U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, offered the following remarks after the House Republican Conference website, www.gop.gov, was given the top award from an independent analysis of Congressional Leadership websites:

“On behalf of all House Republicans, we are honored that GOP.gov has been recognized as the best leadership website in the 111th Congress. GOP.gov belongs to every member of the House Republican Conference, and it is the high quality work of our members and our staffs that makes the site what it is. I am especially grateful to our new media staff and their tireless efforts to serve the members.
 
“U.S. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Vice-Chair of the House Republican Conference also commented on the award:
 
“I’ve been proud to work with Chairman Pence and the entire Conference team to use the Internet and New Media technology to reach out to the American people and improve the quality of their government.  This year, for the first time, CMF’s evaluation process for congressional websites included an examination of the extent to which congressional offices are adapting social networking tools.   It’s encouraging to note that since January 2009, the percentage of House Republicans who use YouTube has grown from 56% to 89%, the percentage who use Facebook has grown from 37% to 79%, and the percentage who use Twitter has soared from 28% to 64%.”

Background
 
The Congressional Management Foundation also found the Republican member websites “scored better overall” than those of our Democrat colleagues. The CMF’s extensive non-partisan evaluation of congressional websites is done with research assistance from the Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern University, University of California – Riverside, and the Ohio State University.