Why babies on the Senate floor?

In My Humble Opinion
81

If there’s a break room just off the Floor where she breastfeeds, is there anything that would stop the rest of the Senate from calling for a vote on something the moment she leaves? Or would they have to allow her some reasonable amount of time to get back to her seat?

Come to think of it, they’d have to have something like that already to allow for bathroom breaks.

82

Yes, there is such a ‘retiring room’ just off the Senate floor. But Senators often come out of that when a vote is called. It’s a bit more difficult for someone with both legs amputated, but knowing Senator Duckworth, I don’t think they could use that to keep her from voting – if the called a snap vote, she’d come back onto the floor with the child still latched onto her breast if needed for an important vote.

P.S. Here un Minnesota, the State Capitol has a similar room behind the Senate Chamber. My local Senator was one of the first women elected to the Senate. The room behind the floor had a restroom attached, but it was only a Mens room – the builders hadn’t planned for women Senators. Now there was a set of public restrooms just a short ways outside the Senate Chamber, so female Senators could use those.

But there was a problem with that. Just outside the Senate floor, there was always a crowd of lobbyists and constituents wanting to talk to Senators. One of the advantages of the retiring room behind the floor was that Senators could go to the bathroom there, or have some snacks, without exposing themself to such lobbying. This wasn’t an option for the women Senators. People were even known to follow a Senator into the restroom to continue lobbying for their vote. (The remodeled Capitol retiring rooms feature gender-neutral rest rooms.)

83

This Spanish pol has brought her daughter to votes since Vittoria was a month old.

84

Note that this refers to continuous-presence jobs: someone working from home, or even someone who works in an office but who doesn’t need to be “warming the chair” 100% of the time, won’t even need a replacement. They may simply be allowed longer or more frequent breaks than coworkers without a baby.

If you’re doing customer service from home (not an unusual arrangement), nobody cares if that involves a baby as long as the baby isn’t heard crying.

The Ronzullis are Italian.