Our blog sibling Download Squad had a write up about the new beta site OpenCongress.org. OpenCongress allows you to check up on your representatives in congress via an easy to use interface that combines information from OpenSecrets.org, GovTrack.us, Technorati, and SourceWatch.org's Congresspedia in a way that will give you more information on your Congressman or Senator than you could possibly want. You can see how they vote, who they vote with, what they just wrote and how their bills are doing.

Of interest to the New Orleans area are our Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter. Landrieu's bill S.664 to "provide adequate funding for local governments harmed by Hurricane Katrina of 2005 or Hurricane Rita of 2005" is on its way to the Committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Vitter's S.Res.62 "resolution recognizing the goals of Catholic Schools Week and honoring the valuable contributions of Catholic schools in the United States" was agreed to by all of the Senate without change on January 31, 2007. Plus our members of the House of Representatives William Jefferson, Bobby Jindal and Charlie Melancon (I know he doesn't represent people in the city proper, but he is very important to the Katrina and Rita recovery for our state) have been acting on our behalf on their side of the Capitol. Jefferson's H.R.1052 to "To provide an option to proceed with an action in any Federal court to recover actual damages for physical or property damage in a major disaster that proximately results from the failure or negligence of the Army Corps of Engineers in the design, construction, or maintenance of a project for which the Corps is legally responsible" was sent over to the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee. Jindal's H.R. 641 "to clarify the tax treatment of certain payments made to homeowners by the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Mississippi Development Authority" was referred to the House Ways and Means committee in late January. Melancon's H.R.183 "to authorize the project for hurricane and storm damage reduction, Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana" was sent over to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in early January.

The best part of this site is the available RSS feeds for your rep's activity. Now you can really know what Landrieu and Melancon are doing for our post-Katrina recovery and how Vitter is working for the state and what Jefferson is pushing on the hill. Remember, just cause they're in D.C. doesn't mean they aren't accountable to you.