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Rep Anna Eshoo

Eshoo Web Site Named One of Best in Congress

February 26, 2007

February 26, 2007

Washington, D.C. -The Web site ofCongresswoman Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, was honored today bythe Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington, D.C., for being one of the best in Congress.

Eshoo's Web site (www.eshoo.house.gov), was one of 615 evaluated in The 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, which analyzed Web sites of 538 Senate and House Members, 64 committees, and 13 leadership sites. Only 85 Web sites were singled out for recognition, with 18 winning Gold, 27 winning Silver, and 40 winning Bronze Mouse Awards.

Of the 438 House Member Web sites analyzed, Eshoo's Web site was judged to be among the 27 best.

"Millions of Americans turn to the Internet every day for vital information," Eshoo said. "As a member of Congress, I think it's important to have a Web site that serves constituents with timely information and a convenient way to contact me with questions or concerns. That's why I'm particularly pleased that the Congressional Management Foundation has judged my Web site to be one of the best in Congress."

Eshoo's Web site also makes it easy for constituents to sign up to receive regular e-mail updates on her work in Congress.

"Rep. Eshoo's Web site shows that she has identified the needs of her various constituencies and has developed easily accessible content that meets their needs online," said Beverly Bell, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation. "Rep. Eshoo is to be congratulated for being among the best of the best Web sites on Capitol Hill, and the Congressional Management Foundation is pleased to present Rep. Eshoo with the 2006 Silver Mouse Award."

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 to promote greater participation in the legislative process.

"One of the key purposes of the awards is to highlight best practices so offices can improve their sites by learning from those doing a good job," Bell said. "Web sites that garnered an Award in 2006 illustrate the best practices that we hope can serve as examples for others to follow."

Web sites were graded 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, an evaluation framework was developed by CMF and their research partners at Harvard, Ohio State, and the University of California-Riverside that would be fair and objective, while still taking into account important qualitative factors that affect a visitor's experience on a Web site.

CMF will be assessing congressional Web sites again in 2007. All House and Senate Member, committee and leadership Web sites will be evaluated during the summer of 2007 and another report is expected to be released by the end of the year.

A full copy of the report, the 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, is available on the Congressional Management Foundation's Web site at http://www.cmfweb.org/

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