PRESS STATEMENT   

(Washington, DC) -- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) and Ranking Democrat Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) Thursday launched an online, interactive web project to improve the access of the American people to their government.

A web site designed to involve the public in an electronic discussion of ideas is the current centerpiece of this e-government project. The web site, which may be accessed through the Governmental Affairs Committee site as well as the personal sites of Senators Thompson and Lieberman, invites comment on ways to advance the cause of digital government, to promote innovative uses of information technology and to expand citizen participation in government.

"I’m looking forward to receiving the results of the Governmental Affairs Committee’s experiment with an interactive web site," said Senator Thompson. "This site will allow people to consider and comment on issues before this Committee. The ideas include how the government should harness technology to improve government operations and hopefully, to rebuild the public’s trust in government."

"E_government means e_quality," Lieberman said. "In the wired world, universal access to information and services levels the playing field. I hope our web site and any future legislation will encourage more citizens to take an interest in their government _ indeed, to collaborate with us _ from the convenience of their homes, offices and libraries. This is an experiment to involve you _ the digital citizen _ as a virtual partner in the legislative planning process."

Electronic government applies the lessons of the private sector to the mission of government, to increase productivity and reduce costs using Internet-based technology. E-government is an opportunity to enhance citizen access to government information and services and, in many cases, to strengthen and extend those services. E-government further provides new ways to increase citizen participation in the democratic process. As government makes increased use of and becomes more dependent on technology, it is critical that it be managed thoughtfully. The Committee hopes its innovative web site will contribute to this process.

Click here to view Senator Lieberman's statement

Addresses that provide links to the e-government web site are: http://thompson.senate.gov, and http://lieberman.senate.gov.http://gov_affairs.senate.gov

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Note: To encourage comments by those without Internet access, printed copies of the web proposals are available

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