The Congressional Record is probably the single most useful tool for monitoring Congress’ activities. With only a few days’ lag, it provides the full text of bills and amendments, transcripts of floor debates, tabulations of votes, conference reports, notice of
committee and subcommittee meetings, and the upcoming legislative calendar. Congressmembers can also add “extensions of remarks” — things they want on the public record even though they weren’t said in Congress. While often pretty trivial, there are some surprising gems in those pages. The Record also regularly lists the office addresses and phone numbers of all Senators and Representatives, as well as their current committee assignments.
