Can Congressional Hearings Cure Insomnia?

When was the last time you watched CSPAN? Was it when congress debated about health care reform or political campaign contributions. Or was it when comedian Stephen Colbert lambasted congress or when a congressional panel questioned Major League Baseball's top stars about steroid use?

There's a reason why people tune in to see the unusual and entertaining but choose to read about important policy issues in the news later. Congressional procedure is about as entertaining as an early morning accounting seminar in college.

That said, its hard to blame a young boy for falling asleep during his grandfathers floor speech. The CSPAN video (seen below) has become a viral sensation.

The man speaking is U.S. Rep. Joe Poe, a Republican from Texas. In this blogger's opinion, the address about domestic violence was brief and not that boring by Washington's standards. Yet even a congressional aide couldn't keep the boy from drifting to sleep.



It's not just children who can't stay awake through the endless and sometimes pointless posturing. Even presidential candidates have been caught napping at the capitol.

Think you can stay awake through congressional hearings?

Wide awake in Washington: some congressmen choose cheap over sleep

Part of being a Washington lawmaker is living out of a suitcase. When in session, senators and congressmen split time between their home districts and the capital. This brings up a unique problem: the need for two regular places to sleep.

As anyone who’s ever lived in Washington D.C. can attest, renting a place isn’t cheap, especially when there’s a mortgage to pay back home. The Chicago Tribune estimates as many as one in 10 congress members turn to a time-honored solution – sleeping in their offices.

Each night he’s in Washington, Illinois Democrat Mike Quigley turns his office into a makeshift bedroom by rolling out a flimsy mattress and sheets and pillows he stores in a filing cabinet. He posts a sign on his door warning third-shift cleaning crews not to disturb his slumber.

Quigley, who makes $174,000 a year, says his two daughters’ private college tuitions and his home in the north side of Chicago are already enough of a financial burden.

Fellow Illinois Democrat Dan Lipinski estimates he’s saved about $90,000 in the five years since he got rid of his Maryland apartment and started sleeping on a full-size mattress and box spring in a small room near his main office space.

The downside is the sleep isn’t so good.

Lipinski uses earplugs and a sound machine to drown out police sirens, train whistles and other city noises.

“This is a loud town. The torture of getting up every two hours is tough,” Quigley said describing the frequently interrupted sleep he gets in his office.

“It’s not a lot of fun,” Republican John Shimkus told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s not a real restful sleep. Even mentally, I think it’s important to get off the Hill. It’s important to get away.”

Shimkus now shares a townhouse outside the Beltway with several colleagues.

Another reason lawmakers cite for sleeping in their offices is image. Lawmakers want to show they’re loyal to their constituents, not the Washington establishment.

There still isn’t an exact tally on how many congressmen crash in the capitol when they’re in town. Quigley says top House officials mentioned offhand there were 30-40.

No known senators are in that group.

Image by afagen