Tracking Congress

The best way to figure out what Congress is considering on the House floor is to consult The Weekly Leader. There you find information on bills to be considered as "suspensions", which are basically bills expected to pass with a 2/3s majority, as well as a couple bills that aren't expected to pass by a wide majority and are subject to different rules. These other bills will be the focal point of controversy on C-Span.

If you're interested in digging down and finding specific information on the bills that are being considered, it often requires going to the committees' websites and trying to figure out what information if any is available there. Some have videos of hearings on the bill (complete with full statements from witnesses), markups, committee reports, etc.

For example, to get substantive information on the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, you need to go to the Energy and Commerce Committee's website and look to see if information is available about it there. Since this bill was marked up and considered by the committee, you can get a section-by-section analysis of the bill here.

The hub for citizens to access what their government is doing is Thomas at the Library of Congress, named for Thomas Jefferson, whose book collection formed the core of the Library of Congress. You can click on Public Laws and get a list of all of the bills that have been signed into law this year.