Nelson's Web Site Wins Coveted 2007 Silver Mouse Award

618 House and Senate Web Sites Evaluated for 2007 Gold Mouse Report

January 14, 2007 – Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson was honored today by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) for having one of the best Web sites in Congress. The site, bennelson.senate.gov, was one of only 104 Web sites commended in The 2007 Gold Mouse Report: Lessons from the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill and the only site within the Nebraska Congressional delegation to receive a Silver award.

"I have tried to use my Web site in innovative ways to keep Nebraskans informed of what's going on in Washington," said Nelson. "It is encouraging to see that my efforts have paid off. I look forward to continuing to use the site to serve the people of Nebraska and am honored to receive this award."

CMF is a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington, D.C. To identify the awards, CMF analyzed 618 congressional Web sites, including those of all Senate and House Members, committees (both majority and minority sites), and official leadership sites. In 2007, CMF awarded 36 Gold, 34 Silver, and 34 Bronze Mouse Awards.

"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. "Web sites like Senator Nelson's provide a template for other congressional offices to follow."

"Senator Nelson's Web site shows that he 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 Senator Nelson for having a Web site that is among the best-of-the-best on Capitol Hill, and we are pleased to present Senator Nelson with the 2007 Silver Mouse Award."

The 2007 Gold Mouse Report and Awards are part of the "Connecting to Congress" research project, 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.

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

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	Press Release	January 14, 2008
Nelson's Web Site Wins Coveted 2007 Silver Mouse Award 618 House and Senate Web Sites Evaluated for 2007 Gold Mouse Report January 14, 2007 – Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson was honored today by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) for having one of the best Web sites in Congress. The site, bennelson.senate.gov, was one of only 104 Web sites commended in The 2007 Gold Mouse Report: Lessons from the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill and the only site within the Nebraska Congressional delegation to receive a Silver award. "I have tried to use my Web site in innovative ways to keep Nebraskans informed of what's going on in Washington," said Nelson. "It is encouraging to see that my efforts have paid off. I look forward to continuing to use the site to serve the people of Nebraska and am honored to receive this award." CMF is a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington, D.C. To identify the awards, CMF analyzed 618 congressional Web sites, including those of all Senate and House Members, committees (both majority and minority sites), and official leadership sites. In 2007, CMF awarded 36 Gold, 34 Silver, and 34 Bronze Mouse Awards. "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. "Web sites like Senator Nelson's provide a template for other congressional offices to follow." "Senator Nelson's Web site shows that he 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 Senator Nelson for having a Web site that is among the best-of-the-best on Capitol Hill, and we are pleased to present Senator Nelson with the 2007 Silver Mouse Award." The 2007 Gold Mouse Report and Awards are part of the "Connecting to Congress" research project, 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. A full copy of the report, the 2007 Gold Mouse Report: Lessons from the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, is available on the Congressional Management Foundation’s Web site at www.cmfweb.org. ###