UPDATE: We’ve fixed the bug in the app that was causing the bills not to load. If you tried using this and were having a problem, try again — it’s now running slick and smooth.

Now you can share the bills that matter to you in Congress with your friends on Facebook. Today we are launching our new Facebook app that lets you post bills to you profile, announce your support or opposition and comment on why you care about them. And, of course, the bills you post will have links back to their OpenCongress pages, so your friends can get all the information they need in order to learn more and get involved with the issues themselves.

Click here to add the app to your account and start customizing it.

OpenCongress relies on the insights of bloggers and membership groups in our effort to encourage participation in the goings-on in Congress. Our bill pages are constantly scouring the internet for relevant blog and news coverage to display along side the official government information, adding a level of richness and detail that the official information can’t provide. When your Facebook friends view the bills you post on Open Congress they will see not just data but also the real story behind the bill.

But knowing about bills is only part of what needs to happen if we want to make Congress more responsive to citizens and less to corporate money and special interest groups. We need more people talking about and sharing their views of the bills and issues that matter to them. Facebook, with its rapid rise in web clout, is the perfect place to tell your friends about issues in Congress that you care about. After all, there’s a good chance that your Facebook friends would share the same concerns as you if they only knew the issues existed (they’re your friends for a reason, right?).

It’s easy to set up. You can search for bills by bill number (e.g., “H.R. 3648”), by title (“Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007”), by keyword (“debt”). The app also lets you browse the Most-Viewed Bills on OpenCongress, or a list of Hot Bills by Issue Area.

Grab our new Facebook app and encourage participation in Congress!