Clearly one of the biggest perks of being a member of Congress is the cushy schedule: The week you get off for every federal holiday, the six weeks for "August" recess. In fact, the House had no five-day work weeks scheduled this year. In 2014, they spent just 29 weeks in session, and each had a long weekend on either side.
So you'd think showing up on the handful of actual work days wouldn't be such a challenge. Sometimes it is, and sometimes missing votes is kind of a big deal. So lawmakers—in the House, at least—get to explain, officially, why they missed those votes. And now, thanks to ProPublica, we can read all their excuses.
ProPublica has collected all of the Personal Explanations filed since 2007 — some 5,058 in all, covering 21,176 votes—and created a database that lets readers look up their representatives’ missed votes, as well as their explanations. These statements are by no means required—only one in six absences are explained—but they document a little-discussed aspect of the lives and work of lawmakers, and provide hints at the competing priorities and difficulties of a system that, to many, seems chronically dysfunctional. […]
The record is full of stories documenting the working lives of Representatives: Marcy Kaptur, a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio, missed a 2008 House vote because she was searching the Capitol for high school students visiting from her district. Jeff Landry, a Louisiana Republican, "completely lost track of time" and missed two votes in 2011. For Ben Ray Lujan, Democrat of New Mexico, an "operational issue" with a House voting machine meant that a 2012 vote wasn't recorded.
Here are two of my favorites.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, (D-IL) on abstaining on a bogus vote to hold then Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress:
"Mr. Speaker, on rollcall Nos. 441, 442 I would not participate in what I strongly believe was an abuse of power by the majority who, for illegitimate reasons, chose to hold the Attorney General, Eric Holder, in contempt of Congress. I was against the rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted 'nay.'"
And former Rep. Michele Bachmann on accidentally committing voter fraud:
"Madam Speaker, yesterday I accidentally electronically voted 'yea' twice for rollcall 170. Consequently, the subsequent vote (rollcall 171) indicated that I was 'Not Voting'. Madam Speaker, it was my intention to vote 'yea' on the last recorded vote on March 22, It is of vital importance we care for our disabled veterans who have personally sacrificed to protect our liberties. I fully support The Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act."
Why is it not a surprise that Bachmann managed to vote twice on one vote and cancel herself out?
You can check out your own representative on the ProPublica database.