Engineer's Guide to Influencing Public Policy

The World Wide Web As A
Resource for S&T Policy Activists

Just about everything you need to identify your U.S. Representative or Senators or learn about matters pending in Congress is now available through the World Wide web:

Write Your Members of Congress through IEEE-USA's Legislative Action Center or by using the Write Your Representative service of the House of Representatives.

Identify Your Member of Congress by zip code, state, or name through IEEE-USA's Legislative Action Center.   You can also use C-Span's Congressional Directory or through the Library of Congress' "Who Represents Me in Congress?" resource list.

Congressional e-mail addresses are also available through the House and Senate home pages, the Library of Congress, the University of Michigan, and from a variety of private lists compiled by Yahoo!.

Research congressional hearing schedules, testimonies, press releases, and related information through Congress' home page Thomas or through the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate home pages.  Daily hearing schedules and floor calendars are also available through C-SPAN's Congress Today

Retrieve the text of pending legislation and status reports through Thomas or GPO Access and you can also contact Chris Brantley, c.brantley@ieee.org.

Follow the daily deliberations of Congress through its official publication, the Congressional Record, which is available on-line, with search tools, through GPO Access.

For reference information on the Legislative Process, check out:

• Congress and the Legislative Process (CRS Reports)
• The Legislative Process - Tying it All Together
• Learning About the Senate (How the Senate Works)
• How Our Laws Are Made
• How Congress Works (House Rules Committee)
• Standing Rules of the Senate
• House Rules

IEEE-USA's Public Policy Forum includes IEEE-USA's Public Policy Agenda, Position Statement Archive, Testimonies & Reports and a host of other on-line resources.

AAAS' Center for Science, Technology and Congress provides a Guide to the Science and Technology Committees of Congress.

Some other on-line resources for Congressional information include:

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Capitol Update
• American Association of Engineering Society's Fast Facts
• American Institute of Physics' For Your Information Bulletin
• American Physical Society (Bob Park's) What's New
• AAAS Science & Technology in Congress Newsletter

Research the United States Code for current federal law.

For state and local government resources, consult IEEE-USA's State Government Activities Committee page.

Some other websites that will inform and educate you about the policy process, grassroots advocacy and current policy issues include:

• NetAction (Virtual Activist Training Course)
• OneDemocracy.Com
• Policy.Com
• Project Vote Smart

[ Table of Contents ]

Last Updated:  4 April 2000.