Website archive of "minutes" from Congress, individual votes, proposals, etc.? Archived as far back as poss..

Question

I'm new to the arena of politics, so please don't e-shoot me/ "flame" me. I'm simply seeking e-means to historical stats of the US government, so that I have impartial info from which to create my own views.

I've tried watching the news and reading the newspapers and news sites, but I don't like any of the US media. I've also tried BBC, but still, I'm reading other people's opinions.

Point blank is that I have a hard time sifting through everyone else's opinions, and I'd like to find a format that will allow me to view history as it happened, so that I can form my own views.

For instance, I just happened on the CSPAN site whereupon I found archives of the State of the Union Address transcripts from 1945 on. I am interested in finding out about congressional minutes, votes, speeches, anything that is a "hard fact" and not some journalist's opinion.

I hope you can understand what it is that I am trying to ask for. Any related info will be helpful. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/

or

http://thomas.votes.gov

Answer 2

I like this site for especially for past votes-it takes them a little while to update, but it is a way to see how your Senator or Representative voted on things. There are also lots of links and general information. I believe it's completely bipartisan-just useful for forming your own opinions. I don't know that it will have the history you would like-I believe it's only been around a couple years-but it is a great resource-and a public service!

http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm

Answer 3

What I believe you are looking for are available at either the House or Senate websites by searching the archives section.
You can also research how often Congress member actually are present at votes.And access Congress members ,individual websites.