Cathy McMorris Rodgers Working Hardly

This morning an article popped into my news feed. I was about how often many members of the House of Representatives miss hearings held by the committees they are members of. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, apparently has one of the worst attendance records.

I thought I'd see for myself. The Government Printing Office has the 2013-2014 hearings here. By their own admission they don't have all the hearings. They only have the hearings that are released to them by the committees. But I think what they do have tells a pretty good story.

The Committee on Energy and Commerce on which Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers sits held 87 hearings between Feb 5, 2013 and Feb 27, 2014. Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended two of those meetings. Two.

The committee held 180 hearings between Jan 26, 2011 and Dec 13, 2012. Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended 46 of them and missed out on 134.

So since January of 2011, Cathy McMorris Rodgers attended at least 48 hearings and did not attend at least 219.

That reminds me of the time when she was the chair of the House Select Committee on Earmark Reform. Not only did her committee not meet their goal of providing reforms for earmarks, her committee didn't even meet.

From the article:

Her spokesman said her duties as chairman of the House Republican Conference include leadership meetings that conflicted with most energy and commerce hearings, and that family situations kept her away from others. 

But another member of the House GOP leadership, Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., attended 79 percent of his hearings and said the work informed his role as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee.

Well, there's one difference. As evidenced by her inability to speak with any depth on any topic at her town hall meetings, Cathy McMorris Rodgers does care to be informed.