The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1922-08-26
Looking In on Congress From
the House Gallery
A CONGRESSMAN'S DAY
BY CONGRESSMAN GUY U. HARDY
BY CONGRESSMAN GUY u

A CONGRESSMAN'S DAY

- ~
Most people think that a congress.
man has a soft snap. Little work
Dig pay. bright lights. much society
! suppose | used to think so. ha,
seen the legislature at work. ana | nat
uraiiy supposed that such an impor
taht BODY as the congress would no
work more continuously than does ;
state legislature. had never seer
lluch OF the eastern part of the coun
try. and when l came down here
found myself planning little weekend
trips to New York. Atlantic City, New
England and nearby places.
But ! had another guess coming
The congress takes mighty few week.
end recesses.
In olden times, a few years ago In
fact. the congress was i'm session, more
or less leisurely, for about half the
year. The members could spend a
good deal OF time back home where
congressman are not so numerous and
where their official title cuts more ice
than 1t does here In Washington. But
during the past six or seven years the
congress has been in almost continu-
Gus session. The war, Of course.
threw a big burden on congress and
brought about the extra long sessions.
The talk here would Indicate that for
a long time to come a member will
spend most OF his time In Washington.
The house meets every day at twelve
o'clock noon and continues In session
usually until Ave or six O'Clock mt
night, and some times later. 1t meets
usually every day except Sunday. It
observes few legal holidays and has
taken only short recess at Christmas
times.
When the house Is in session q men,
Der rarely leaves the hill. He may
not sit In the house all the time, but
he sticks around nearby 50 as to be on
hand If a quorum is needed or n vote
taken.
He gets his lunch whenever he can.
There is a restaurant In the capitol
and in the house Office building, and he
usually eats %hurrledly in one of these
when he finds a slack time. Mems |
tastes In lunches vary everywhere. but
! have observed that members are usu-
ally light eaters at lunch time. The
and several other men Of my
acquaintance always take a pint bot
tie Of milk and eat It in a bowl with
crackers or bread. This may be fol-
by ice cream. pie or some sim
pie dessert.
Hard Work In Committees.
II a member had nothing else to do
to attend sessions Of the house and
live some study, thought and consid-
to the big problems before con-
,ress he would find himself quite well
occupied. But that is only half Of the
vork-perhaps not half. Much Of the
BUSINESS OF congress IL conducted in
Every bill Is first considered in a
and sometimes a committee
ponds weeks or months holding hear
ngs and considering a single bill.
his was true Of the revenue, tariff,
Onus, immigration, educational, pro-
ibition enforcement. appropriation
nd ether big bills. Some committees {
leet every day for weeks at a time,
nd others at less frequent intervals.
usually meet at ten o'clock 4
the morning. Sometimes they 60 on I
while the house is in session .
nd sometimes they meet at night. I
Co,n> ~nc,~h~~U haze nrr, lc~l ros. r
ittee work and some are more or less
'rtunate, as they choose to look at 1t.
q rule, every committee wants to 4
every bill that can possibly n
, referred to 1t, and almost every n
ember Is anxious to get on the most =
,portant and hardest working COM /,
ittees. Q
Then there 10 the Office work. The .
all brings lots Of Office work. The q
ice and departmental work alone 81
Duld keep z man fairly busy all Of q
e time II he worked union hours. 1,
Much Business With Departments.
The practice has grown up for many d
ople to write their congressman n
out their business with the various m
partments. The Western members n
t a great deal more Of this class Of pl
,rk to do than do the members from Il
3 East and South. The public land m
tets furnish much business that
lst be looked after ut the general q
ID office. During the week a MEM W
II apt to have business before the er
:erior department. the forestry serv- 81
. the pension bureau. the veterans OF
reau and the Post Office depart to
mt. And he may have an immigra- OF
n case before the Labor department, CT
passport case before the Department an
State, some business in some branch ev
the Agriculture department.. and al nc
anything else before any other ca
or department In Washington. Ju
i member never considers the ques- tn
4 of official duty. II 1t is something ral
t can properly be done, and a con- IN
uent back home wants II done, he un
s and does 1t. And he Is glad to do
for 1t makes him a friend back
ne. But 1t oil takes time and helps
make his day a full day. s1e
'fices are usually open by nine Ire
----.. SnS.. III