The Capitol Steps, the only group in America that attempts to be funnier than Congress, is a troupe of former Congressional staffers who travel the country satirizing the very people who once employed them.

Over the past 16 years, the group has recorded 17 albums, including five during the Clinton Administration: Sixteen Scandals, Return to Center, A Whole Newt World, Lord of the Fires and The Joy of Sax. Other releases include: 76 Bad Loans, We Arm the World, and Stand By Your Dan. They perform more than 300 shows per year nationwide, from Pasadena to Pensacola and everywhere in between.

The Steps have been featured on three national public television specials and have appeared on many network TV programs, including Entertainment Tonight, Nightline, The Today Show, and 20/20. They also have been featured dozens of times on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. They currently produce, with KRCW, quarterly specials for public radio stations nationwide, and they've been regularly featured on CNN's Inside Politics.

The group was formed in 1981 when three staffers for Sen. Charles Percy were asked to provide entertainment for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Christmas party. At first, the group considered a traditional nativity play, but they weren't able to find three wise men or a virgin in all of congress! So they instead dug into the headlines and hot topics of the day and created new lyrics for familiar tunes. What emerged was a special brand of satirical humor that played as well in Peoria as it did on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Capitol steps were created during the Reagan Administration by Elaina Newport, Bill Strauss and Jim Aidala, who reasoned if entertainers could become politicians, politicians could become entertainers. Since then, the have done more than 4,500 performances in 48 states. The group now has a full cast roster of 20, six of whom are onstage for any one show.

All members of the cast have worked on Capitol Hill for Democrats, Republicans and politicians who sit on the fence. Thanks to the scandals and screw-ups of our elected officials, there's never a shortage of material.

Although the Steps are based in Washington, D.C., 90 percent of their performances are for out-of-town audiences. Whether it's a corporate group, a university audience, high-schoolers or senators, audiences love the Steps's political practical pokes at public figures such as Bill Clinton booking the Lincoln Bedroom at his White House Hotel (to the tune of Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel"), or Bob Dole singing, "It's Not Easy Being Mean." The only complaints come from politicians and personalities who are not included in the program.