# Why babies on the Senate floor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769 "2018-04-20T12:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/61 "2018-04-22T09:48:19Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > [https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/SMAN-113/pdf/SMAN-113-pg23.pdf](https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/SMAN-113/pdf/SMAN-113-pg23.pdf) > > Like a nightclub, if your name ain’t on the list, you ain’t getting in. The list doesn’t explain Gore Vidal’s presence on the floor of the senate as a child. Which suggests that the regulation as codified isn’t that old. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/62 "2018-04-22T12:29:28Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The list doesn’t explain Gore Vidal’s presence on the floor of the senate as a child. Which suggests that the regulation as codified isn’t that old. Or that Gore Vidal was exaggerating, which to me seems far more plausible. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/63 "2018-04-22T12:52:00Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I think you’re wrong and I don’t have a problem with this. Millions of babies have been born throughout history and very few of them would have had the privilege of staying out of the public for 6 weeks. Maybe, but consider that during most of human history (and pre-history) infant mortality was extremely high. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/64 "2018-04-22T13:00:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Or that Gore Vidal was exaggerating, which to me seems far more plausible. I just looked it up. Vidal was a Senate page, which makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/65 "2018-04-23T00:09:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I just looked it up. Vidal was a Senate page, which makes sense. Ah. I had assumed (shirtless and shoeless) that he was too young to be a formal senate page. But both the age and education requirements could have been different then, he would have been nominated by his grandfather, and shirtless and shoeless was more common then. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/66 "2018-04-23T03:22:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Make the kid an employee, with the duty of being the official pooper and vomiter, and they would be allowed on the floor to “discharge” their official duties. 🙂 Then they would have to post that government job opening, and some other baby might be better at pooping & vomiting then Senator Duckworth’s child. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/67 "2018-04-23T03:27:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Duckworth was elected by her constituents to serve in the Senate. So she has a right to be present on the Senate floor. The Senate should go as far as possible in order to accommodate any Senator doing their job. Heck, in the past they have hauled semi-senile men in wheelchairs onto the floor (Strom Thurmond) and people in hospital gurneys (Pete Wilson, Robert Byrd) onto the Senate floor when they were needed for critical votes. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/68 "2018-04-23T12:16:25Z")
It’s really too bad that Strom Thurmond isn’t still alive and actively serving in the Senate. Well, it isn’t really but I feel a comic opportunity has been missed. I’d love to hear what Thurmond’s reaction would be to Sen Duckworth not only bringing her infant onto the Senate floor, but sitting right next to him, flopping out a boob and start breast feeding. He’d have had a heart attack. Double bonus points for that scenario if Duckworth happened to also be African American. He would’ve stroked out right there in righteous indignation. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/69 "2018-04-23T12:36:32Z")
The biggest issue is breastfeeding - this baby is still young enough where introducing a bottle could be problematic. Even if Senator Duckworth pumps - then leaves the baby at home with Dad or daycare, pumping will take hours out of her floor time, and she could miss important debates or votes while she pumps. In session Senate days can be very long, and when you need to pump, you need to pump - it isn’t something that you can skip and do twice as much in another two hours. I suspect that the baby is on the Senate floor when needing to be fed or napping, and if the baby is howling and the issue isn’t solved by nursing, a staffer will be whisking the baby off the floor. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/70 "2018-04-23T14:19:12Z")
keep in mind, too, that the Senator in question is a double amputee and thus getting herself on and off the Senate floor is more effort and more time than for an able-bodied mother, so being allowed to bring her child on to the floor is less burdensome to her than having to get herself to and from a location off that floor in order to breast feed her child (if she is - I’m assuming she is, but I haven’t heard an official statement that she is). ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/71 "2018-04-23T14:48:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Heck, in the past they have hauled semi-senile men in wheelchairs onto the floor (Strom Thurmond) and people in hospital gurneys (Pete Wilson, Robert Byrd) onto the Senate floor when they were needed for critical votes. You know, this is an excellent point. Considering all the accommodation historically given to geriatric Congress members, you would think accommodating a breastfeeding woman wouldn’t require much paradigm shifting. But it does, surprisingly. I have to point some fingers back at myself for initially seeing Duckworth’s request as a bigger deal than it is. And you want to know what’s _really_ crazy? I’m pregnant right now, and I plan to breastfeed, and I’m in a highly visible executive position. But still, on a subconscious level, I have it in my head that women need to refrain from demanding “special privileges” and should cater to outdated norms that have been in place since the days men unquestioningly dominated society. When almost half the population has to deal with pregnancy and/or breast feeding at some point in their lives, it’s not a “special privilege” to accommodate a representative of the people who happens to be managing this rather mundane fact of life right now. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/72 "2018-04-23T14:56:17Z")
