Congressman Brad Miller

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 24, 2011

Contact: LuAnn Canipe tel: (202) 225-3032 / email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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U.S. Rep. Brad Miller Receives 'Bronze Mouse Award' for Congressional Web Site

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The web site of U.S. Representative Brad Miller has been named one of the best websites, http://bradmiller.house.gov/, on Capitol Hill and has received the "112th Congress Bronze Mouse Award." The award was given by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), a nonpartisan nonprofit working to improve communications between citizens and Congress and enhance operations in Capitol Hill offices. CMF has assessed and graded congressional websites and issued these awards since 2001.

"Rep. Miller is to be commended for educating citizens and achieving the highest degree of transparency and accountability in online communications," said Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of CMF. "In the 21st Century, a website is much more than a broadcasting tool for a political message - it's a virtual office and a window into our democratic institutions. These winners of the Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Mouse Awards understand the value of using the Internet to enlighten and serve constituents, and are examples for all congressional offices to follow," he said.

Download a copy of the report here.

CMF conducted its analysis from June to September 2011 and today released its latest report, "112th Congress Gold Mouse Report: Best Practices in Online Communications on Capitol Hill." The report identified recent trends related to online communications in Congress, including:

• A significant number of House and Senate Member websites lacked basic educational and transparency features including: links to bills sponsored and cosponsored, voting records, and basic information on how a bill becomes a law.

• While there was general parity overall in quality of websites between Democrats and Republican Member websites, the best websites tended to be Democratic Members.

Of the 618 congressional websites graded, a total of 98 personal office, committee and leadership websites earned A's, and will therefore receive a Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze Mouse Award. With the assistance and guidance of faculty from the University of California-Riverside, the Ohio State University, and Northeastern University, CMF staff assessed and graded the websites and gave each a numerical score, which was translated into a grade of A through F.

A total of 92 criteria were used to grade personal office websites, 66 criteria for committee websites, and 53 criteria for leadership sites. Reviewers assessed 10 categories of criteria: usability of website; timeliness of content; breadth and depth of information on issues; constituent services and casework information; promoting accountability to constituents; legislative process information; district/state information; floor proceedings information; availability of diverse forms of content; and availability of diverse forms of content channels. CMF reviewers also included social media components in the criteria.

Founded in 1977, CMF is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to helping Congress and its Members meet the evolving needs and expectations of an engaged and informed 21st century citizenry.

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