Idaho Senators Have Award-Winning Websites

Washington, D.C. - Idahoans have award-winning service at the click of a mouse when they visit the official websites of Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. The ratings for United States Senate websites have been announced by the Congressional Management Foundation, an independent nonpartisan nonprofit that conducts annual reviews of Senate websites and rates technology. Idaho is one of just three states in the country where both Senators' sites won awards; Utah and Pennsylvania were the others.

Corresponding with an "A" letter grade, the Foundation said the Silver Mouse Award recipients are "excellent examples of high-quality Congressional websites" offering "robust legislative information" in a "clear, concise and easy to access way."

The Foundation said Crapo's site was "among the highest scoring sites for Accountability and Communication Technology," and noted Crapo's use of blogs, online polls, Facebook and Twitter.

"I often say that my website is my online office and I strongly encourage Idahoans with questions about issues before Congress or my voting record to check in often and thoroughly," Crapo said. "Because I can't come home to Idaho as often as I'd like, I hope that Idahoans will keep in touch through visiting my site at http://crapo.senate.gov."

The Foundation said that Risch's site received high marks for Usability and Legislative Process.

"One of my priorities in setting up my website was to make it easy for Idahoans to let me know their views on issues to be voted on. I am very pleased that since the launch of my site in June of last year tens of thousands of messages from Idahoans have been sent to me through http://risch.senate.gov.," said Risch. "It is also a site where people can go to learn about the topics we are dealing with in the U.S. Senate."