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Who Represents Me | How to get
Help | Expressing your Opinion |
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E-Mail - WWW | Getting Copies of
Bills/Reports | Status of Current Bill
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Who represents me in the Congress?
Do you know the boundaries
of your Congressional District and the name of your Representative?
Do you know the name of your State’s two U.S. Senators?
If you’re among the large percentage of Americans reputed
not to know the answer to these questions, you can usually
find out from your local elections officer (registrar of voters)
or you may call our National Contact Center toll-free 1 (800) FED INFO.
You may also find
your representative or find
your senator online.
How do I get Congressional assistance in resolving a
specific problem with a Federal agency?
The best assistance
for these matters is usually available from the "field" or "State" offices, not
the ones in Washington, D.C. While these offices are nearly always listed in
local telephone directories, the size of some States and Districts and the
small number of offices means that you won’t necessarily find a listing in
your directory. If you can’t find the phone number, feel free to call our
National Contact Center toll-free
1 (800) FED INFO.
What about expressing my opinion on a matter of public
policy or a proposed law?
While this varies from
member to member, many field offices routinely ask that constituents call or
write their Washington, D.C., offices about pending legislation. Check with the
local office [see the paragraph above] to verify how they would like you to
express your opinion.
But don’t they all have e-mail and/or WWW
sites?
Many, if not all, of
the members of both houses of Congress do indeed offer electronic access. Both
the U.S. Senate and the
U.S. House of Representatives
web sites maintain indexes listing links to Members’ home
pages.
What about getting copies of bills and
reports?
Your best source for
ordering a copy of a bill that has been signed into law is the local office of
your member of the U.S. House of Representatives or your U.S. Senator. They can
often (but not always) provide a free copy. Sometimes, laws and related reports
are not available free but may be sold by Government Printing Office bookstores. Or
you may review copies in many
Government
Depository Libraries.
If you’re looking
for the text of a bill drafted in the current term of Congress, you may request
it from local Congressional offices or you may take a look at the
Full Text of
Legislation web site, which allows you to search by key words, author, or
number of the legislation.
And how do I check on the status of a current
bill?
Local Congressional offices
are also usually the best source for the status of current
bills and resolutions. Or you may check the status of measures
in the (current) 108th
Congress web site maintained by the Library
of Congress.
Reviewed:
August 4, 2004
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