With one political convention just finished and another one in full swing, there’s been a lot of talk about politicians’ records. Since both the major party candidates are Senators, there’s a one-stop-shop for looking at their actual doings on the job. And it’s from America’s biggest library: the Library of Congress.
It’s called THOMAS, and in the “spirit of Thomas Jefferson” it provides detailed information about congressional activities. This includes:
- Full text of bills and resolutions
- Full text of recent public laws
- Status of current bills
- The Congressional Record
- Roll Call votes
- Lists of bills by sponsor
- Presidential Nominations
- Treaties
- Committee Reports
All in all, you can see a lot of the sausage being made in Washington.
If you thought elections could be long and drawn out, they’ve got nothing on the tedious process of legislating. For a trip down memory lane, check out Schoolhouse Rock’s “I”m Just a Bill,” which chronicles that long process from start to finish. Watch the video on YouTube.
- Erin
Off The Shelf :: Constitution Day! | 17-Sep-08 at 1:51 am | Permalink
[...] an earlier post I wrote about THOMAS, which provides access to the workings of Congress. Here is the text of the [...]