WASHINGTON (AP) ― It's going on 10 p.m. when House Democrat Mike Quigley, in track pants and a T-shirt, tosses a flimsy mattress on the floor of his congressional office and prepares to call it a night.
The 51-year-old Democrat from Chicago regularly sleeps there. Several other members of the House of Representatives, perhaps as many as one in 10, also bunk out in their offices, according to estimates.
Quigley and other House members, who earn $174,000 a year, cite two reasons for taking advantage of this little-known perk. One is frugality. The other is image.
With two daughters in private college, Quigley says his home in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood is all he can afford. Moreover, planting roots in the nation's capital -- a place plenty of Americans love to hate -- doesn't seem like good politics to Quigley, who is fifth from the bottom of the House seniority list.
"I like to think that this reinforces the point that I live in the district, that I spend most of my time in the district, and I'm trying to be in solid contact with my constituents," he said.
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