Bird’s Eye View: Empty Senate Chamber

A decidedly empty chamber awaited each Senator as they came in at their appointed time and stood near their desk, waiting for the podium to be brought to them so they could have a chance to speak. I watched as a lone Senator addressed no one in particular and CSPAN observed. A stenographer stood six feet to the Senator’s left with a typewriter like apparatus strapped to a board. It hung from his neck much like an archaic technology-albatross from yesteryear.

From the press box, I looked down, surveying the floor from directly above the presiding member’s desk. All of the balcony areas were empty, save for the area to my right, which was stuffed with eager tourists. The floor of the Senate within the Capitol was eerily silent, as no electronic devices are allowed in and therefore not even the sound of a vibrating Blackberry was to be heard.

From the camera view, the average American will see only shots back and forth as the camera switches from the view of a member of Congress, to the presiding member, and back. They cannot see staffers wandering in and out of the double doors, the lack of people in the balcony, or the odd hollowness that sound creates in such a large, empty room.

Congress frequently puts out the call for a debate on an issue. But heated debate rarely seems to actually occur on the floor itself, since, as is apparent, they are almost never on the floor at the same time.

The Senator from New Mexico put a large, colorful posterboard up on a easel and gestured emphatically at it to no one in particular. The stenographer typed rapidly. The audience, which now included quite a few high school students, strained to see the tiny words printed on the board as the Senator waved his hands around and jabbed a finger into his notes.

All the passion that may or may not accompany a speech is no longer evident once it’s in a transcript. It is likely that a lot of information is going to be passed that way, via a paper or electronic copy of what was said.

It is much more effective, I would think, for someone to actually be seen in person as they give their speech, since the stenographer isn’t likely to point out elements of composure, such as saying that a Senator was ‘so excited that his hair was shaking and his face was beet red,’ or ‘as Senator so-and-so spoke, he was so into it that he spit on the guy in front of him.’

Since most members of Congress are only going to read what was said, the all important element of passion in a speech will be missed.

Pity.