Pam Turner

resident Reagan didn't know Pam Turner was in the room at the White House one afternoon when he told a slightly off-color joke to then-Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo. "They were both great raconteurs," said Turner, 58, a Rhode Island native who was deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs during Reagan's two terms. "The president turned around after the punch line and looked at me, and his face turned all red. And he said, 'I am so sorry,' " recalled Turner. "I said, 'It's OK, Mr. President, I've heard that one before.' "

Turner joined the Reagan administration after working on Capitol Hill for then-Sen. John Tower, R-Texas, who was chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Later, Turner went to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, where she served as senior vice president. Turner, who earned a bachelor's degree at Indiana University, said that working on the Hill and at the White House prepared her for her current job as assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. She feels that her stint as a lobbyist also offered a helpful perspective.

"The truth is," Turner said, "[I've been] able to wear everybody else's shoes for a little while. And you almost have to do that." Now Turner devotes a large part of her time to keeping up with the 88 committees and subcommittees on Capitol Hill that deal with homeland-security issues. She said her office has done well, given the difficulties involved in launching the department. Still, she is pressing for improvements.

"I'm not satisfied yet that we are where I want to be, and I think that we're working toward getting there," Turner said. "I think that's true department-wide. It is reflected, just as much of the department's work is reflected, in terms of our relationships with the Hill."