Congressional Decisions
After listening to congressional debates and reviewing records in favor of and in opposition to issues from the last two centuries, visitors cast votes in these two interactives.
This interactive showcase audio reenactments of House and Senate great debates such as Prohibition in 1918, reinstating the draft in 1940, and Brown v. Board of Education. With the Enhanced Record Viewer in these kiosks, visitors can review every detail of the evidence, turn pages, transcribe handwriting, and reveal interpretive hot spots that explain important features as they listen to the debates. At the end of each debate visitors can vote and compare their votes with how Congress voted. These installations are in the Public Vault, “To Form a More Perfect Union,” which highlights records of liberty and law that illustrate the evolution of our democracy and how records have been used to hold government officials accountable for their actions.