Congressmen Represent a Full House

WASHINGTON —  A short walk from the Capitol, in a neighborhood where young congressional staffers live together on tight budgets, is a house with seven unlikely roommates.

All the residents of the modest 19th century home on C Street, near the Library of Congress, are congressmen whose families remained behind in their home states. Like their twentysomething neighbors, they enjoy the camaraderie and cheap rent the arrangement provides. And they avoid Washington’s infamous traffic by walking to work.

“It’s great. We’ve all become very close friends,” said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).

The bipartisan living arrangement--the house holds four Republicans and three Democrats--makes the congressmen better lawmakers, according to Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who helped organize the housing arrangement in 1997.

“It leads to civility, that leads to tolerance, that leads to good governance,” he said.

The other congressmen in the house are Ed Bryant (R-Tenn.); Steve Largent (R-Okla.); Tom A. Coburn (R-Okla.); Michael F. Doyle (D-Pa.) and John Elias Baldacci (D-Maine).

Congressmen living together has a long history. Future Presidents Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln were among of the many politicians who stayed in Capitol Hill boarding houses while serving in Congress.

Many Americans see today’s members of Congress as privileged and wealthy, living in the lap of luxury in or around Washington, but the reality is that a fairly large number live rather frugally, sharing homes, living in efficiency apartments, even sleeping in their offices.

The seven congressmen live in tight quarters. Renovations had to be made so they wouldn’t have to share bedrooms. Wamp said they don’t have maid service, and everyone is expected to help with household chores.

He said it’s worth the hassle because of the good times the roommates and their friends enjoy. He said the house is the most popular place on the Hill to watch the NCAA college basketball tournament and to eat take-out Chinese food late at night.

“We all like sports,” said Stupak, noting as many as four TVs can be tuned in to games at any time.

Policy discussions are frequent. The only ground rule is everyone has to show respect for one another, Wamp said. There have been times when the rule has been tested, particularly during President Clinton’s impeachment, he said.

“Those were the most difficult days we had,” Wamp said.

Living with roommates who also are colleagues and understand the pressures of Congress makes the arrangement work, he said.

“We all agree that being a public figure is one of the most lonely places a man or woman can find themselves in,” Wamp said.

That lonely lifestyle once prompted Rep. Anne Northup (R-Ky.), to seek shelter at the Young Women’s Christian Assn. “I did not get in when they found out how old I was,” said the mother of six grown children.

She ended up in an efficiency apartment. “There’s no furniture in it,” Northup said, explaining the small apartment is just a place to sleep when she gets home from the office. Her real home remains in Louisville, she said.

Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.) lived in his office when he first arrived in Washington in 1995, then bought a townhouse with Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Hilleary said they often talk about congressional business.

“We were both part of the attempted Newt Gingrich coup,” he said, referring to the 1997 push by some GOP House members to topple the then House speaker. Asked if that action was plotted at the sparse townhouse, Hilleary responded coyly, “We talked about it quite a bit.”

Though Hilleary and Graham own the townhouse, located not far from the house shared by the seven congressmen, the Tennessean is quick to say buying the home “was not indicative of ‘going Washington’ ” and losing touch with his roots.