In 1863, in the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the famous line that declared that the United States government was a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
However, it can only remain so if the people take an active interest in that government. If they insist that their representatives, in both the Senate and the House, truly represent them, and not the special interests and large corporations that they are otherwise bound to.
I firmly believe that it's the job of everyone to oversee their government; particularly in countries, like the US, where the government is founded on the will of the people.
In order to do that, we have to know what the government is doing. But we are very fortunate. We live in an age when it's easy to keep an eye on them, and takes mere moments to tell them where we stand on the issues, and whether we are pleased with the way they have voted, and the decisions they have made.
I present this list, in the hopes that it will make it easier for you to let them know where you stand.
Supreme Court of the United States - The official site of the Supreme Court. Don't just accept whatever the pundits say about Supreme Court decisions. Read the full text here.
GovTrack.US - an Open Source project that keeps an eye on the US Congress. If you're looking for a bill, this is an easy place to find it. Not affiliated with the government, but it's kept up to date, and has everything in one spot.
United States Senate - Find out what the current bills really say, read the Congressional Record, and more.
Find your Senators - Let your senators know what you think about the topics. They can't speak for you if they don't know what you would say!
Senators Roll Call Votes - Don't listen to what they say; look at how they vote! Then let them know if you're happy with their votes, or unhappy.
Links to all your Congress Critters - This is a commercial site, but if you're looking for contact info for all your Congress Critters (Senate and House) in one place, you can find it all here. It doesn't have links all their websites, but it will at the very least give you the names, so you can find them yourself. (Thanks to Sandra Haynes for the link info.)
United States House of Representatives - Read the current bills, find out what is being debated, see this week's schedule, and more.
Office of the Clerk - US House of Representatives - Find out all kinds of things about the House. This is where you can read the minutes of the Floor proceedings (be aware that they read from bottom to top,) find out about committees, read the lobbying disclosures, and more.
Committee Information - US House of Representatives - Find out who is on the committee debating the things you are interested in, and let them know what you think they should do.
Write to your Representative - Find out who is representing you, and let them know where you stand on the issues. After all, they can't represent you if they don't know where you stand!
Representative Roll Call Votes - See how your representatives are voting now, and how they voted in the past (all the way back to 1990, as of this writing.) Then let them know if they are really representing you, or not!
The White House - Read what the President and Vice President are doing, look at the Agenda they have posted, and give them feedback! This administration makes that easy.
The Congressional Quarterly - Read what the pundits read, and then decide for yourself if it's as unbiased as it says it is.