We can “vote” 365 days of the year, not just on election days, at least as long as our U.S. Constitution remains intact:
Every Day is “Call Government Switchboard Day” or “Talk to Your Elected Representatives Day”:
Congress (use this one for contact info and this one for Congressional activities and documents), or:
The dance of legislation has more steps and rules (and foot and toe stomping opportunities) than a few words defined, but learning the Language of Congress is a good place to start:
“Sessions, Adjournments, and Recesses of Congress,“ by Richard S. Beth, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process, and Jessica Tollestrup, Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process, February 27, 2013:
“The House and Senate use the terms session, adjournment, and recess in both informal and more formal ways, but the concepts apply in parallel ways to both the daily and the annual activities of Congress. A session begins when the chamber convenes and ends when it adjourns. A recess, by contrast, does not terminate a session, but only suspends it temporarily…. [Link to full CRS Report
The 1990’s Thomas dot gov becomes the 00’s (beta) Congress dot gov. It’s about time, but bittersweet nonetheless. Thomas was on the cusp, riding the web wave, a time and money saver to us all, and made teaching federal legislative history a little more fun than it was in the all-paper days.
So visit Congress dot gov: Let’s hope its ratings will be higher than the branch of government after which it is named (e.g. see Gallup).
Oregon Legal Research Blog