--- description: Since the dawn of the C-SPAN era, members of Congress have used the ever-present cameras to their advantage: for fundraising, for television ads, for testimonials... title: Congressman Goes To Wrong Hearing and Other CSpan Moments For The Ages image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d237387d74da5e7/69868905169ab0d0b52789e6/ap729577419132.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Video: Congressional Committee Hijinx by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 10:13 PM CUT  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., right, leaves as the committee's ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., left, begins his statement on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 5, 2014. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., right, leaves as the committee's ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., left, begins his statement on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 5, 2014.Lauren Victoria Burke—AP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 10:13 PM CUT Since the dawn of the C-SPAN era, members of Congress have used the ever-present cameras to their advantage: for fundraising, for television ads, for testimonials on their websites. But the flip side of that is those same cameras catch some scenes no elected member would like to have out in the public domain: flippant statements, mental flubs or, as Senator Dan Coats, an Indiana Republican, found out this week, wandering into the wrong hearing and asking off topic questions. Let the record show: Congress can be incredibly whacky, as these videos prove. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/50303/congressional-committee-hijinx/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/50303/congressional-committee-hijinx/"},"headline":"Video: Congressional Committee Hijinx","datePublished":"2014-04-04T22:13:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:09:01.895Z","description":"Since the dawn of the C-SPAN era, members of Congress have used the ever-present cameras to their advantage: for fundraising, for television ads, for testimonials...","url":"https://time.com/50303/congressional-committee-hijinx/","keywords":["Congress","stephen colbert","Al Gore"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d237387d74da5e7/69868905169ab0d0b52789e6/ap729577419132.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d237387d74da5e7/69868905169ab0d0b52789e6/ap729577419132.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Darrell Issa, Elijah Cummings","caption":"Darrell Issa, Elijah Cummings","creditText":"Lauren Victoria Burke—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/50303/congressional-committee-hijinx/","name":"Video: Congressional Committee Hijinx"}}]}] ```