New Sunlight Petition Declares, 'Let Our Congress Tweet'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 10, 2008

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202/742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC – In the hours since Sunlight launched “Let Our Congress Tweet,” the first petition to Congress based on the social networking site “Twitter,” hundreds of Americans have called on Congress to create clear guidelines about how lawmakers can use the Internet to communicate using Web services like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

“Congressional rules should not prevent lawmakers from joining us in online conversations,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “Under the current system, members of Congress are forced to break rules to use new technologies and services to do what their constituents ask of them: connect, listen and be held accountable. That means those lawmakers who embed YouTube videos of a hearing on their Web sites do so in violation of congressional rules. We created Let Our Congress Tweet to ensure that when Congress writes new rules, they allow lawmakers to use the same communication technologies their constituents already do.”

Congress is currently reconsidering its Franking Commission regulations, which determine how lawmakers’ can use the Internet in their work. These rules will affect the future of how lawmakers communicate with constituents. Last year, Sunlight’s Open House Project recommended that Congress permit lawmakers to take full advantage of Internet resources, and to modernize its Franking rules. In its recommendations, Sunlight said the differences between the old and new forms of communication are so great today that a rethinking of congressional Franking policy is necessary.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight’s projects, including PublicMarkup.org, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.
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