SCHIP - The State Children's Health Insurance Program, which covers more than 6 million U.S. kids from families whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid but who are considered too poor to afford health insurance, has been all over the news this summer and fall as Congress debated the renewal and expansion of the program. President Bush has already vetoed the first bill approved by Democrats and many Republicans, and the House has held two votes on new versions of the bill but has yet to muster the votes needed to override the veto.

The stakes - billions of dollars and insurance for millions of children - have rarely been higher, and citizens need to know how their representatives voted, regardless of whether they think the bill was a march toward socialized health care or a lifeline for poor children. You can help by taking five minutes to record the votes of your representative in their Congresspedia "permanent record." The Congresspedia staff has written concise summaries of the votes and simple instructions for recording the votes on your member's profile. The instructions are here [3] and if this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, you can register here [4], and learn more about the site here [5]. Have fun, and thanks for your help!

Update on the 2008 Election Project: Also for our U.S.-based readers, the featured participatory project two weeks ago to find photos for every member of Congress was a rousing success, with more than 300 photos uploaded by citizens for members of Congress. See the candidates for your state here [6] (click on your state in the map) or take part in the current 2008 election participatory project: finding and logging the endorsements for congressional candidates [7]. Thanks to Congresspedia's high readership and search engine ratings, these profiles are likely to be read by hundreds of thousands of citizens by the election.