Isn't nice to have a job where you can work one week and get the next week off

on a regular basis. Talking about Congress just goes to show you that these people are out of touch with the average person.

If so, you are sadly mistaken.

mostly Tuesday Evening through Thursday evening. They are basically on two weeks, off a week, during the time they are there at all.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2011/0104/Will-the-112th-Congress-work-hard-or-hardly-work

Congress is in session and the number of hours members of Congress work.

Just not in Washington (or at City Hall or the state Capitol or wherever)--they're back in their districts doing work there, such as town hall meetings, constituent services, and yeah, photo ops. But it's easier to stay "in touch with the average person" if you're working in your district than in Washington. You get out of it what you put into it.

/wife of an elected official who has yet to see a "week off" even though he only has committee and full board work 2 weeks a month

is propagated by people seeking to advance the conservative agenda by fostering anti-government resentment.

n/t

It is true that they are in DC only for a limited number of weeks - and usually only 4 days in that week. But, that is not the full scope of their job.

Watch any committee meeting - they are all on line at the committee sites. What is clear to me is that the majority of Senators - on both sides - are very prepared to discuss the issues in the committees. It is clear that OUTSIDE the formal hearing, they have reviewed the material with their staff, worked on amendments with the staff and with at least some other members of the committee. Now lots of the more detailed work is done by the staff, but you can tell which Senators are highly involved.

There are oversight trips for those on foreign policy committees - not boondoggles to fun places, but many trips to fun hotspots like Afghanistan, Pakistan and nearly any Middle Eastern country.

In addition, there is the work advocating for their district/State and doing constituent work. It is also important that they spend time speaking to their constituents and visiting the district.

Select a Congressperson or Senator who represents you (or any of your choosing). For the next two weeks, each day google the name and then choose NEWS at the top. You will be surprised at how many things they do. Check their committees and look at the number of meeting they (or staff) attend. Like everyone else, I never questioned the slams that Senator X missed N% of such and such committee meetings. Yet if you look, you will find times when two committees they are on both have meetings. Sometimes, they might have 3 - all at the same time.)

Before Congress can propose a law, the idea for the law needs to come from somewhere. Sometimes the legislators in Congress propose the idea, and other times the president of the United States does. The legislators and the president often get their ideas from business leaders, lobbyists, and private interest groups.

Lobbyists are people who work for private interests to get favorable legislation passed in Congress. Private interests can be single entities, such as a defense contractor, or an organization that represents many people or groups, such as People For the American Way, a group that advocates a diverse democratic society. The word "lobbyist" comes from the fact that they spend a great deal of time in the halls and lobbies of Congress, meeting with members and congressional staffers. According to Walter E. Volkomer in American Government, the term was first used in Great Britain to describe journalists waiting to meet with legislators in the lobbies of the House of Commons, a chamber of the British legislature.

Many of the lobbyists in Washington, D.C., represent business interests. According to Michael Parenti in Democracy for the Few, President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924; served 1913–21) once said:

Suppose you go to Washington and try to get at your Government. You will always find that while you are politely listened to, the men really consulted are the men who have the big stake—the big bankers, the big manufacturers, and the big masters of commerce. . . . The masters of the Government of the United States are the combined capitalists and manufacturers of the United States.

Lobbyists help members of Congress analyze how their votes on particular bills will affect their chances to be reelected. They also analyze the chances that different bills, or proposed laws, have of passing Congress. Lobbyists supply members of Congress with information concerning the subject matter of congressional bills. When congressional committees hold hearings, lobbyists testify, or speak, before the committees in an effort to influence the passing of a law their clients want.

http://www.enotes.com/government-checks-balances/daily-operations-legislative-branch?du