Senate Energy’s Website Among ‘Best-of-the-Best’

The Senate Energy Committee was the first committee on Capitol Hill to go live on the Internet.  That was in 1995 (source: “The Hill on the Net: Congress Enters the Information Age”).  So, it’s only fitting that our bipartisan website has again been recognized as one of the best in Congress.

 

The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) -- a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting a more effective Congress – has bestowed on our website a Gold Mouse for the 111^th Congress.  The CMF evaluated all 620 House and Senate Member, committee and leadership office websites; only nine committees won the coveted Gold Mouse.  The CMF’s objective was to identify best practices that Congressional offices are using to tackle the challenges and opportunities that new technologies have brought, and also to help offices improve electronic communications and service to constituents.

 

For the 111^th Congress Gold Mouse Awards project, CMF partnered with researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, University of California-Riverside and the Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress use the Internet.  “One of the key reasons for the awards is to highlight best practices so that other offices can improve their sites by learning from those already excelling online,” said Beverly Bell, CMF’s executive director.  “Web sites like Senate Energy’s serve as a prime example that we hope other Congressional offices will follow.  Senate Energy shows that it understands how to meet the online needs of visitors to its website.  We congratulate the Committee for having a website that is among the best-of-the-best.”

 

The 111^th Congress Gold Mouse Project report, including a full listing of winners and other comparative data, can be seen at www.pmpu.org.

 

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is led by Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).