DEC 2019 |
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Frank Bernheisel: The View From Here |
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Posted 04.30.12 Just Outside Washington FRANK
BERNHEISEL
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go
This could be applied to the men and women in the U.S. House of Representatives. How else to explain Congress' decision to give itself a seven-day recess in honor of Presidents Day. Or a two-week break for Easter and Passover, which was followed two weeks later by a second two-week break.
Congress will work just three days in the entire month of August, which has no official holiday at all. (The Congressional schedule is on-line and it is different for the House and the Senate.)
The 2012 schedule for the House was established in October 2011 by Eric Cantor, the House Majority Whip and schedules 109 legislative days in 2012. Cantor defended the schedule:
Generally, Congress doesn't work on the weekend or late on any of the days stated above unless absolutely necessary. And when they do it makes headline news.
For all this hard work, members of Congress are being paid $174,000 a year. On top of this there the benefits including: health care, personal staff allowances, expense allowance, free postage to mail in the US, domestic travel, foreign travel, and retirement benefits
Today is a tough day in the House; there are 10 committee meetings. On the floor, as far as I can tell, they are just milling around. Maybe you can see a higher purpose to today's floor activity:
http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.aspx
But then there is fund raising, surely that must be counted as "work"? |
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