eFly on The Wall

In his book Congress Online, Professor Johnson discusses the importance of displaying voting history for members of Congress.

My representative from Pennsylvania, Jim Gerlach (R-PA 6), provides this service on his website. It’s a gold mine for citizens who wish to hold their elected officials accountable. Not only does he indicate his vote on key issues, but he shows whether or not the bill passed as well as his position on legislation that is currently being debated.

Other than being a fly on the wall during staff meetings, there’s no better way to know of how your representative is behaving than to view their voting record. Additionally, you can tell if they break from party lines to vote for legislation in which they, or their constituents, believe.

Members of Congress should ensure that their staff keeps this portion of their website updated so that curious citizens will be satisfied. If they don’t already offer it, then they should consider jumping on the bandwagon very soon.