Congratulations and best wishes to you, **you with the face**. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/73 "2018-04-23T16:39:12Z")
Thanks, **Shodan**! ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/74 "2018-04-23T17:46:14Z")
I took one of my babies to the office daily from the time he was six weeks old. I wore him in a sling, and nursed him, all while getting my work done. He was a quiet, calm baby. I wouldn’t do it with my other two, who were either fussy or just loud and fidgety. I think it should always be an option, in a safe work environment. Good for Senator Duckworth, for opening up that old boys’ club to the rest of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/75 "2018-04-23T18:10:33Z")
The rule changed unanimously to allow her to breastfeed her baby on the Senate Floor. Even in the stuffiest and most hidebound parts of Washington there’s recognition that babies need their mothers and mothers need their babies. And there’s nothing wrong with a mother, even a new mother, being a Senator. They’re perfectly capable and suitable to manage both duties. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/76 "2018-04-23T18:25:38Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > The rule changed unanimously to allow her to breastfeed her baby on the Senate Floor. That is actually not what the rule change did at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/77 "2018-04-23T21:01:16Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > That is actually not what the rule change did at all. The rule change just allowed her to have the baby on the Senate floor (for the next year). But pregnancy-related conditions are considered ‘temporary disabilities’ under the ADA, so the need for reasonable accommodations applies. Breastfeeding is covered by that. So it’s the ADA that allows her to breastfeed on the Senate floor, or in a room just off the floor. (Unless Congress has specifically excluded itself from the ADA – they do that with a lot of such laws.) ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/78 "2018-04-24T16:46:33Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The rule change just allowed her to have the baby on the Senate floor (for the next year). > > But pregnancy-related conditions are considered ‘temporary disabilities’ under the ADA, so the need for reasonable accommodations applies. Breastfeeding is covered by that. > So it’s the ADA that allows her to breastfeed on the Senate floor, or in a room just off the floor. > > (Unless Congress has specifically excluded itself from the ADA – they do that with a lot of such laws.) Besides the Congress are there any work places where a nursing mothers are allowed to bring their baby to work so that they can breastfeed them and do so in order to comply with ada requirements. Most I’ve seen allowed was using a breast pump at work. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/79 "2018-04-24T21:52:30Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Besides the Congress are there any work places where a nursing mothers are allowed to bring their baby to work so that they can breastfeed them and do so in order to comply with ada requirements. Most I’ve seen allowed was using a breast pump at work. 28 US states, + DC and Puerto Rico, have laws relating to breastfeeding at workplaces. (Being separate states, the details of these will differ.) Federally, there are Labor Regulations relating to break time for lactating mothers. In most workplaces, someone else can take over while a mother takes a break to breastfeed or pump. Congress is a bit different – nobody else can go on the floor and cast the vote for Sen. Duckworth. I can’t think of many workplaces with a similar situation. Possibly an on-air media personality, one of a surgical team, or similar. But in most, providng a break room/pumping room would be enough of a “reasonable accommodation”. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769/80 "2018-04-24T23:12:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Senators don’t spend a very large portion of their time on the floor. This is not comparable someone bringing a baby to work every day in a normal office. > > Senators don’t have work hours. They’re pretty much always working and can be called on to attend to business at any time. So it’s much more complicated for a senator with a newborn to draw strict lines and still properly care for a newborn. An accommodation like this is perfectly reasonable to avoid the discriminatory result of hindering a senator with a newborn from doing her job. > > Votes aren’t predictable. They happen when they happen. A bar on bringing babies to floor essentially means that a senator with a newborn has to miss votes. > > Allowing this is far more efficient than requiring someone like Duckworth to have a permanent solution for a problem that is only sporadic. That’s inefficient. And it would be discriminatory to make Duckworth bear this burden on her own. > > The whole notion that the occasional appearance newborn babies spoil a working environment is pretty much part of the structural sexism of our society and it’s good to see part of that being dismantled. The bigger sign of progress will be when you see a man senator take advantage of this change. I motion to refer to man senators as Menators hence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-babies-on-the-senate-floor/812769.md?page=5)