As I was flipping through the Wall Street Journal this morning, I saw a full page advertisement featuring C-SPAN’s Video Library with over 160,000 hours of video and over 115,000 political people. I immediately hopped online and searched the word "construction" in the archives. Below is the Washington Journal feed for February 17, 2010, where the guests are talking about the President’s commitment of $8.33 billion in loan guarantees for the construction and operation of two new nuclear reactors at a plant in Burke, Georgia:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.swf?pid=292124-4&start=8&end=65
You can also search for transcripts and biographies of every person who has made an appearance in a C-SPAN covered event. For example, you can search for all appearances involving representatives of the Associated General Contractors of America and get a number of results.
So, how might this unofficial government YouTube be helpful to you?
- As a lawyer, it is a great resource for tracking the legislative history of certain Federal laws. You will have access to both hearings and transcripts. If you want, you can view the entire hearing for free or you can purchase a DVD copy.
- As a construction industry player, you can follow the legislative hearings that will affect your company. For example, if you are road builder, you can track the stimulus funding on transportation projects. In this November 19, 2009 hearing, witnesses testified about management and oversight of economic stimulus funds, particularly how recipients accounted for use of the funds, maintaining transparent accounting practices, the pace of federal spending, and projects and programs that had received funding.
- As a lay person, you can watch the White House Daily Briefings, the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last month, or (if you are so inclined) the Tulane University Commencement Address featuring Ellen DeGeneres.
Let me know if you find any interesting tid-bits in C-SPAN Video Library.