# Congress.gov Intelligence - Bills, Members, Votes API (`benthepythondev/congress-intelligence`) Actor Extract US Congressional data from official Congress.gov API. Get bills, amendments, members, committees, hearings, nominations, treaties & CRS reports. Filter by congress, chamber, state, date. Includes AI relevance scoring. Perfect for political research, lobbying & legal compliance. - **URL**: https://apify.com/benthepythondev/congress-intelligence.md - **Developed by:** [ben](https://apify.com/benthepythondev) (community) - **Categories:** AI, Developer tools, Other - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Congress.gov Intelligence - US Congressional Data API Extract comprehensive US Congressional data from the **official Congress.gov API**. Get bills, amendments, members, votes, committees, hearings, nominations, treaties, and CRS research reports. ### Why This Actor? - **Official API Source** - Direct access to the Library of Congress Congress.gov API - **No Bot Protection** - API-based, 100% reliable data extraction - **Comprehensive Coverage** - 10 data types covering all congressional activities - **AI Relevance Scoring** - Automatic 0-100 scoring based on recency and importance - **Full Details Mode** - Get sponsors, cosponsors, summaries, actions, and bill text - **Search & Filter** - Find bills by keyword, congress, date range, and more ### Use Cases - **Political Research** - Track legislation on specific topics - **Lobbying Intelligence** - Monitor bills affecting your industry - **Journalism** - Find newsworthy legislative activity - **Legal Compliance** - Track regulatory changes - **Academic Research** - Historical congressional data analysis - **Policy Tracking** - Monitor specific legislators or committees ### Related actors - **[fda-recall-intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/fda-recall-intelligence)** — FDA recalls - **[openfda-drug-intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/openfda-drug-intelligence)** — openFDA drug data - **[noaa-weather-alerts-intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/noaa-weather-alerts-intelligence)** — NOAA weather alerts - **[usaspending-contracts-intelligence](https://apify.com/benthepythondev/usaspending-contracts-intelligence)** — US federal contracts ### Supported Data Types | Data Type | Description | Key Fields | |-----------|-------------|------------| | **Bills** | All legislation (H.R., S., resolutions) | Title, sponsor, status, actions, summary | | **Amendments** | Changes proposed to bills | Purpose, sponsor, status | | **Members** | Senators and Representatives | Party, state, district, committees | | **Committees** | Congressional committees | Chamber, members, jurisdiction | | **Hearings** | Committee hearings | Date, topic, witnesses | | **Nominations** | Presidential nominations | Nominee, position, status | | **Treaties** | International treaties | Topic, status, votes | | **CRS Reports** | Research Service reports | Topic, analysis, recommendations | | **House Votes** | Roll call votes (Beta) | Question, result, member votes | | **Congressional Record** | Official proceedings | Date, volume, debates | ### Getting Started #### 1. Get Your Free API Key 1. Go to [https://api.congress.gov/sign-up/](https://api.congress.gov/sign-up/) 2. Fill in your name and email 3. Check your email for the API key (arrives within seconds) #### 2. Run the Actor ```json { "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE", "data_type": "bills", "congress": 118, "search_query": "climate change", "max_results": 100, "enable_scoring": true } ```` ### Input Parameters | Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | `api_key` | string | Yes | Your Congress.gov API key | | `data_type` | string | Yes | Type of data to extract (see list above) | | `congress` | number | No | Filter by Congress number (e.g., 118 for 2023-2025) | | `bill_type` | string | No | Filter by bill type (hr, s, hjres, sjres, etc.) | | `chamber` | string | No | Filter by chamber (house, senate) | | `state_code` | string | No | Filter members by state (e.g., CA, TX) | | `search_query` | string | No | Keywords to search in titles/descriptions | | `from_date` | string | No | Start date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `to_date` | string | No | End date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `include_details` | boolean | No | Fetch full bill details (slower) | | `include_text` | boolean | No | Include bill text links | | `max_results` | number | No | Maximum results (default: 100) | | `enable_scoring` | boolean | No | Calculate relevance scores (default: true) | ### Example Output #### Bill Data ```json { "type": "bill", "data_source": "congress.gov", "bill_type": "HR", "number": "1234", "congress": 118, "title": "Clean Energy Innovation Act", "origin_chamber": "House", "latest_action": "Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.", "latest_action_date": "2024-03-15", "sponsor": { "name": "Rep. Smith, John [D-CA-12]", "party": "D", "state": "CA", "bioguide_id": "S001234" }, "cosponsor_count": 45, "summary": { "text": "This bill promotes clean energy innovation...", "action_date": "2024-03-15", "action_desc": "Introduced in House" }, "subjects": ["Energy", "Climate Change", "Research"], "relevance_score": 85, "congress_gov_url": "https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1234", "scraped_at": "2024-03-20T10:30:00Z" } ``` #### Member Data ```json { "type": "member", "data_source": "congress.gov", "bioguide_id": "P000197", "name": "Pelosi, Nancy", "party": "Democratic", "state": "CA", "district": 11, "chamber": "House of Representatives", "relevance_score": 80, "scraped_at": "2024-03-20T10:30:00Z" } ``` ### Advanced Usage #### Track Specific Topics ```json { "api_key": "YOUR_KEY", "data_type": "bills", "congress": 118, "search_query": "artificial intelligence", "include_details": true, "max_results": 50 } ``` #### Get All Senators from a State ```json { "api_key": "YOUR_KEY", "data_type": "members", "state_code": "TX", "chamber": "senate" } ``` #### Recent Bills with Full Text ```json { "api_key": "YOUR_KEY", "data_type": "bills", "congress": 118, "from_date": "2024-01-01", "include_details": true, "include_text": true, "max_results": 25 } ``` ### Relevance Scoring Each item receives an AI-calculated relevance score (0-100) based on: - **Recency** - Items updated in the last week score higher - **Activity** - Bills that became law or passed chambers score higher - **Current Congress** - Current congress items score higher - **Status** - Active members, pending nominations score higher ### Rate Limits The Congress.gov API has rate limits. This