Congressional Voting Records Show Few With Perfect Attendance

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Representative Don Young of Alaska likes to get around his home state, and he does not let his voting schedule get in the way. One Tuesday in July when his fellow House Republicans voted for their signature budget measure, known as Cut, Cap and Balance, Mr. Young was the only one among them to miss the vote, for a charity fishing trip in Whittier.

Mr. Young, the second-longest-serving Republican in the House, has missed 16 percent of all votes so far in the 112th Congress, making him the member of the House most often absent, excluding those recovering from serious illness or Representatives Ron Paul of Texas and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, two Republicans who are running for president.

According to an analysis of House attendance, nearly 20 current members have missed more than 10 percent of the votes this year. Most said they were ill or were tending to sick family members. Representative Jared Polis, Democrat of Colorado, missed several weeks of votes during what might have been the first paternity leave for a gay member of Congress.

While a 10 percent rate of absenteeism might not seem all that significant, the vast majority of lawmakers try to miss as few votes as possible, with the view that their constituents consider voting a basic function of serving in Congress.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/us/politics/congress-voting-records-show-few-with-perfect-attendance.html