No. The pattern of Congressional sessions and breaks has changed over the years. In general, earlier Congresses spent fewer months in session per year, with few, and sometimes no breaks. More recent Congresses have spent virtually the entire year in legislative session, but have combined the longer session with longer and more frequent breaks. These breaks are not labeled by Congress as vacations, but as either "recesses" or "district work periods." The change in terminology was deliberate, to let the electorate know that work continues during these breaks, it just changes location from Washington, D.C. to the local area.

For example, a recent Washington Post article (8/21/97) profiled then-Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY). The reporter accompanying Paxon noted his schedule for one weekend during the August recess. It consisted of four town meetings, a fund-raising breakfast, a ceremony for the U.S. tae kown do team, a lunch with local officials, a visit to an optics plant, a YMCA visit, a speech to 650 county Republicans, and an appearance at the county fair.

During the last decade, from the 100th-105th Congress, legislators averaged 312 days in legislative session per two-year Congress, spread over an average of months, and interrupted by extended breaks spent back in their districts and states. They spent about days in recess per Congress. The pattern that we have today began in about 1943 with the 78th Congress. That Congress spent 22 months in legislative session over its two-year lifespan, for a total of days, and spent about 175 days out of Washington in recess.

Prior to the 78th, Congress took breaks only over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, with a few exceptions. The tradition of a regular Christmas break began only with the 35th Congress in 1857. And prior to the 35th, Christmas breaks were held inconsistently. From the 1st Congress to the 15th, no breaks were taken, with two brief exceptions.

However, during those first 15 Congresses, annual sessions averaged 5 months in length, in contrast to the current average of 11 months per year. The distance, difficulty, and time involved in travel to the Capitol dictated shorter legislative sessions in those earlier Congresses.

Given this data, it would be difficult to make the case that Congress is working less -- but it is working differently. Our modern legislators have full-time jobs whereas earlier Members went home to take up their original occupation again for a few months, leaving behind all legislative responsibilities. Modern legislators have thousands more constituents than their predecessors, and they hear from them in some form, or receive visits from them, every day of the year. The development of modern travel and rapid communications technology has meant a steady increase in the amount of visits, communications and correspondence. Most legislators today spend scheduled recesses traveling their districts and states and holding meetings and open office hours in their local offices. A few Members use some recess time to travel abroad with official delegations to meet their counterparts in foreign nations. To see what trips your Member might have taken recently, visit the Congressional Travel Database.

Personal time off differs among Members. You would have to contact your own Member or Senator and ask how much of any given congressional recess they spent on an actual vacation.