Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Congress

Proposing an official name for an Oregon Hiking Trail..how exactly?

naplesyellow — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:17:33 -0800

What procedure would one conceivably follow in order to propose a hiking trail be named for a person in the state of Oregon? A couple of years ago a man who was instrumental in mapping the hiking trails throughout the Columbia Gorge passed away. He had worked for the Forest Service. Many of the hiking trails are identified only by number. One trail in particular was his favorite and some of his friends and family want to propose naming the trail for him. Trouble is, no one has one clue how this type of thing is accomplished. Do we approach it as a formal proposal and submit it to the State of Oregon? or the Forest service? Can we consider it as a petition?

I apologize if this seems a simple question--I have tried googling to no avail. He truly was a wonderful guy and most instrumental in the preservation of the trails. I can help put together a packet to promote the idea..I have no idea if there is a procedure in place to follow. I didn't necessarily want to call the US Forest Service, if any of you already know what direction I should start in. Thanks for your ideas.

Where can I get more information about the U.S. health care reform bill?

zembla3 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:38:22 -0800

I've been reading a lot of conflicting information about the U.S. health care reform bill (HR 3200) and its potential impact on different groups of Americans. I tried to read the bill, but it's over a thousand pages and is written in mind-numbing legalese. Is there a place online where I can find comprehensive, non-partisan, easily understandable information about the bill?

Help with Health Care!

odayoday — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:07:15 -0800

How can I show support for the new health care reform bill? My mom is a cancer survivor who is currently without health insurance, so the health care reform bill that just came out of the House (America's Affordable Health Choices Act) gives me a lot of hope. I've written to my representatives and senators, and am looking for other ways I can support this bill.

I'm considering sending an email to friends/posting on facebook a short note giving background about my mom and why I think this is a good bill, and asking them to write their reps if they feel the same. Is that something that would be worthwhile? Is there something else I should be doing?

My mom's health and lack of insurance has been a huge source of stress for my family, and while I probably shouldn't be looking at this bill as a lifesaver, I feel I need to do what I can to help it pass.

Why do witnesses testifying before congress need lawyers?

IndigoJones — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:21:13 -0800

Why do witnesses testifying before congress need lawyers? I'm thinking of Whitewatergate, when the committee hauled in all sorts of pathetically minor bit players and-by standers, none accused of wrong doing, many of whom later bemoaned their being ruined by lawyers' fee. Lawyers? What gave? They were not being indicted, why did they feel obliged to hire the lawyers? Having been hired, what exactly might the lawyers say to their clients to justify their apparantly hefty fees? Not a lot of taking of the fifth as I recall, so one has to assume that that piece of advice wasn't offered. Besides, by the time they reached the lesser staff the likelihood of wrongdoing seems a bit remote. Call me flat footed, but I'd think that a clean conscience and absolute truth telling would make the mouthpieces superfluous.

(I raised this question at the time and got a lot of eyerolling and withering comments about how naïve I am (no doubt true), but no real answers to my question other than vague and dark suggestions of Powerful People putting the squeeze on the underlings. Seemed a little melodramatic to me, but what do I know? Anyway, I'm hoping some of the more savvy people here can get me a more concrete explanation.)

Dear Congressman, Not Snoopy FOIA Person

Leezie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:09:12 -0800

I want to write my U.S. Congressman on at least one delicate topic. But, I'm kind of paranoid that my letter will become public record that is subject to a FOIA request. I have a very distinctive name that when Googled, I pop up immediately in the form of my professional profile. I don't want what I write to my Congressman to be available to anyone to read and who then pops my name into a search engine and they find me on the internet. Am I disenfranchised from making my opinion known or can I write without fear? FYI - there is nothing I can do about my name or my profile being on the internet.

How many congresspeople have tattoos?

boots — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:48:52 -0800

How many members of the United States Congress have tattoos?

Web site letter writing campaigns?

cgk — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:02:23 -0800

I am trying to find web sites where I could send members of my organization to customize an email message that would then be sent to their proper Congressman. I feel like I have been asked to do this a thousand times, but cannot find my way back to anything. I am on the board of an organization with 3000+ members around the US. We do not engage in direct lobbying, but in the course of sharing legislative news with members would like to be able to say "click this link to send a letter to congress." They could then customize a boilerplate note on the site and then the message would be routed to their member of congress.

I am not interested in an "internet petition" or whatnot, but something that actually submits individual messages to specific members. Some of the other ask.mefi posts related to this are a bit dated and I am looking for anything new. Thanks.

House of Reps diagram, please

Dr. Send — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:53:37 -0800

Wikipedia has a wicked diagram of where everyone sits in the House of Commons. Does anyone know of a similar diagram for the US House of Representatives?

