If you are familiar with how to find information about influences on public policy, you can skip this section . Lobby groups exercise influence on public policy both through committee hearings and by talking directly with Members.
Committees do the bulk of work on prospective legislation, and are a major target for lobbyists.
Many sources describe committee membership and jurisdiction. Among them is the Congressional Yellowbook , which is easy to use, but lags about three months at the beginning of a new Congress. Use this link to see a picture of it and its location. The Contacting the Congress has the current committee assignments. To get member information you may need to mix and match directories, biographies, and campaign finance sources.