Skip to main contentCONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 02.02 THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Take Action You should be familiar with the structure, functions, and processes of the legislative branch. The framers naturally gave this branch the most influential power because they directly represent the people. Understanding the procedures of Congress and how it passes legislation can help you know how to be more active to help fulfill the wants and needs of you and your community. Recognizing the ways you and groups of people can influence policy is the focus of other parts of this course. For this assessment, you will focus on one simple aspect—how to track legislation so you know what Congress has done or is working on. Before you can have an impact, you have to know how to find accurate information. Legislation tracking sites have standard features you can use to monitor Congress. Congress.gov is one site where you can track the progress of bills, but there are others. Explore this sample tracking site to become familiar with how to navigate within these sites and what to look for while you are researching. sample of three pages that could appear on legislative tracking site with the first page highlighted stating search for legislation that interests you To begin, think of a topic that interests you. Then, use the search bar of the tracking website to find related legislative bills. Perhaps "animals" are your passion. You type in "animals" or select it from a topic dropdown list. Then you select "Go" to see what bills or laws best match your search. Previous Next Steps: To complete your work, download and use the The Legislative Branch Template. Choose a topic that interests you. It could be anything from health care to online privacy. Find a bill that has been introduced or a law passed within the current or most recent session of Congress. It must be from within the past year. Use the keyword or topic search on a legislative tracking site such as: congress.gov govtrack.us Keep the URL address for the bill you choose and include it in your work. Use the bill or law you researched to answer all the following questions in complete sentences: What is the name of the bill or law