How to find the real dirt on how a bill actually becomes a law

croutonsupafreak — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:56:54 -0800

How can I research how a particular act of the U.S. Congress came into existence - with as much detail as is possible about how it changed from proposal to final act and how it was influenced along the way? I don't just want the language of the law, the bill's House and Senate sponsors and the breakdown of how everyone voted. I'd like to know what committees it went through, any available minutes/transcripts from those committees, how it was amended as it worked its way through consideration, and who is responsible making the amendments to the bill.

And beyond the specific act that I'm interested in (from 2003), I'd like to know how to research this stuff in general. It need not all exist on the public Internet. I'm not averse to subscribing to databases (within financial limits) or heading to the library.

Nominate some sites for Nov 4th

rtha — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:29:30 -0800

On November 4th, I intend to spend the evening watching election returns on TV and refreshing as many election-y tabs on the laptop as possible. What websites should I have loaded and ready to go? I live in California, and I want to be able to keep an eye not just on the presidential race, but on various congressional races and ballot initiatives as well. Fivethirtyeight.com is one I love, but I don't know if they'll be doing returns on election night. Suggestions?

I need help writing a letter to my congressmen about The Bailout!

MiggySawdust — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:21:33 -0800

I need help writing a letter to my congressmen about The Bailout! I'm feeling helpless about this catastrophic bailout, (READ:trillion dollar unconditional giveaway to the lunatics who are running the financial asylum) and I want to write a short letter to my congressmen to explain how I feel about it. I mean if William Kristol and Paul Krugmen are in agreement on how bad the terms of the bailout are, then I know it has got to be bad.

Any ideas of where I can find some great write up about this so I can send it to my congressmen? I am looking for some shortish, factual, easy to understand analogies, written in plain english that even a congressman can understand.

Thanks in Advance.

p.s...I think it crazy beyond belief to go ahead with this bailout without having a LOT of oversight and accountably!!!

Toastchee goes to Washington

toastchee — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:10:50 -0800

What is the most effective way of expressing my outrage to my government? Never before have I been so compelled to 'provide feedback' to my elected officials. I am shocked, awed, disgusted, and amazed at the bailout process under way in DC.

What's the most effective way to do so?

Where is the Iraq benchmarks report?

zainsubani — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:53:54 -0800

Where can I find the recent government report that claims that Iraq has achieved 15 of 18 benchmarks set for its political development? Recent news stories have reported that the White House sent a report to Congress claiming that 15 of 18 Congressional benchmarks for Iraq have been met. I have seen a few stories that attribute the report to the Pentagon, or to the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Regardless of the source, I am unable to find the actual administration report to read it for myself. Can anyone point me to this elusive document, please?

What makes a U.S. congressional bill non-binding?

metadave — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:53:31 -0800

What makes a U.S congressional bill non-binding? Is there a way to tell from the text of the bill itself? I have seen a number of news articles that state that the U.S. congress has passed non-binding legislation. My understanding is that because this legislation is non-binding, it has no legal force, does not have to be signed by the president and can't be vetoed by the president.

If the details of what I have said so far are wrong, please let me know but my main question is: What makes a bill non-binding. I have looked through the text of several bills that have been identified as non-binding but I don't see the word "binding" anywhere in them. I don't see anything in the text that of the bill that specifically says it does not go on to the President.

Perhaps it's just procedural. Maybe a non-binding bill just doesn't get passed on to the president? Maybe there's a little check box up in the corner that says "binding [x]" This seems like it should be an obvious thing but I have not yet found an answer.

Thanks.

- Dave

Congressional Voting Records

SAC — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:55:15 -0800

Can I get Congressional Voting Records in an easily parsed format? I've found this, but I'd rather not have to navigate my way back and forth through pages. Where would one get the raw data? I don't really have a preference for format as I figure I can write something to parse it as I need. I would prefer one big file over a separate file for each vote, but I'm not too picky at this point.

I don't really know what I want to do with the data yet, but I'd like to be able to sift through it all more easily. Thanks.

Well t'aint a pardon, and t'aint attainder...

dsword — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:26:43 -0800

Two to three questions involving the pending FISA bill--specifically the immunity provisions. 1)
The Constitution expressly forbids Congress from passing bills of attainder, which punish individuals or groups of individuals without trial. Is there a similar term describing laws which single out individuals or groups of individuals for some benefit--either material or legal? One example I have in mind would be the current FISA bill (which includes a provision of immunity for telecoms), although I suppose that under a loose interpretation, earmarks for local or state governments might also be included in this category. Are there examples of these sorts of laws being overturned. If so, on what grounds, and what is the prevailing legal standard for overturning such statutes?

