WASHINGTON, DC – For the second year in a row, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney’s (D-Manhattan, Queens) website, http://maloney.house.gov/, has been honored with a prestigious Golden Mouse award by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization.

Maloney’s site was one of 618 evaluated in CMF’s “2007 Gold Mouse Report: Lessons from the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill,” and one of only 104 to be commended.  CMF analyzed the congressional websites of all House and Senate Members, congressional committees (both majority and minority), and congressional leaders, and awarded 36 Gold, 34 Silver, and 34 Bronze Mouse Awards. 

“My goal is to make my office’s website as informative and useful to my constituents as possible,” said Maloney.  “I’m working hard to get 9/11 responders the health care they deserve, put our economy back on track, and help working families juggle the family-work balance; I want to do everything I can to make sure that information about my work and Congress is just a few clicks away. I’m thrilled that the Congressional Management Foundation has recognized my website, and will continue doing my very best to keep it as up-to-date as possible.”

The Gold Mouse Report and Awards are part of the Congressional Management Foundation’s broader research project, “Connecting to Congress,” funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. For this project, CMF partnered with researchers from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, University of California-Riverside, and Ohio State University to study how Members of Congress can use the Internet to improve communications with their constituents and promote greater participation in the legislative process.  CMF has been tracking the use of the internet by Congress since 1998.

“One of the key reasons for the awards is to highlight best practices so offices can improve their sites by learning from those doing a good job,” said Beverly Bell, CMF’s Executive Director. “Websites like Congresswoman Maloney’s provide a template for other congressional offices to follow.”

“Congresswoman Maloney’s website shows that she understands the value of creating a virtual office to reach specific audiences who have come to expect having their needs met online,” said Bell.  “The Congressional Management Foundation congratulates Mrs. Maloney for having a website that is among the best-of-the-best on Capitol Hill, and we are pleased to present her with the 2007 Gold Mouse Award.”

“The 2007 report shows that Web sites are an increasingly critical channel through which Members and congressional committees can communicate with, and hear from, citizens.  The Internet is a vital tool for elected officials and the public to use in the give-and-take of ideas and opinions that has characterized the American form of government since its founding” Bell continued.

Background:

CMF graded websites on how well they incorporate five basic building blocks that extensive research has identified as critical for effectiveness: audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation. Using these building blocks, CMF and its research partners developed an evaluation framework that would be fair and objective, while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a website.  

A full copy of the report, the “2007 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill,” is available on the Congressional Management Foundation’s website at www.cmfweb.org. 

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