The Bermuda delegation to Washington, DC, yesterday packed in meetings with ten politicians on Capitol Hill in the space of seven hours. Here’s who they met as they trawled the corridors of power:10.45 a.m. — Democratic Congressman James Clyburn

House majority whip, Mr. Clyburn is the only member of the Democratic party leadership that the delegation is meeting this week. He has the third-ranking position in the House of Representatives and is only the second African American to ever hold that role.

Like Premier Ewart Brown, he is a former student leader and desegregation activist. He has served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and on the Appropriations Committee and is leader of the House Democrat’s Faith Working Group.11.30 a.m. — Republican Senator Sam Brownback

The only presidential hopeful on the delegation’s itinerary, Sen. Brownback is a former attorney and teacher who was described by the New York Times as “one of the most conservative, religious, fascinating — and, in many ways, admirable — politicians in America today”.

In the US Senate, he serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Joint Economic committees and has a longstanding interest in tax reform.

12 noon — Republican Senator Susan Collins

The 15th woman in history to be selected to the Senate in her own right, Sen. Collins was also on the schedule for last year’s Bermuda delegation. She is former chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and has been lauded for her work in strengthening the US against terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The Senator hails from Maine, where she was the first woman in the state’s history to win a major-party nomination for governor.

1 p.m. — Democratic Congressman John Lewis

A hugely influential civil rights leader in the 1960s, Congressman Lewis was severely beaten by Police while an activist and still bears the scars today. He started his political career as an Atlanta city council member in 1982 and now serves Georgia in the House of Representatives, where he is the Senior Chief Deputy Majority Whip. He sits on the powerful house Ways and Means Committee. Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi called him “the conscience of the US Congress”.

1.45 p.m. — Republican Senator Norm Coleman

Former Mayor of St. Paul in Minnesota, Sen. Coleman has tabled a bill aimed at stopping US businesses benefiting from offshore tax havens. The former Democrat switched parties in 1996 and now serves on the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which tackles fraud, waste and potential taxpayer savings.

The legislator is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The former state prosecutor met the Bermuda delegation last May.

2.30 p.m. — Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel

A last-minute addition to yesterday’s schedule, Congressman Engel serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

A lifelong resident of New York’s Bronx borough, he has written important laws relating to Albania and Kosova, Cyprus, Irish affairs, and is co-author of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, which addresses child slave labour in the cocoa fields of Africa.

3 p.m. — Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel

Yesterday’s talks with Congressman Rangel were described by the Premier’s press secretary as “the meeting of the day”. He has huge influence as chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means and was cited by Dr. Brown earlier this week as an important friend of Bermuda.

The New York Congressman has helped revitalise urban neighborhoods and get affordable housing built throughout America. He is a founding member and former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was chairman of the New York State Council of Black Elected Democrats and was a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the hearings on the articles of impeachment of US president Richard Nixon in 1974.

4 p.m. — Democratic Congressman Artur Davis

Another member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Alabama Congressman has worked on public housing and sponsored a bill to widen blood transfusions for patients with diseases such as sickle cell anemia. As a former state prosecutor, he achieved a 98 percent conviction rate and went on to become a private litigator before entering politics.

4.35 p.m. — Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek

The former Florida Highway Patrol captain was first elected to public office at age 27 and is now a member of the House Ways and Means and Armed Services committees. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute founded by members of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1976.

The son of former Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek, he was elected to Congress in 2002 from Florida’s 17th Congressional District.

5.15 p.m. — Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones

The first African American woman elected to the US House of Representatives from Ohio, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones is in her fifth term in office. She chairs the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) and is a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

Before she entered the House, she served as the first African American and the first female Cuyahoga County, Ohio prosecutor and became the first African American woman to sit on the Common Pleas bench in the state.