September 27, 2007

Sister follows in brother’s footsteps; Both spend year as congressional pages

Life-changing experience as siblings serve as congressional pages

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Alisha Yadav is now serving as a congressional page in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of the Yadav-Ranjan family

Shaan Yadav-Ranjan and Alisha Yadav have more in common than being siblings. Yadav-Ranjan served as a congressional page for the U.S. House of Representatives last year, and now it’s his sister’s turn. Much of their interest in politics was sparked by their family’s strong belief to give back to the world.

“My husband and I have a very strong conviction about patriotism and giving back to the community,” said their mother Rani Yadav-Ranjan. “We taught Shaan and Alisha they have a responsibility to the world. Who knows what they will do for the community.”

The brother-sister combo is among an exclusive group that met the criteria to become pages. The program is limited to high school juniors with a 3.0 GPAs or higher in core academic subjects. All applicants must be at least 16 years old and are selected through the majority and minority leadership. Applicants must fill out applications and include three letters of recommendation, official grade transcripts, a list of activities and provide parental consent.

Yadav, 16, is currently in Washington, D.C. under the sponsorship of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Prior to becoming a page, she was a member of the Santa Clara County Youth Tax Force.

Yadav-Ranjan was sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-San Jose]. Yadav-Ranjan, 17, acted as a page messenger for the House of Representatives in of July in 2006. So impressed were the congress members with his service, they asked that he continue for the fall and spring session in 2007, serving a total of 11 months.

Congressional pages meet with (former) U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the summer of 2006.

“Shaan was an intern at the San Jose office, and I thought of him when the appointment for page occurred,” said Lofgren who has only had two page appointments in her 13 years in Congress. “He is a mature, responsible, articulate young man and he did a great job. Everyone liked him and he was one of the very best pages on the floor.”

Before interning for Lofgren, Yadav-Ranjan served on the Santa Clara County Youth Task Force representing 42,000 youth voices to the Board of Supervisors. He spoke on adolescent issues before the Human Relations Commission and presented workshops to middle school students on service learning. He founded the Almaden Valley Young Democratic Club in 2006 and became the group’s president in 2007. He is on varsity debate and football teams at Leland High School.

Also an athlete, 6-foot-3 inch 240-pound Yadav-Ranjan admits it was a difficult choice leaving Leland football. But support from teachers and a comment from a coach saying “you’re crazy if you don’t go to this program,” spurred him to become a congressional page. That experience provided Yadav-Ranjan with firsthand knowledge of the legislative process at a national level. It also fueled a deeper passion for politics.

Shaan Yadav-Ranjan visits Arlington National Cemetery with other pages on Veteran’s Day when President George W. Bush spoke. Photos courtesy of the Yadav-Ranjan family

House pages live, work, and study in Washington, D.C. During the academic year, they are required to attend school in the morning at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. They live in the Page Residence Hall and receive a monthly salary. Their responsibilities are as support staff to the members of the House of Representatives when in session.

Pages are supervised by adult full-time House employees and work as a team on the floor delivering correspondence, legislative materials and small packages within the complex, answering phones in the members’ cloakroom, taking messages, and calling members in the chamber to the phone.

Yadav-Ranjan did all the jobs with 70 other pages and even became documentarian—one of only four chosen. “We were there an hour after it [sessions] ended,” said Yadav-Ranjan. “We’d turn on and off the voting bills and ring the voting bells. But my favorite part of the day was raising and lowering the flag on top of the House of Representatives. You see the genius of the architecture [of the Capitol] and there is such peace there.”

“My husband and I have a very strong conviction about patriotism and giving back to the community,” says mom Rani Yadav-Ranjan, right, with her son Shaan Yadav-Ranjan. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

Asked to comment on the most memorable moments working as a congressional page is difficult for Yadav-Ranjan. One was the 109th Congress where during a gay marriage debate, Rep. Barney Franks [D-Mass.] said “stop playing batting practice with my life.” Another was Pelosi, who was sworn in as the first woman speaker of the house.

Witnessing state of the union addresses, hearing the King Abdullah II of Jordan speak or the Tuskegee airman honored or stem cell debates on the floor are memories he says he will never forget. But equally important are the friendships he made with the other pages debating issues or enjoying dinner with Rep. John Murtha [D-Pa.] at the next table.

“We were worried about our jobs, but it wasn’t just the page scandal,” said Yadav-Ranjan, referring to the Mark Foley incident where the former representative was accused of sending sexually explicit instant messages to teenage congressional pages. “It happened to all of Capitol Hill. When things go wrong people do come together. The press would stalk us at restaurants and the waiters would take care of it. The whole community came together.”

While his sister is in the nation’s capitol, Yadav-Ranjan is home in Almaden with his parents Rajiv Ranjan and Rani Yadav-Ranjan and younger sister Krisna, 13. He’s finishing his senior year at Leland enjoying football and speech and debate.

“Leland High School is very proud of both Shaan and Alisha,” said Principal Robert Setterlund. “Both are serving our country and representing our community with distinction.”