Book Review 2013 U . S . Congressional Directory / 113th Congress First Session Directory by Valerie Sisneros
This directory is a great resource for all concerned citizens who are becoming more involved in the process of self-government as prescribed by our Founding Fathers . It is a slender , compact spiral notebook and contains about 200 pages of everything you need to contact every elected official in Washington D . C ., and also the Governors of every state in the Union . There is a picture and a short bio on each one . Interesting , I thought , was the bio on the President . It gives his birth date , his qualifications , and religion as : “ Attorney , Lecturer , Christian ”. You can access the titles , names , and phone numbers of the Leadership and Officers of the House and Senate , and their assistants . There are lists of all the standing Committees and Subcommittees in the House and Senate , including every member in each committee . There are 25 pages of Committees and Subcommittees in the House and 13 pages in the Senate , small print , single- spaced . Looking at the sheer number of those committees really shines the light on the actual size and scope of the government bureaucracy . The Directory also includes District Maps of every state with census information on population , broken down by the percentage of people by ethnicity , the number of registered voters , and the Senators and Representatives for each district . There is a Re-election Schedule containing all of the House and Senate seats that will be up for reelection in 2014 , 2016 , and 2018 . Good Information . There are tips for Communicating with Congress by phone and e-mail , How a Bill Becomes Law , and a Legislative Glossary . The explanations of the Roles of Congressional Staff will help to make sure you are contacting the right person for your particular issue . There is even contact info for all of the Key Media Websites . For a small book , it contains just about everything you need to participate in our republican form of government . It is available from the C-SPAN Store for $ 12.95 at C-SPAN . org
WISE WORDS
“ Today , when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point , it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government , not on private individuals — that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals , only the conduct of the government — that it is not a charter for government power , but a charter of the citizen ’ s protection against the government .”
-Ayn Rand
Pono Press , June 2013 , Page 9