OpenCongress.org now has four new ways to keep track of Congress

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From: Gabriela Schneider of Sunlight Foundation

Four new ways to keep track of Congress

If you haven't checked out OpenCongress recently, it's time for you to visit their newly revamped site.

OpenCongress just announced four new features that give you even more access to congressional information. From video fans to wiki editors to wiki readers to legislative-philes, OpenCongress now has something for everyone.

Here some of the new features:

• OpenCongress Wiki - fans of Congresspedia (which has now been merged with OpenCongress) can now collaborate on the new OpenCongressWiki to share knowledge about every senator, representative and major piece of legislation in Congress. What was formerly housed at Congresspedia is now on OpenCongress, so make sure to reset your bookmarks.
• Inline commenting on bill text and version tracker, now with the ability to compare different versions of a bill. Building off the site's features to comment and link to a bill's official text, paragraph-by-paragraph, now text changes are displayed in different color type for at-a-glance comparison. Jump into sections, compare, and comment on such high-profile legislation as the Stimulus Bill, the major Omnibus Spending Bill, and every bill in Congress.
• Get better context for what was said on the House and Senate floor, courtesy of videos from Sunlight grantee Metavid, the open video archive of the U.S. Congress, and the YouTube hub for the House and Senate. Now, for every senator, representative and major bill in Congress, OpenCongress shows you embedded video footage of relevant floor speeches, official announcements and more. It's video...it's for every member of Congress...it's awesome.
• The Read The Bill tracker tracks bills that have been rushed through the congressional process. Subscribe to the RSS feed to watchdog bills that haven't been posted for open public review on the Internet for 72 hours before debate begins.

With all of these new features, there are plenty of ways you can get involved with the OpenCongress community. Visit the Web site and join OpenCongress today:

http://www.opencongress.org

Thank you for all that you do - and enjoy your new OpenCongress.

Sincerely,
Gabriela Schneider
Communications Director, Sunlight Foundation

P.S. Be an active member in the OpenCongress community today - create an account and help build public knowledge about Congress today.


>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw

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