New Library Of Congress Exhibit Features Items Removed From Stomachs Of U.S. Senators

WASHINGTON—Providing intimate insight into the digestive tracts of some of the most prominent lawmakers in our nation’s history, a new Library of Congress exhibit opening Wednesday features items removed from the stomachs of deceased U.S. senators. “We’re excited for visitors to see the strange and exciting objects ours senators have left behind in their stomachs, including fountain pens, old bottle caps, car keys, lots of wig powder, and one time even a bar of gold,” said Carla Hayden, the current librarian of Congress, who explained that autopsies are performed on every American who serves in the Senate and the contents of each corpse’s belly is permanently archived at the library. “This exhibit features so many significant gastrointestinal artifacts, from an original whale-oil lamp gulped down by Henry Clay in the 1830s to bits of the Constitution ingested by James Monroe to a full set of dentures accidentally swallowed on the Senate floor by Strom Thurmond. We even have more modern items like the completely intact Logitech computer mouse found in the late Sen. Feinstein’s stomach.” According to Hayden, the library is always preparing for new arrivals to the collection, with curators having already built an extensive habitat that will one day house the large colony of rabid bats currently living in the gut of Sen. Ted Cruz.