Washington Whispers

Mad Men's January Jones Visits Congress to Enlist Help in Stopping Shark Finning

September 30, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

In the hit TV show Mad Men, Betty Draper, played by January Jones, scowls at the idea of getting politically active and even curses candidate John F. Kennedy. In reality, Jones has jumped right into politics, spending yesterday and today in Washington talking up her favorite cause: sharks. Specifically, she is lobbying for legislation that would end shark finning, the practice of cutting off the animal's fins—often for use in shark fin soup—and discarding its carcass at sea.

"I thought it would be all security and stress," Jones tells Whispers. "But they've been very receptive so far; maybe I've just had good luck today." Jones was meeting with several senators, including Democrats Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Tim Johnson of her home state of South Dakota. "I thought that all the senators wouldn't have a lot of time, but he loved to talk about the subject," Jones says after her meeting with Lautenberg, who spent a full half-hour chatting with the starlet. "It made me feel very positive about what I'm doing here today," she says.