Millionairess Rep. Jane Harman, who has been AWOL from the U.S. House of Representatives since announcing she will take a cushy job at the tony Woodrow Wilson Center and vacate her congressional seat, so far has missed 43 House votes. She is still collecting her government salary.
Harman takes top honors for missing more votes than any other House member except for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who is recovering from gunshot wounds to the head from January’s Tucson shooting spree.
Last month the California Democrat stunned local constituents when she informed the public that she was stepping down after winning the November election. While she has given notice that she will leave, Harman still is a House legislator with voting responsibilities and is collecting her annual salary. Harman is married to a wealthy millionaire and worth at least $150 million.
Activists in her California district are demanding that she pay for the special election that will determine her successor. Costs for the election could run as high as $3 million. In an Email today, Richard Grenell, a California activist who lives in the neighboring congressional district, says he’s pretty disgusted. “She is ducking the media on why she is collecting her government salary even though she announced she is leaving and yet still isn’t doing her job in the transition period.”
Harman has served in Congress during two separate periods since 1992. Her office says she will officially leave her office this coming Tuesday.
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