2)
(a) Why is the current administration trying to push telecom immunity through Congress, when the power to pardon is expressly and without qualification granted to the President by the Constitution? What prevents Bush from simply granting immunity from prosecution to the relevant individuals and/or corporations?

(b) If the answer to part (a) happens to be that "the pardon wouldn't extend to civil cases" (would it?) would it not be considered an act of attainder for Congress to strip telecom customers of the right to sue?

To be clear, I'm looking for legal arguments and explanations, preferably with caselaw and/or code citations (not Bush and/or Congress bashing).

How'd the California guy get to Washington?

creasy boy — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:41:16 -0800

American history question: before modern transportation, how much time did congressmen spend in Washington and how much in their home states? Especially those from, say, California. And how long did the journey take? I'm reading the Federalist Papers, where Madison argues that "the natural limit of a republic is that distance from the center, which will barely allow the representatives of the people to meet as often as may be necessary for the administration of public affairs". Of course he thinks that the thirteen states are not too large for this. However, it occurs to me:

--back then, the trip from Maine to DC must've been a son of a bitch;

--the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was made a state in 1850. For those 19 years, did the California representatives ever have time to go back home?

Why is the US House pushing to pass a resolution declaring the death of Armenians a genocide?

SeizeTheDay — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:26:42 -0800

Why is the US House pushing to declare the deaths of Armenians as a genocide committed by the then Ottoman Empire/now Turkey? I recently read this article in the Economist. I also read a NYTimes piece a week or two back, and I'm completely baffled as to why our House is getting involved in this matter at all.

Full disclosure: I don't know the situation, at all. But it strikes me as incredibly dangerous to alienate a key ally in the Middle East at a time when our ability to influence the region is becoming far less powerful. In addition, it seems odd to me that we're getting involved at all.

So really, I have several questions. Why are we getting involved? Why now? What do we have to gain by engaging in such a blatant finger-pointing event at a time when our credibility with the world is diminishing?

I'm not looking to get into a political discussion, per se. I simply want to know the rationale. The articles I've read have been relatively simplistic in their fact-finding, which allow me to quickly conclude things that perhaps aren't as simple as they're made out to be, and so I just want to know more. Thanks in advance.

Taxonomy of Congress Critters

iconjack — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 18:09:08 -0800

How many of the current crop of 535 US congress people have law degrees?

How many fathers are there in the US Congress?

hyperfascinated — Tue, 22 May 2007 12:37:49 -0800

How many United States Congressmen are parents? I read recently that 70 out of the 86 women in Congress are mothers. How many men in Congress are fathers?
This information has been surprisingly difficult to Google.

How can Bush fund the surge if Congress won't appropriate the funds?

willie11 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:30:56 -0800

[AppropriationsFilter] If the Democrats vote *against* funding the troop escalation, what recourse does the President have to follow through with his plan? Pres. Bush has come up with some creative accounting these last 6 years. I think both D's and R's can agree on that point.

He has also said on record that he doesn't care what Congress does. He will continue on with the surge no matter what.

Assume that the President cannot go through with the surge if Congress refuses to fund the escalation.

What ways could he come up with the money necessary to fund the additional combat and support troops?

How to legislators learn to legislate?

empath — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:36:28 -0800

How do new legislators learn all the congressional rules of order? I know a lot of people in Congress had prior legislative experience, but some of them are coming from the private sector. Do they take classes? Do they have aides brief them? Is it something the parties show them how to do? Are they just handed a book of the rules and they study them? Did they learn from political science courses in college? Do they just kind of stumble along and pick things up as they go along? Anybody out there who works on capital hill have some inside experience to share?

Free pseudoephedrine!

chairface — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:49:57 -0800

Pseudoephedrine- Why are we taking this laying down? Lots of people, including me, are more than a little miffed about this pseudoephedrine law. How likely is it that we can get it changed? How organized do we need to be? How many letters and how much money will it take to right this silliness?

What I'm asking is: What do you think it would take to change the law back or at least make it less stupid?

The suspense is killing me

Optamystic — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:32:47 -0800

Will the Dems take the Senate and/or the House on Tuesday? I'm interested in the conventional wisdom, as well as your crystal ball predictions. Also, where's the best place online to get the latest polling data?

Where should I contribute?

cytherea — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 01:04:02 -0800

So, not that it matters, but, were I to make a paltry political contribution, what would be the most strategic fund for a donation? While my heart is naturally quite green, I'm interested in the best place to help the lesser of two ~~necessary~~ unavoidable evils.

Thank you!