. >> reporter: this month, former hill staffer don cravens jr. told the crowd he's embarrassed by the state of hiring practices in congress. >> i was the only african-american chief of staff from 2012 >> reporter: the only one? >> the only one. >> reporter: since he left his job in congress, he says diversity among top hill staffers has not improved. >> when senators are making decisions that affect the country and senators that represent states with large minority populations, and i don't know that they can make truly wise decisions without having people of all backgrounds in those discussions. >> reporter: he says part of the problem is that no one in congress keeps track of how many minorities get hired to work for senators or representatives as was shown by a recent news4 i-team investigation. >> you're right, there's no accountability. there's no fear. >> reporter: for months last year we went digging for numbers of how many staffers in our local offices identify as women, as people of color, or lgbtq. congress requires diversity tracking in

. >> i'm hot happe not happy toda >> don cravens junior told the crowd he's embarrassed by the state of hiring practices within the congress. >> i was the only african-american chief of staff from 2012 until 2014, 2015. >> reporter: you were the only one? >> only one. >> reporter: cravens is now director of the washington urban league. he says staffers has not improved. >> when senators that represent states with large minority populations, i don't know they can make truly wise decisions without having people of all backgrounds in those discussions. >> reporter: he says part of the problem is no one in congress keeps track of how many minorities get hired to work for senators. >> you're right, there's no accountability. there's no fear. >> reporter: for months last year the i team went digging for numbers on how many staffers in our local offices identify as women, people of color or lgbtq. nobody has to track those numbers within congress. and no one does. >> it is a huge disparity. >> reporter: spencer overton heads the economic center for political studies. >> we found that althou