Amazing Alumna:

Christine (Drager) Kurth ’92, Arts and Sciences, ’95 J.D.

Current life role: Deputy Staff Director, Senate Commerce Committee

Kurth comes in contact with some of Washington, D.C.’s, most influential people as a result of her position as deputy staff director for the Senate’s powerful Commerce Committee.

Hill fever

After graduating from Valpo Law in 1992, Kurth clerked for the chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Alaska. After her clerkship, she moved to the “lower 48” to work as a trial attorney for the Contempt Division of the National Labor Relations Board. While employed at the NLRB, she spent some time as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. 

Though litigation was rewarding, Kurth says she couldn’t shake “Hill fever.” So, when she was offered a position on the Interior Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she jumped at the opportunity. On the Hill, she also worked as counsel on the Senate Energy Committee and as deputy general counsel on the Senate Appropriations Committee. That post ultimately led to her current role with the Senate Commerce Committee.

A broad portfolio

In addition to general management of committee staff, Kurth works on legislation covering a wide range of topics, including telecommunications, space exploration, homeland security, fisheries, consumer protections, airlines and railroads. She assists with analysis of existing laws, organization of hearings, and the writing of bills to be presented to the Senate via the committee’s chair—and her boss—Sen.Ted Stevens (R-AK).

“Being able to write clearly is an important component of my job,” Kurth says. “Both Christ College and law school gave me the background that I needed. The people I write for read huge amounts of paperwork, so to be successful, I have to write succinctly and convincingly, whether I’m drafting legislation or penning speeches and memoranda for the Senator.”