In a windowless room on Capitol Hill, lobbyist Ilisa Halpern Paul had work to do. Among her goals: Secure $20 million for a client’s pet cause. A few minutes after the scheduled meeting time of 9:15 a.m., Kara Webster, a recent hire for Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), whisked Paul and two representatives of her client, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, into a cramped beige room in the congressman’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building.
Paul, and Jerry and Phyllis Robison of Menomonee Falls, Wis., didn’t get to meet with Sensenbrenner about the $20 million Defense Department Ovarian Cancer Research Program allocation they want him to support. Instead, they spoke with Webster for about 20 minutes and passed a packet of papers and a business card to her.
