The company was founded in July 1973, just as the Watergate scandal was pointing to the need for Congress, as well as the executive branch, to be held more answerable to the public. Our goal as journalists, now as then, is to provide coverage that voters, political reporters, editorial boards, activist groups and others can use to monitor the beliefs and goals of their representatives and senators.

We direct our coverage at those who seek substantive information about members of Congress, as opposed to the standard media fare of sound bites, press releases, photo-ops, attack ads and agenda-driven TV and radio bombast. Even with Congress in the grip of special interests, it is possible for citizens armed with facts to be heard and make a difference in the shaping of policy. We attempt to provide some of the basic legislative information they need to accomplish this.

While members of Congress usually serve openly and directly, too many spend large blocks of time out of constituent view in pursuits having little to do with public service. Their habitual reliance on travel and hospitality from special pleaders, and their nonstop solicitation of campaign money, are two backroom activities that divert many of them from the broad-based civic duties they are paid $165,200 annually to perform.

But, amid all the distractions, there is one special time when members are brought front-and-center in full public view: when they show up to vote in the hundreds of roll calls conducted each year on the House and Senate floors. Then they are fulfilling their most fundamental public duty and building the legislative record by which they will be judged. Our effort is to report that record in detail.