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This page is an OpenCongress community project. We are seeking to get each member of the House and Senate Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee on-record with their position on opening up access to data about Congress. Opening up bulk access to congressional data (the the Library's of Congress' THOMAS database) would would empower web developers to build powerful apps for improving the democratic process and fighting corruption, and it's something Congress could do quickly and cheaply. (More info about the campaign on the blogs of the Sunlight Foundation and OpenCongress. See also the wiki's extensive article on THOMAS.)

This is known as "whipping the vote" in DC-speak. By forcing votes out into the open, the public has a greater opportunity to give their members of Congress feedback before the vote.

You can help by selecting a member of Congress below and contacting them by phone, email (via OpenCongress' Contact Congress feature), Facebook or Twitter. When calling on the phone, be sure to identify yourself as a constituent, and give your mailing address for verification. Please be polite, and ask the member's staff what their boss' position is on whether "Congress should publish THOMAS information in bulk." If they indicate their position, use the key below to categorize the answer. If they don't, urge them to vote "yea."

If someone has already recorded the member's position, contact them again! The more calls/emails/tweets/posts they get, the more they'll pay attention. It doesn't even need to be your representative or senator - this is a national issue.

• Tips on how to contact Congress on "free THOMAS"

[edit whip count with form]

Whip Count Status Members of Congress Yes sponsor 0 0 solid: 0 leaning: 0 - Undeclared position: 0 No leaning: 0 0 solid: 0 - Members needing calls: 13 Total 13

Status key: Yes - sponsor: Member will sponsor the measure. Yes - solid: Member indicated a solid "yes" in an article, call, post, etc. Yes - leaning: Member indicated support but was not definite. Undeclared: Member refuses to take a position on the bill. No - leaning: Member indicated opposition or concern but was not definite. No - solid: Member indicated a solid "no."

Positions of committee members

Picture	Member of Congress	Party	State	Contact info	Position	Notes/sources	Edit
	BrownSen. Sherrod Brown	D	OH	DC ph: 202-224-2315 District ph: 216-522-7272 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	GrahamSen. Lindsey Graham	R	SC	DC ph: 202-224-5972 District ph: 864-250-1417 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	HoevenSen. John Hoeven	R	ND	DC ph: 202-224-2551 District ph: 701-250-4618 Email via Contact Congress Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	NelsonSen. Ben Nelson	D	NE	DC ph: 202-224-6551 District ph: 402-441-4600 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	TesterSen. Jon Tester	D	MT	DC ph: 202-224-2644 District ph: 406-449-5401 Email via Contact Congress Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	BishopRep. Sanford Bishop	D	GA	DC ph: 202-225-3631 District ph: 229-439-8067 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	CalvertRep. Ken Calvert	R	CA	DC ph: 202-225-1986 District ph: 951-784-4300 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	CrenshawRep. Ander Crenshaw	R	FL	DC ph: 202-225-2501 District ph: 904-598-0481 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	EmersonRep. Jo Ann Emerson	R	MO	DC ph: 202-225-4404 District ph: 573-335-0101 Email via Contact Congress Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	HondaRep. Michael Honda	D	CA	DC ph: 202-225-2631 District ph: 408-558-8085 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing		David Moore w/ OpenCongress here - as per our ally Daniel Schuman w/ Sunlight Foundation, Rep. Honda has been a supportive & energetic proponent of bulk data access to THOMAS - so calls to his office should be thanking him! And also, of course, keeping it on his staff's radar. But w/ warm thanks from OC.	[edit]
	LaTouretteRep. Steven LaTourette	R	OH	DC ph: 202-225-5731 District ph: 440-352-3939 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	PriceRep. David Price	D	NC	DC ph: 202-225-1784 District ph: 919-859-5999 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]
	RehbergRep. Dennis Rehberg	R	MT	DC ph: 202-225-3211 District ph: 406-256-1019 Email via Contact Congress Twitter Facebook Tips on calling/emailing			[edit]

Want this data? All information is open-source and free (as in beer and speech). Most data is available via API, RDF, CSV or other methods. See details or email us.

Tips on contacting members of Congress

You can help by selecting a member below and contacting them by phone or email (via OpenCongress' Contact Congress feature). When calling on the phone, be sure to identify yourself as a constituent, and give your mailing address for verification. If you are not a constituent, just explain that you are writing regarding an issue of national importance that has to do with their position on the Legislative Appropriations Subcommittee, and that none of your representatives are on the subcommittee. Please be polite, and ask the member's staff what the member's position is on the opening up access to bulk congressional data. If they indicate their position, use the key below to categorize the answer. If they don't, urge them to support open data language and work to include it in the bill.

If someone has already recorded the member's position, contact them again! The more calls/emails they get, the more they'll pay attention. If there position hasn't changed, please note your contact on the bulk data Senate contact log so everyone can track their responses.