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GOP Rep. Says Members of Congress Sleep in Their Offices Due to D.C. Crime

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  October 06, 2023 1:30 PM

A Republican congressman said in an interview on Wednesday that some lawmakers sleep in the U.S. Capitol because Washington, D.C. has become “very dangerous.”

Republican Rep. Eric Burlison (MO) made the remarks in an interview on the “Todd Starnes Show” this week. The interview occurred one day after news broke that Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint in our nation’s capitol. 

“It’s very dangerous,” Burlison said. “I mean, it’s insane to even own a car in D.C. because wherever you park, it is going to cost you a fortune and it’s likely to get broken into and you’re likely to get carjacked. So it’s a risk that a lot of members like myself are. You know, we’ve hunkered down in the Capitol building. And so for those people that think it, you know, it’s sometimes, it’s a security calculation to actually sleep in your office.” 

“You’re telling me that it’s so dangerous in Washington that some of these lawmakers are actually sleeping in their offices?” Starnes pressed. 

“Yeah, I mean, Todd, I don’t want to walk back and forth from an apartment in D.C. at night or in the morning, early morning to get to work. It’s not a safe environment.”

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After Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint, he said in an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters that he does not believe in “defunding the police.”

“I don't believe in defunding the police,” he said. “I voted against what the Washington, D.C. Council did to lower penalties. I think that's a wrong direction. I was one of 30 Democrats that we don't feel that you affect crime by lowering the penalties. You ought to increase the penalty.”

Cuellar was approached by three young people who were armed. He gave up his car, which police tracked down in less than two hours. He got all his belongings back.