6.4 Researching Your Members of Congress -  Introduction:     A hallmark of democracy is that the people have a say in their government. In the United States, this happens by voting elected officials

6.4 Researching Your Members of Congress - 

Introduction: 

   A hallmark of democracy is that the people have a say in their government. In the United States, this happens by voting elected officials into office to make decisions for us at the federal level. The United States Constitution gives minimal requirements  for the elected offices of the Senator or Representative and Congress, but throughout the years, unwritten qualifications have been established. What are the similar qualifications of the officials that we elect and what are the differences? This student  centered activity requires learners to investigate the background, work experience and views of their elected officials using multi-media sites. 

Instructions: 

1. Choose a US Senator or Representative from the state of South Carolina. Remember that you are examining the national level US Congress, not your SC state congress representatives.
   • You may look up a SC Senator or Representative using the GovTrack (opens in a new window) or C-SPAN website (opens in a new window). 
     • For the GovTrack site, enter your address or select the state. If you select the state, you may click on either the Senate tab or the House tab to find SC members of the US Congress.
     • For the C-SPAN site, select SC from the drop down menu of states. Then, you may click on either the Senate or House tabs to find SC members of the US Congress.             
2. Complete the Senator or Representative Resume (PDF)    (opens in a new window) for the US Senator or Representative from SC you have selected. (The file is a fillable PDF form, so you can enter your answers in the highlighted fields. And then save the document with your answers.) If it works better, you may complete the assignment using Senator or Representative Resume (Word 17KB)   . 
   • Once you have selected the  Senator or Representative (PDF)    (opens in a new window) on either GovTrack (opens in a new window) or C-SPAN (opens in a new window), click on the link for the person on either site. 
   • Then click on the link to the person's official website to find the information necessary for the handout "Senator or Representative Resume."       
3. Save your completed "Senator or Representative Resume" and upload the document below.