He also spent the day worrying about his appearance on "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central, which aired Tuesday night. Host Stephen Colbert is known for skewering guests, in good fun, on the show. (Follow the link to watch the show. Chaffetz starts at about the 10-minute mark.) "The scary part is we filmed for three hours for a five-minute segment. So I have no idea what's going to be cut and spliced to make me look like I said something I didn't actually say," he said. "It may be the end of my career. It was nice for a few hours, though."

Chaffetz added, "It's just satire. But there's some Mormon-oriented jokes that maybe I wouldn't want my kids to hear. Ultimately, I think it's the right thing to do. It's fun. It's a way to speak to millions of people. If you can laugh with somebody, then when you discuss more serious issues, you have a chance to make your point."

Another way that Chaffetz did not play it safe on his first day is that he also criticized Hatch, the senior member of the delegation. That came when Chaffetz was told that Hatch helped to introduce a bill on Tuesday that would give the District of Columbia a House seat with full voting rights, and give an additional seat also to Utah — a move Chaffetz has opposed.

"I'm disappointed that Sen. Hatch is supporting something that I believe is clearly unconstitutional," Chaffetz said. "I think the Democrats are trying to buy some Republican votes by giving something to Utah that we're already going to get."

E-mail: lee@desnews.com