thatonegirl [dot] net

When Rep. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington State, tells his constituents that his workweek is 2 1/2 days at best, they shake their heads. “They wonder what we’re doing, and I have to wonder, too,” he said. This article from the Seattle Post-Intelligence, Congress finds 5-day workweek is too taxing , and really tells it like it is:

“In a typical week… the House returns to work Tuesday but does not vote until late afternoon or early evening… Wednesday is a heavy day, with hearings and votes and other official functions jammed in from early morning until late at night. Thursday is typically devoted to mopping up, with hearings in the morning and a goal of having the week’s final vote by early afternoon.”

Having been there, I know from experience that when on the Hill, lawmakers are forced to race from meeting to meeting, often needing to be in several places at once. When the Congressman is “in the office,” it is rare that he is actually IN the office. And with so many conflicts and being pulled this way and that, lawmakers don’t have enough time to seriously study the issues before them. Occasionally they don’t even have time to read legislation before voting on it.

That is where their office staff steps in. Specific areas are assigned to certain Legislative Assistants who are in charge of becoming experts on the subject. They are responsible for knowing all the research and what is happening on the Hill regarding any sort of legislation or buzz about the topic. It is their job to inform the Congressman of the issues surrounding it, and the pros and cons of voting for and against it. It is also the LA’s job to know the demographic of the constituency and relay how they would want the Congressman vote to properly represent them.

Yet, an article from the Washington Post, Culture Shock on Capitol Hill: House to Work 5 Days a Week, states that “by the time the gavel comes down on the 109th Congress on Friday, members will have worked a total of 103 days. That’s seven days fewer than the infamous “Do-Nothing Congress” of 1948.”

The Seattle article sites “Congress’ decision to give itself a seven-day recess in honor of St. Patrick’s Day… a weeklong break in February for Presidents Day… and a two-week break for Easter and Passover and the entire month of August, which has no official holiday at all.” The Post article mentions Congress taking “six weekdays to relax around Memorial Day, when most Americans get a single day off.” I can understand the need for a break, but these extended and random vacations are a bit in excess. However, I can almost assure you that the Congressman is still kissing babies and shaking hands around his district during some of that time off. And you can’t expect the politician to not spend time with his family, or on a week vacation in Europe. Even they deserve a break. Running a country is hard work!

“At a time when many Americans are taking on part-time work in addition to their day jobs just to make ends meet during the holidays, members of Congress got some devastating news today: they’ll be expected to work a full five-day week in 2007.” - Reduce Idiocy.com.

So the Democrats have stepped in, and have decided to tighten the belt. Starting in January of 2007, members of the house will be expected to be in the Capitol for votes each week by 6:30 p.m. on Mondays. But when you look at The Washington Post’s study of House Members who missed votes in the 109th Congress, you will notice that 8 of the top 10 are Democrats. Neither party is innocent.

“Setting a calendar that satisfies 435 members is impossible,” said the current majority leader, Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who will become minority leader in January. “Between the travel issues, the members’ work schedules, the family and district issues, it was a Rubik’s cube,” he said.

The Democrats might just be setting themselves up for failure. “They’ve got a lot more freshmen then [the Republicans] do,” House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri said of the Democrats. “That schedule will make it incredibly difficult for those freshmen to establish themselves in their districts. So we’re all for it.” These freshmen, as well as the current representatives have to build face time with their constituents. Only so much rapport can be established from actions on the hill, and the majority of the population doesn’t even pay attention to what goes on in the day-to-day of the government. Do you know how your representative voted on issue x, y or z?

That quote reminds me of a post I made last year about being married to a politician, Married to the Proverbial Mob. There are just certain sacrifices you make when you enter the public arena like that. It can be likened to being being a celebrity: your life, your schedule, your dirtiest of secrets are no longer your own. They become public knowledge and one way or another, someone will find out.

But both sides are taking a hit. For example Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz a Democrat from Florida runs her daughter’s Brownie troop meetings on Monday afternoons. Due to these new restrictions, she may have to forfeit her leadership position or talk with the other troop parents about moving the meeting.

I think the bottom line is that the Democrats are trying to ensure the American people that they are getting their “moneys worth,” to put it colloquially. “Congress has a fundamental responsibility to make decent laws and see to it that those laws work well. The current schedule doesn’t allow that and the biggest deficit,” says Norman Ornstein, a scholar on the history and workings of Congress for the American Enterprise Institute.

I can understand the need for stricter rules regarding when and for how long Congress can take breaks, I just think the majority party should try another approach.