• Active Legislation for the 112th Congress (2011-2012)
• For detailed information and text of national bills, visit the U.S. Congress online.
• For excellent insight into the federal budget and the status of appropriations, especially for human needs programs (health, education, housing, nutrition etc.), visit the Coalition of Human Needs, www.chn.org. View A Better Budget for All: Saving Our Economy and Helping Those in Need.
• Also see Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, www.cbpp.org.
• To get weekly updates of federal action on foreign and military affairs bills, especially appropriations, visit the Council for a Livable World.
• Friends Committee on National Legislation is an excellent source of information on a broad range of issues. Visit www.fcnl.org for Congressional bills falling into the following categories: Civil Liberties, Conventional Weapons, Environment, Federal Budget, Iraq, Native American, Nuclear Disarmament, Torture, other.

Want to see how your representative voted?

• View the complete Senate roll call votes
• View the complete House roll call votes

Want to learn more about your Senators and House members?

• Project Vote Smart (www.vote-smart.org) provides that information and much more on all incumbents and contenders. The site lists PAC money, aggregates it by industry or interest groups, etc. And if you don’t know who your national or state elected officials are, just type in your ZIP+4 and the site will tell you. It will even look up your +4 numbers at a click of the mouse.
• GovTrack.us is a tool to help the public research and track the activities in the U.S. Congress, promoting and innovating government transparency and civic education through novel uses of technology. You'll find here the status of U.S. federal legislation, voting records for the Senate and House of Representatives, information on Members of Congress, district maps, as well as congressional committees and the Congressional Record. The site is a research tool (much like the government website THOMAS but better), but also a free tracking service. Pick up Trackers throughout the site to make a personalized feed or get email updates. You can also embed a few widgets on your own webpage to keep your visitors up to date about legislation.