Hawaii Republican Rep. Charles Djou has made history this week as the first Member of Congress to use an iPad during a floor speech. Djou told CNN that his regular 12-hour journeys home to Hawaii and the fact that he has only just become a Member of Congress prompted him to buy an iPad. Djou won a special election in May to take up a seat in Hawaii’s First Congressional District.
“I never touched the device until a month ago when I became of Congress†he said, adding that the iPad helps him make the most of his long trips home to Hawaii from Washington. A new house member must read piles of briefing books and policy papers in order to get up to speed, and loading them all up on the iPad saves him from carrying them around everywhere.
However, there may be a slight snag in Djou’s plan, as just like the member of the German parliament that we heard about the other day, Djou may have been breaking House rules by using the device, as laptops are prohibited on the floor, although other members have use tablets in the past. When CNN contacted a staff member for the House Administration Committee, they said that House rules allow the use of handheld devices for “texting, e-mailing and other forms of non-verbal communication.â€
Source: CNN
