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The Washington network of Persian-Americans celebrated Nowruz — the Persian New Year — on Wednesday and took the opportunity to discuss human rights and democracy and Iran.  

In the Senate and paired with a luncheon of Persian cuisine, the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri and the Organization of Iranian-American Communities sponsored a bipartisan panel of speakers discussing the situation in Iran. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “Iranian culture’s beautiful, the country’s a beautiful country."  

Just as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid finished his prepared remarks at a news conference in the Capitol,  a reporter's phone sitting on the lectern began to ring.  

So, the Nevada Democrat answered it.  

Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., missed a vote last week and filed a vote explanation telling everyone not to worry. The Senate voted March 2 on an amendment to legislation aimed at combating heroin and other opioid abuse.  

The minority leader’s vote explanation read:

Two of the least bipartisan senators in 2015 are running for president in 2016, a reflection of the polarized race playing out across the country.  

Lawmakers braved Wednesday’s heavy winds to stand outside the Supreme Court in solidarity with advocates opposing abortion or arguing for abortion rights.  

The eight-member Supreme Court heard a case on a Texas law that requires abortions to be done in ambulatory surgical centers and requires doctors to have admitting privileges to local hospitals and clinics. Hundreds of protesters rallied in front of the court, while police struggled to keep traffic on First Street moving. “It is probably the most monumental decision that we’re going to see in a very, very long time here,” Rep. Lois Frankel, a Florida Democrat who supports abortion rights, told HOH. “You see the word 'trapped'? It’s called trapped legislation. It’s targeting the regulations of abortion clinics, so they really can’t perform a legal abortion.”  

A very bright-eyed and giddy Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., announced the birth of his 10th grandchild during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.  

Born at 10:30 a.m., Nicholas Montgomery Sessions is the fourth child of the senator's son Sam and his wife Angela. The couple lives in Birmingham, Ala.  

On President George Washington’s birthday, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., delivered the traditional Washington’s Farewell Address floor speech on Monday.  

“It is an incredible honor to be the first senator from Delaware to read George Washington’s Farewell Address,” Coons told HOH.  

The Senate freshmen have made it through the first year of their six-year terms, and they've learned a lot about the world's greatest deliberative body in their roughly 14 months in office.  

The cohort of newcomers, 12 Republicans and one Democrat, had a year-long lesson in Senate procedures and traditions, and many said they learned the importance of relationship-building in a chamber where a single senator has the power to stop proceedings. And they also had some good times along the way. Here are a few of their memories from year one: Cheer Up, Charlie:  "Getting sworn in is just an amazing day," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. But not everyone was so happy about it. She stood with her immediate family for the ceremonial swearing-in with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and her grandson, Charlie, who was around one and half at the time was sleeping. When they woke him up to take pictures, he began to cry, and Biden tried unsuccessfully to cheer him up.  

It’s that time of year for politicians from both sides of the aisle to take a break and share a laugh. The 72^nd Annual Congressional Dinner, the long-standing Capitol Hill tradition of a light-hearted evening, is on Feb. 25.  

Amid partisan battles over filling the Supreme Court vacancy, bipartisanship will come alive at the Mandarin Oriental. Hosted by the Washington Press Club Foundation, the event will feature members of Congress, senators and of course, the press.