2012: Republican Representative Spencer Bachus declines to support H.R. 336>a, a bill to cap credit card interest rates. 2011: Rep. Spencer Bachus votes to knock away the requirement that federal contracts pay Americans workers at least the prevailing wage for their work, supporting pay cuts for federal contract workers instead. 2011: Rep. Spencer Bachus votes [...]

On the morning of February 2, 2012 the Committee on House Administration of the 112th Congress held what it calls a Legislative Data and Transparency Conference. This is an all-day, in-person conference on Capitol Hill at which beltway lobbyists and nonprofits were undoubtedly in attendance, but one of the challenges of making congressional data truly [...]

In some quarters of Washington DC, people have grown fond of saying that all Americans care about is the economy. But take a look at the five congressional bills looked up most often by Americans during the week of January 22, 2012: H.R. 3261 Stop Online Piracy Act: Popularly known as SOPA, this bill would [...]

A common declaration in intellectual circles is that the American people don’t care about their freedoms as long as they get money or entertainment. But is that true? The top three bills searched for on Thomas, the online database of the U.S. Congress, each pertain to civil liberties. The National Defense Authorization Act takes up [...]

An organizer for the January 17 political action called Occupy Congress reports on a call from Rep. Susan Davis: Congresswoman Susan Davis’ office called. She wants to meet with us in DC on #J17. “I want to support OSD you while you’re here” “OSD” refers to Occupy San Diego, the California encampment in Davis’ district [...]

Ten reports have gone missing. Under a federal law passed in 2008, President Barack Obama is required to nominate members of a Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent office in the executive branch of the U.S. Government. Fusion Center administrators and information sharing specialists are required by law to take civil liberties [...]

According to Article I Section 8 of United States Constitution, the Congress and only the Congress is given the authority to declare war. No other person or body in government — not the Supreme Court, not the President — is the authority to do so anywhere in the Constitution. The first war in Iraq, the [...]

These five members of the House of Representatives were the most active in 2011, each introducing dozens of bills: Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA): sponsor of 61 bills in 2011 Rep. Don Young (R-AK): sponsor of 50 bills in 2011 Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX): sponsor of 47 bills in 2011 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA): sponsor of [...]

On December 14 2011, the House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 1540, a bill that violates the 5th Amendment and 6th Amendment rights of people under the Constitution. These Amendments, part of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, prohibits the government from detaining people without charge forever, without a trial, without being informed of their [...]

The Constitution Caucus of the House of Representatives proclaims itself dedicated to keeping congressional action within the bounds of the United States Constitution: “The Constitution is the guide I will never abandon.” — George Washington Recognizing that the Constitution can only be preserved if it lives in the hearts and minds of the American people, [...]