PARTY CONVENTIONS ON THE NET
As the Republicans wrap up their National Convention in San Diego,
and Democrats prepare for their own in Chicago, netizens will have
the opportunity to attend both via the Net. Party platforms,
online chats, speeches, pictures and more can be found in these
first time efforts to bring a political convention to cyberspace.
Republican National Convention - San Diego
Democratic National Convention - Chicago
REP. ESHOO UPGRADES THE ANNAGRAM
Silicon Valley Representative Anna Eshoo (CA-14) has initiated a
new means of using the Net to communicate with her constituents.
Using a system called "Citizen Direct", Rep. Eshoo's home page
invites visitors to send the Congresswomen some web mail. In
order to do so, they must first register and create their own
mailbox on the system. Registered users are then able to send
their messages and use their own unique login and password on the
system to check their private mailbox for a reply (notification
via regular e-mail that a reply awaits is an option). The system
makes strides in solving some problems inherent in traditional e-
mail to members of Congress, such as the frequent mass e-mailings
addressed to every member of Congress, and by fully integrating
electronic communications with the offices' correspondence
management system for tracking communications with constituents.
At least one other Representative has also begun using Citizen
Direct, but it is still to be seen if the Citizen Direct approach
to constituent e-mail will gain widespread use in Congress.
Representative Eshoo's home page
Citizen Direct
SENATOR LOTT ON THE WEB?
Prior to succeeding Senator Bob Dole as Senate Majority leader
last June, Senator Trent Lott held the number two leadership
position as Majority Whip. Apparently at that time he was
developing a home page to put on the Web where he would join the
majority of his Senate colleagues who had already done the same.
Perhaps the hubbub of moving into his new offices pushed his Net
efforts to the back burner, or maybe he decided to emulate Dole's
Net absenteeism; nevertheless, a very unfinished and unannounced
home page for Majority Whip Lott can be found on the Senate's web
server. Better look fast, and watch for how quickly it switches
to a page for current Majority Whip, Senator Don Nickles, or
disappears completely.
Former Senate Majority Whip Trent Lott
RATING THE WIRED CONGRESS
It had to happen. With the slew of web sites that rate and review
the best and worst sites on the Web, eventually someone was bound
to begin rating Congressional home pages. Capitol Hill Online
offers visitors a listing of what it considers the Top 25
Congressional Member Home Pages as well as rating Congressional
candidate home pages and providing links to the home pages of
Congressional staffers (my own included). The site's creator is a
Congressional staffer himself. During working hours Chris Lee is
the webmaster of the Senate's home page, but in his own time Chris
can spins his own web, he diplomatically declines to share what he
considers to be the worst of Congress on the web. Can that be far
behind?
INTERNET ACCESS TO HOUSE DOCUMENTS
Gary Ruskin of the Congressional Accountability Project maintains
the CONG-REFORM listserv, thru which he distributes periodic
Congressional Reform Briefings. A recent briefing informed
subscribers of legislation (H. Res. 478), sponsored by Rep. Rick
White, that would provide access to House documents not currently
available online. Although new materials such as committee
reports are now available via THOMAS and GPO ACCESS, a long list
of important Congressional committee documents including hearing
transcripts, committee prints of bills, committee amendments,
committee votes and more generally remains offline, a situation
this bill seeks to correct.
Congressional Accountability Project
CONG-REFORM Archive
Committee Reports via GPO
104th Congress Committee Reports via THOMAS
THE WIRED CONGRESS IN THE NEWS
A few interesting articles, op/eds, and forums regarding Congress
on the Net have appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times
in recent weeks. Don't worry if you've already recycled your
print edition and missed them, you can still check them out on the
Web.
The Washington Post
Wiring Congress
Whitewater Overflows GPO Web Site
The New York Times
Capitol Hill Takes to Cyberspace, Though in Fits, Starts and Stumbles
Electronic Democracy Forum
That's all for now!
Regards,
Chris
Copyright ©1996 by Chris Casey
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