The Heritage Foundation proudly congratulates the largest graduating class of the Heritage Congressional Fellows program (HCF) to date. The Class of 2012 consists of 61 Capitol Hill staffers, 29 from Senate offices and 31 from House offices.

HCF is a year-long program dedicated to educating junior-level Capitol Hill staffers on the principles of the American founding and domestic and foreign policy issues, as well as honing critical job skills. Each week, participants meet with D.C. notables including Steve Moore, Edwin Meese III, Matthew Spalding, and many of Heritage’s senior policy experts on a variety of key issues. Sessions in 2012 included Taxmageddon, Obamacare and First Principles, and Religious Liberty in a Secular Age. Staffers who attended 70 percent of the weekly sessions qualified to graduate.

This year’s graduates were honored at a special luncheon featuring renowned social scientist Charles Murray, author of the acclaimed book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010. Murray discussed the future of the American project, citing the disturbing trends he sees in this nation’s demographics that uproot the common civic culture once shared by all classes. Murray argued that the increasing disconnect between the top and bottom of our class structure undermines our sense of kinship—a development unconnected to income inequality, yet alarming in the grander scheme of American culture.

HCF is the perfect program for Hill staff interested in deepening their understanding of first principles and understanding how they apply to the policy issues of today. For information about joining the Heritage Congressional Fellows program in 2013, please contact Cameron Seward at Cameron.Seward@Heritage.org.

Congratulations to the 2012 Heritage Congressional Fellows (employers in parentheses):

Jon Abdnor (Sen. John Thune, R–SD), Shawn Affolter (Sen. John Hoeven, R–ND), Caitlin Alcala (House Ways and Means Committee), Matthew Anderson (Rep. Pete Olson, R–TX), Jonathan Arias (Sen. Marco Rubio, R–FL), Tyler Badgley (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Andrew Bender (American Legislative Exchange Council), Scott Bissey (Rep. Scott Garrett, R–NJ), Caroline Broderick (Rep. Jeff Landry, R–LA), Austin Carnes (Rep. Bill Flores, R–TX), Steve Chartan (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Chadd Clark (Sen. Jon Kyl, R–AZ), Drew Davidhizar (Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R–TX), Greg Dolan (Sen. Marco Rubio, R–FL), Brett Doyle (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Rick Eberstadt (Republican Study Committee), Nathaneal Ferguson (Rep. Scott Rigell, R–VA), Alberto Gonzalez (Sen. Jon Kyl, R–AZ), Mary Catherine Hall (Sen. Jim DeMint, R–SC), Caroline Hanson (Rep. Ralph Hall, R–TX), Erin Havener (House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology), Chris Hess (Rep. Steve Chabot, R–OH), Scott Hughes (Rep. Joe Heck, R–NV), Cari Kelly (Senate Budget Committee), Emma King (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Ben Kochman (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Mary Kuehn (Rep. Todd Akin, R–MO), Kate LaBorde (Sen. Judiciary Committee), Jay Lucas (Rep. Kevin Brady, R–TX), Susan Manchester (Rep. James Jordan, R–OH), Kimberly Manecke (Rep. Sean Duffy, R–WI), Katie McAuliffe (Rep. Cliff Stearns, R–FL), Theo Merkel (Sen. Pat Toomey, R–PA), Nick Morrison (Sen. Jon Kyl, R–AZ), Rebecca Nasca (Sen. Committee on Finance), Michael Nelson (Rep. Jeff Flake, R–AZ), Sarah Noack (Rep. Louie Gohmert, R–TX), Elizabeth Oblinger (Sen. Rob Portman, R–OH), Erin Partee (Rep. Bob Latta, R–OH), Elizabeth Ploshay (Rep. Peter Roskam, R–IL), Hampton Ray (Sen. Marco Rubio, R–FL), Ritika Rodrigues (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), David Rokeach (Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R–TX), Halle Schweikert (Sen. Rob Portman, R–OH), Adam Shapiro (Sen. John Cornyn, R–TX), Tara Shaughnessy (Rep. Bob Gibbs, R–OH), Kyle Smith (Rep. Raúl Labrador, R–ID), David Sweeney (Rep. Todd Akin, R–MO), Katharine Tate (Rep. Andy Harris, R–MD), Matt Teffeau (Rep. Andy Harris, R–MD), Caitlin Thompson (Sen. Jim DeMint, R–SC), Alexandra Wich (Sen. Mark Kirk, R–IL), John Zadrozny (Committee on Oversight and Government Reform), Kyle Zebley (Rep. Tom Price, R–GA), John Dulmes (Sen. Jon Kyl, R–AZ) , and Vince Zito (Sen. Dan Coats, R–IN).

Jonathan Moeller is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/about/departments/ylp.cfm.