GovTrack.us - Advocate User Guide

<!doctype html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <title>GovTrack.us - Advocate User Guide</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/static/favicon/apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/static/favicon/favicon-32x32.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/static/favicon/favicon-16x16.png"> <link rel="manifest" href="/static/favicon/site.webmanifest"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#9B2347"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#9B2347"> <link href="/static/vendor/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="/static/vendor/fontawesome/css/fontawesome.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="/static/vendor/fontawesome/css/solid.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="/static/vendor/fontawesome/css/brands.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link media="all" rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/all-min.css?20241114" /> <meta name="description" content="" /> <meta name="keywords" content="" /> <meta name="robots" content="noai, noimageai"> <meta name="fediverse:creator" content="@govtrack@mastodon.social" /> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="119329904748946" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="GovTrack.us" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.govtrack.us/static/images/media_icon.png?20230729" /> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-GD8FT6MB9V"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; 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line-height: 1em; font-size: 11.75px; letter-spacing: -.25px;">Tracking Congress & the White House</div> </div> <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target="#navbarSupportedContent" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"> <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span> </button> <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarSupportedContent"> <ul class="navbar-nav me-auto mb-2 mb-lg-0"> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false"> Congress </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/bills">Bills in Congress</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/votes">Congressional Votes</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/posts">Coming Up, Recap, and Analysis</a></li> <li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/members">Representatives & Senators</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/members/map">Congressional Districts Map</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/committees">Committees</a></li> <li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/misconduct">Misconduct Database</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/members/missing">Missing Legislators</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false"> White House </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="https://substack.govtrack.us">White House Tracker Newsletter</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/other-people/presidents">List of Presidents</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false"> Help </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/how-to-use">How To Use GovTrack</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/for-educators">For Educators</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/for-advocates">For Advocates</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/for-hill-staff">For Congressional Staff</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/for-journalists">For Journalists</a></li> <li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/how-a-bill-becomes-a-law">How does a bill become a law?</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/what-is-the-law">What is the law?</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congressional-procedures">Congressional Procedures</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="nav-item dropdown"> <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle" href="#" role="button" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false"> About Us </a> <ul class="dropdown-menu"> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/about">About GovTrack.us</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/about-our-data">About Our Data</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/posts/news">Site News</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/press">Press Clips</a></li> <li><hr class="dropdown-divider"></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/reading-list">Books and Games We Recommend</a></li> <li><a class="dropdown-item" href="/congress/committees/game">Guess the Committee<i>!</i></a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <form class="d-flex" role="search" name="header_search" action="/search"> <label for="master_search_q" class="sr-only">Search GovTrack for</label> <input class="form-control me-2" type="search" placeholder="bill, legislator, or keyword" aria-label="Search" id="master_search_q" name="q"> <button class="btn btn-outline-success" type="submit"><span class="fas fa-search"></span> <span class="sr-only">Search</span></button> </form> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="sitenewscontainer" class="navbar-default" > <div id="sitenews"> <a href="/posts/492/2025-04-04_house-stops-senate-goes">Legislative Recap April 4, 2025: <b>House Stops; Senate Goes</b> »</a> </div>  </div>  </div>  <div id="breadcrumbs"> <div class="container"> </div> </div> <div id="maincontent" class="container"> <div id="content"> <h1>For Advocates</h1> <p>GovTrack.us is a comprehensive database of federal legislative information, including tools and analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Here are some ways you can use GovTrack to help you advocate for your issues.</p> <h2><span>Find likely cosponsors to help advance your legislation</span></h2> <p>GovTrack offers unique analysis comparing members’ leadership and ideology scores using cosponsorship data. Find full cosponsorship data on any member by clicking “view cosponsors” at the bottom of the Bills Sponsored section. Use this data to find keep track of likely cosponsors to help advance legislation.</p> <h2><span>Access extensive legislative analysis tools</span></h2> <p>You can use GovTrack’s comprehensive databases to find the latest information about Congress including</p> <ul> <li>Current or historical legislatve activity</li> <li>Members’ legislative records and press releases</li> <li>Committee Activity and press releases</li> </ul> <p>Tailor your own lists for email updates and RSS feeds on specific bills, committee activities, or individual Members of Congress. To create a new list visit <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/accounts/lists">your tracker lists page</a>. To add a new tracker to a list simply click on the green track button at the top of any GovTrack page.</p> <p>Use a built-in text comparison tool to view legislative text side-by-side to previous versions or related legislation, which can be found on the right hand sidebar of every bill text page.</p> <p>Get GovTrack analysis on trends in congressional data, such as annual <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/report-cards/2019">legislative report cards</a> for each member with key statistics their role in Congress.</p> <h2><span>Search through a database of congressional procedures</span></h2> <p>We’ve collected all of the Congressional Research Services reports on congressional procedures on <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congressional-procedures">GovTrack’s Congressional Procedures, Rules, and Norms page</a>. Reports are gathered from EveryCRSReport.com.</p> </div> </div>  </div>  <footer id="footer"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <nav class="col-6 col-md-2"> <ul> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about">About GovTrack</a></li> <li><a href="/about-our-data">About the Data</a></li> <li><a href="/contact">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="/legal">Privacy & Legal</a></li> </ul> </nav> <nav class="col-6 col-md-2"> <ul> <li><a href="/posts/news"><i class="fas fa-list fa-fw"></i>Site News</a></li> <li><a rel="me" href="https://mastodon.social/@GovTrack"><i class="fab fa-mastodon fa-fw"></i>Mastodon</a></li> <li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/govtrack.us"><i class="fab fa-bluesky fa-fw"></i>Bluesky</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/govtrack"><i class="fas fa-dollar-sign fa-fw"></i><span>Patreon</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/govtrack"><i class="fab fa-github fa-fw"></i><span>GitHub</span></a></li> </ul> </nav> <section class="col-12 col-md-8"> <p>GovTrack helps everyone learn about and track the activities of the United States Congress and the White House. Launched more than 20 years ago, we’re one of the oldest government transparency and accountability websites on the Internet.</p> <p>This is a project of <a href="http://www.civicimpulse.com">Civic Impulse, LLC</a>. GovTrack.us is <b>not</b> a government website.</p> </section> </div> </div> </footer> <div id="error_modal" class="modal fade" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="errorModalTitle" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="modal-dialog" role="document"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="modal-header"> <h2 class="modal-title" id="errorModalTitle">[error message]</h2> <button type="button" class="btn-close btn-close-white" data-bs-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close"></button> </div> <div class="modal-body"> </div> <div class="modal-footer"> <button type="button" class="btn btn-default" data-bs-dismiss="modal">OK</button> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/vendor/jquery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/jquery.cookie.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/jquery-utils.js?20160310"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/vendor/jquery.lazy.min.js"></script> <script src="/static/vendor/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_twostream/user-head?path=/for-advocates"> </script> <script> gtag('set', 'user_properties', { Registered: the_user ? 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GovTrack.us - Advocate User Guide