actor automatically: - Respects rate limits with built-in delays - Retries on 429 (rate limit) errors - Paginates large result sets efficiently ### Pricing This actor charges **$3 per 1,000 results**. You only pay for the data you receive. - Bills with basic info: $3/1K - Bills with full details: $5/1K (additional API calls) ### Support - **Issues**: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/benthepythondev) - **Questions**: Contact via Apify ### Changelog #### 1.0.0 (2024) - Initial release - Support for 10 data types - AI relevance scoring - Full details mode for bills - Search and filtering ### License MIT License - Free to use for any purpose. *** **Built by [benthepythondev](https://apify.com/benthepythondev)** | Data from official [Congress.gov API](https://api.congress.gov/) # Actor input Schema ## `api_key` (type: `string`): Your Congress.gov API key. Get one free at https://api.congress.gov/sign-up/ ## `data_type` (type: `string`): Type of Congressional data to extract ## `congress` (type: `integer`): Filter by specific Congress (e.g., 118 for 118th Congress, 2023-2025). Leave empty for all. ## `bill_type` (type: `string`): Filter bills by type (only for bills data type) ## `chamber` (type: `string`): Filter by chamber (House or Senate) ## `state_code` (type: `string`): Filter members by state (2-letter code, e.g., CA, TX, NY). Only for members data type. ## `search_query` (type: `string`): Keywords to search in titles and descriptions (e.g., 'climate change', 'healthcare') ## `from_date` (type: `string`): Filter items updated after this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD) ## `to_date` (type: `string`): Filter items updated before this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD) ## `include_details` (type: `boolean`): Fetch detailed information for each item (sponsors, cosponsors, actions, summaries). Slower but more comprehensive. ## `include_text` (type: `boolean`): Include links to full text versions (PDF, XML, HTML). Only for bills and amendments. ## `max_results` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of results to return (API limit: 250 per request, will paginate for more) ## `enable_scoring` (type: `boolean`): Calculate relevance scores (0-100) based on recency, activity, and importance ## Actor input object example ```json { "data_type": "bills", "bill_type": "", "chamber": "", "include_details": false, "include_text": false, "max_results": 100, "enable_scoring": true } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("benthepythondev/congress-intelligence").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("benthepythondev/congress-intelligence").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call benthepythondev/congress-intelligence --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=benthepythondev/congress-intelligence", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Congress.gov Intelligence - Bills, Members, Votes API", "description": "Extract US Congressional data from official Congress.gov API. Get bills, amendments, members, committees, hearings, nominations, treaties & CRS reports. Filter by congress, chamber, state, date. Includes AI relevance scoring. Perfect for political research, lobbying & legal compliance.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "TRubspyqkRLUCSeVI" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/benthepythondev~congress-intelligence/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-benthepythondev-congress-intelligence", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/benthepythondev~congress-intelligence/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-benthepythondev-congress-intelligence", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/benthepythondev~congress-intelligence/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-benthepythondev-congress-intelligence", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "api_key", "data_type" ], "properties": { "api_key": { "title": "Congress.gov API Key", "type": "string", "description": "Your Congress.gov API key. Get one free at https://api.congress.gov/sign-up/" }, "data_type": { "title": "Data Type", "enum": [ "bills", "amendments", "members", "committees", "hearings", "nominations", "treaties", "crs_reports", "house_votes", "congressional_record" ], "type": "string", "description": "Type of Congressional data to extract", "default": "bills" }, "congress": { "title": "Congress Number", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 200, "type": "integer", "description": "Filter by specific Congress (e.g., 118 for 118th Congress, 2023-2025). Leave empty for all." }, "bill_type": { "title": "Bill Type", "enum": [ "", "hr", "s", "hjres", "sjres", "hconres", "sconres", "hres", "sres" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter bills by type (only for bills data type)", "default": "" }, "chamber": { "title": "Chamber", "enum": [ "", "house", "senate" ], "type": "string", "description": "Filter by chamber (House or Senate)", "default": "" }, "state_code": { "title": "State Code", "pattern": "^[A-Z]{2}$", "type": "string", "description": "Filter members by state (2-letter code, e.g., CA, TX, NY). Only for members data type." }, "search_query": { "title": "Search Keywords", "type": "string", "description": "Keywords to search in titles and descriptions (e.g., 'climate change', 'healthcare')" }, "from_date": { "title": "From Date", "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$", "type": "string", "description": "Filter items updated after this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD)" }, "to_date": { "title": "To Date", "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$", "type": "string", "description": "Filter items updated before this date (format: YYYY-MM-DD)" }, "include_details": { "title": "Include Full Details", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch detailed information for each item (sponsors, cosponsors, actions, summaries). Slower but more comprehensive.", "default": false }, "include_text": { "title": "Include Bill/Amendment Text", "type": "boolean", "description": "Include links to full text versions (PDF, XML, HTML). Only for bills and amendments.", "default": false }, "max_results": { "title": "Maximum Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of results to return (API limit: 250 per request, will paginate for more)", "default": 100 }, "enable_scoring": { "title": "Enable AI Relevance Scoring", "type": "boolean", "description": "Calculate relevance scores (0-100) based on recency, activity, and importance", "default": true } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```