Congressional vote records are public information and easily accessible online. The House and Senate websites provide complete voting records, including revisions and attendance. THOMAS, maintained by the Library of Congress, is another resource for searching House and Senate records. Following congressional votes can reveal legislative trends and help research political candidates.
Getting information about votes in the US Congress is generally very easy. Congressional vote rolls are considered public information, which means they are easily accessible to anyone who wishes to view them, from curious civics students to people abroad who want to follow American politics. Congressional votes can be used to research political candidates, gain insight into legislative trends, and to examine important issues, both current and historical.
Complete voting records for current House and Senate sessions are available on their respective websites at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. These voting records include a history of revisions to any pieces of legislation introduced, starting with when the bill was introduced and who sponsored it, through to the final form of the bill. The roll call logs kept at these sites also show who attended, who voted, and how they voted. The Senate and House also maintain some historical records on their sites, along with information about committees and individual representatives who are currently serving.
Another excellent resource for Congressional vote information is THOMAS, a site maintained by the Library of Congress at thomas.loc.gov. THOMAS allows users to search a database of House records, Senate records, or both, which can sometimes be of interest to people who want to compare House and Senate versions of the same bill. THOMAS records also include revision history and appeals.
There are a wide variety of reasons for keeping up with congressional votes. Some Americans are surprised to learn how active Congress is, since only major laws are reported in the news. When Congress is in session, numerous issues can be considered on any given day, and the process of following a bill as it is introduced, put before committee, and then reintroduced can be very interesting and sometimes even very revealing. For example, some bills are sent back to committee and then die, never to be seen again, while others come back with revisions so substantial that the entire contents of the bill are changed.
When researching political candidates, it can also be very helpful to look up congressional votes. Appeal data can reveal whether or not a candidate supports the views you promote while campaigning, for example, and it can also show how often the candidate actually showed up for work. THOMAS allows users to browse bills by sponsor, if you’re curious about what legislation a specific Senator or Representative has introduced.
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