not be attending tonight.”— Rep. Maxine Waters on skipping Trump’s address Tuesday.“What is this, the perp walk?”— Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to reporters outside the Senate chamber.