Today in CongressMarch 05, 2013
- H.R.748 - Universal National Service Act Introduced Feb 15, 2013 1,360 views
- S.150 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 Introduced Feb 27, 2013 1,231 views
- H.R.499 - Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act Introduced Feb 28, 2013 843 views
- H.J.Res.15 - Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of t... Introduced Jan 25, 2013 766 views
- H.R.624 - Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act Introduced Feb 13, 2013 626 views
OpenCongress Blog Feed Tweet Us! Add our Facebook
CISPA is Back; All Your Data Are Belong to Us by Donny Shaw February 14, 2013
Barely a year after the defeat of SOPA, Congress is back to testing the waters for legislation that many internet users believe to be in violation of their fundamental rights to privacy and free expression. CISPA, a bill that would make it easier for corporations and the government to share internet users' personal data, was officially re-introduced in the House on Wednesday. It’s already being rushed forward in the legislative process. The House Intelligence Committee is holding a full hearing on the bill today at 10 am. They will hear from four witnesses -- all from the business sector and all supporters of CISPA. No experts with concerns about privacy issues were invited to address the committee.
Read Full ArticleMore Recent Blog Posts
- #SoTU 2013Feb 12
- Pot Legalization Bills Introduced, and Why Congress Will Not Legalize PotFeb 5
- Endless Blockade for the Senate PussyfootersJan 25
- One Year Ago We Killed SOPA -- Happy Internet Freedom Day!Jan 18
- Senate Democrats Looking to End Default GridlockJan 8
- Welcome the 113th U.S. Congress: systemically-corrupt, historically-gridlocked, incredibly unpopularJan 3
OpenCongress helps you track all the actions by your elected officials and what people are saying about them.
Subscribe to RSS feeds to stay in touch with their latest votes.
Featured Members of Congress Feed
A Most-Viewed Senator
Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO] has recently been the subject of a series of revelations involving unethical air travel. Politico originally reported that McCaskill has charged taxpayers for 89 flights on a plane that she owns, some of which have been for political activities and should not have been paid for with public money. It was subsequently revealed that McCaskill owed almost $300,000 in personal property taxes on the plan, though she has since settled up that bill.
A Most-Viewed Representative
Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan [R, WI-1] has become one of the most influential House Republicans now that debates over deficits and the debt have taken the main stage. Sine 2008, Ryan has been the leading voice behind the Republicans' vision for lowering taxes, privatizing entitlements, and reducing discretionary spending in all areas except for the military. Most recently, Ryan drafted and won support for an alternative 2012 budget outline that would reduce deficit spending by cutting nearly $6 trillion in spending over the next decade.
Latest Votes
-
S.388 American Family Economic Protection Act of 2013
Ayes 51 Nays 49 Feb 28, 2013 On the Cloture Motion -
S.16 A bill to provide for a sequester replacement.
Ayes 38 Nays 62 Feb 28, 2013 On the Cloture Motion -
S.47 VAWA bill
Ayes 286 Nays 138 Feb 28, 2013 On Passage of the Bill -
H.Res.83 Providing for consideration of the bill (S. 47...
Ayes 229 Nays 196 Feb 27, 2013 On Ordering the Previous Question -
H.Res.77 Academic Competition Resolution of 2013
Ayes 411 Nays 3 Feb 26, 2013 On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree
-
All the Best Info
OpenCongress brings together all the best info about Congress in one place. When you link to OpenCongress pages, your readers have access to not only the official details of bills and votes, but also the big picture. Read more ways you can use OpenCongress.
-
Track What's Happening
Congress can be difficult to follow. OpenCongress provides easy ways to track all the things you care about. Subscribe to RSS feeds or email alerts to automatically receive updates on bills, votes, issues, and more. Also, you can join "My OpenCongress" to create a profile page that tracks all your political interests in one place -- join or login, it's free and takes less than a minute.
-
Make Your Voice Heard
All too often, Congress is closed-off from meaningful public input. OpenCongress gives you free tools to contact Congress and open a dialogue with your elected officials. With your free "My OpenCongress" account, you can vote "aye" or "nay" on bills, give personal approval ratings to Members of Congress, post comments in discussion forums, and write your Members of Congress directly from OpenCongress -- join or login.
-
Share Valuable Info
Congress is complex. OpenCongress have built-in features to help you find the most useful info about your interests, then share it with your online communities. One click shares any page to Digg, Reddit, Facebook, e-mail a friend, and more. Social networking with "My OpenCongress" allows you to make friends with other users near and far, then follow all their comments and votes -- join or login to get started.
-
Watchdog Your Government
OpenCongress gives you the ability to oversee your elected officials and all of our Members of Congress. Together, we can build effective accountability and transparency in Congress. "My OpenCongress" profiles have "Watchdog" tools that allow you to compare your votes on bills with your Senators' and Representative's votes, as well as what other constituents in your state and Congressional district support and oppose -- join or login to start Watchdogging and get local.
About OpenCongress
OpenCongress brings together official government data with news coverage, blog posts, public comments, and more to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress. Small groups of political insiders and lobbyists already know what's really going on in Congress. Now, everyone can be an insider.
OpenCongress is a free, open-source, not-for-profit, and non-partisan public resource website. OpenCongress is a project of the Participatory Politics Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to encourage civic engagement. The Sunlight Foundation is our Founding and Primary Supporter. To read more about our mission, our open data sources, and how Congress works, see about OpenCongress. To read more about how individuals and organizations can use this site to find and share the best available info about their political interests, see how to use OpenCongress.
Get Updates with Our E-mail List
Stay updated about major site developments: new data, new features, and new ways of interacting with Congress. We will only send you important e-mails and we won't share your email address with anyone.
Contact Us
We are always interested in hearing from you: How do you use the site? What would make it more useful? Have you found a bug? Email us with feedback: . If you support the mission of OpenCongress and would like to help, volunteers are encouraged to join our open-source development team. Whether you're a web developer, a graphic designer, a political blogger, or a person with ideas about how to make Congress more open, contact us anytime to get involved.