He's the first of the Hill visits, which include face time with Sens. Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Stenholm, an Abilene Democrat, gets the B-1, ABL, RBTI pitch, too, though his support isn't in doubt. Stenholm's helping host the group's reception later that day, and his office has homed in on the right A-list crowd to be there. The group spends part of the morning following up with that A-list and dropping by congressional offices to personally invite key staff and representatives.
Lunch is sandwiches and sodas at the downtown law offices of the committee's consultants.
Post-lunch meetings begin with a splitting of the delegation. Two meetings are too closely scheduled to risk being late. A few of the Dyess delegation break off to return to the Pentagon for a meeting with Acting Secretary of the Air Force Lawrence Delaney. The rest head to Sen. Phil Gramm's office, where the topic of conversation is paint. The women in the Abilene group tactfully suggest a different blue to the senator, who laughs and reveals that his assistants have exiled the color, too.