Civic Expression Q & A
Want to get involved but don’t know how? Here we respond to commonly asked questions about how to navigate and understand the political process.
Scroll down and you will find answers to the following questions:
If you discover a link that no longer works, please let us know.
Scroll down and you will find answers to the following questions:
- How do I register to vote?
- How do I find out who my member of Congress is?
- How do I find out who represents me in the U.S. Senate?
- Are U.S. Representatives and State Representatives the same thing? What about U.S. Senators and State Senators?
- How do I find out the content of a bill being considered in Congress?
- How do I find out the content of a bill being considered by the Illinois state legislature?
If you discover a link that no longer works, please let us know.
How do I register to vote?
The voter registration process is easy but registration rules vary some from state to state. In order to register to vote, you must be 18 years old by Election Day and be a U.S. citizen. Most states also require you to live in a state for a certain period of time.
Illinois Residents
For further information or to check and see if you are already registered, please visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/votinginformation/register.aspx
Missouri residents
For further information on the process and requirements for registering in Missouri, please visit: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/s_default.asp?id=voter
If you would like to check and see if you are already registered or view a video guide on how to register to vote in Missouri, please visit:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/voterlookup/
Residents of other states
You can do a web search for voter registration in your state or visit Rock the Vote’s voter help desk: http://www.rockthevote.com/election-center/contact-sos/
Illinois Residents
For further information or to check and see if you are already registered, please visit: http://www.elections.il.gov/votinginformation/register.aspx
Missouri residents
For further information on the process and requirements for registering in Missouri, please visit: http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/s_default.asp?id=voter
If you would like to check and see if you are already registered or view a video guide on how to register to vote in Missouri, please visit:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/voterlookup/
Residents of other states
You can do a web search for voter registration in your state or visit Rock the Vote’s voter help desk: http://www.rockthevote.com/election-center/contact-sos/
How do I find out who my member of Congress is?
To find out who your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives is, please visit: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
It will ask you to enter your zip code and then it will show you who your representative is and a map of the district they represent. If you click on your representative’s name, it will take you to his or her website. There you can find out about their work in Congress, the issues they care about, and how to get in touch with their office.
It will ask you to enter your zip code and then it will show you who your representative is and a map of the district they represent. If you click on your representative’s name, it will take you to his or her website. There you can find out about their work in Congress, the issues they care about, and how to get in touch with their office.
How do I find out who represents me in the U.S. Senate?
Each state is represented by two Senators. Both Senators for the state are your Senators. You can find a list of them here along with their contact information: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
If you select your state in the Choose a State box, it will show only your Senators.
If you select your state in the Choose a State box, it will show only your Senators.
Are U.S. Representatives and State Representatives the same thing? What about U.S. Senators and State Senators?
State Representatives represent you in your state government. This term usually refers to those who represent you in the lower chamber of your state legislature and they meet in your state capitol. U.S. Representatives represent you in the U.S. House of Representatives located in Washington D.C.
State Senators generally refers to who represents you in the upper chamber of the legislature located in your state capitol. Senator or U.S. Senator is generally used to refer to someone serving in the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C.
Illinois residents can find out who represents them at both levels here:
http://www.elections.illinois.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
Missouri residents can find out who represents them in both chambers of their state legislature here:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx
State Senators generally refers to who represents you in the upper chamber of the legislature located in your state capitol. Senator or U.S. Senator is generally used to refer to someone serving in the U.S. Senate in Washington D.C.
Illinois residents can find out who represents them at both levels here:
http://www.elections.illinois.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx
Missouri residents can find out who represents them in both chambers of their state legislature here:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx
People keep making different claims about what's in a bill being considered in Congress. How do I find out what it really contains?
THOMAS is a service of the Library of Congress that allows the public to locate and access legislative information. To access it, go here: Go here: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php
It is easiest to use if you already know the bill number (HR# or S#, like HR1652 or S5). Then you can search by number and it will take you to information on that particular bill.
For example, let’s say you are interested in finding out more about HR1.
If you type in HR1 and hit search, you will see the bill’s latest title, who sponsored it, a list of related bills, and the latest major action on the bill. This last one will tell you where the bill is in the legislative process.
Below that you will see a table full of different choices you can click on.
Clicking on CRS Summary will take you to a summary of the bill’s contents that was put together by the Congressional Research Service.
Clicking on Text of Legislation will take you to the full text of the bill so you can read it for yourself.
Often there will be multiple versions of CRS Summaries and multiple versions of the bill text. If the bill hasn’t been presented to the president yet or completed conference committee, then it is likely that the House version and the Senate version are different and you may want to look at them both.
If you don’t know the bill number, enter a word or phrase associated with what the bill is about like “health care” or “environment” or “energy” and then hit search. This will give you a list of bills that deal with this subject. The list may be very long though. If you know where in the legislative process the bill is or you know its title, you will be able to locate it more quickly. News articles often contain this information.
After you find the bill you’re looking for and click on it, you will see the same table full of choices described above.
For more information on how to use THOMAS or to find out what else you can access through it, please visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html or http://thomas.loc.gov/help/
It is easiest to use if you already know the bill number (HR# or S#, like HR1652 or S5). Then you can search by number and it will take you to information on that particular bill.
For example, let’s say you are interested in finding out more about HR1.
If you type in HR1 and hit search, you will see the bill’s latest title, who sponsored it, a list of related bills, and the latest major action on the bill. This last one will tell you where the bill is in the legislative process.
Below that you will see a table full of different choices you can click on.
Clicking on CRS Summary will take you to a summary of the bill’s contents that was put together by the Congressional Research Service.
Clicking on Text of Legislation will take you to the full text of the bill so you can read it for yourself.
Often there will be multiple versions of CRS Summaries and multiple versions of the bill text. If the bill hasn’t been presented to the president yet or completed conference committee, then it is likely that the House version and the Senate version are different and you may want to look at them both.
If you don’t know the bill number, enter a word or phrase associated with what the bill is about like “health care” or “environment” or “energy” and then hit search. This will give you a list of bills that deal with this subject. The list may be very long though. If you know where in the legislative process the bill is or you know its title, you will be able to locate it more quickly. News articles often contain this information.
After you find the bill you’re looking for and click on it, you will see the same table full of choices described above.
For more information on how to use THOMAS or to find out what else you can access through it, please visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/abt_thom.html or http://thomas.loc.gov/help/
How do I find out what's in a bill being considered by the Illinois State Legislature?
To access bills for the Illinois General Assembly go to: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/default.asp
Search boxes on the side will allow you to search either by number or by keyword or you can click on ranges of numbers to see all of the titles of the bills in that bill number range.
Once you find the one you want by either searching by its number or clicking on its title, a new page should come up with information for that bill. At the top of the page, underneath where it says bill status for the bill you searched for, you’ll see a link that says full text. Clicking on it will take you to the text of the bill.
Missouri residents can find out what’s in bills of the Missouri General Assembly through a similar process here: http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx?pid=26
Search boxes on the side will allow you to search either by number or by keyword or you can click on ranges of numbers to see all of the titles of the bills in that bill number range.
Once you find the one you want by either searching by its number or clicking on its title, a new page should come up with information for that bill. At the top of the page, underneath where it says bill status for the bill you searched for, you’ll see a link that says full text. Clicking on it will take you to the text of the bill.
Missouri residents can find out what’s in bills of the Missouri General Assembly through a similar process here: http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx?pid=26