NEW LEGISLATIVE PORTALS MAKE CONGRESSPEDIA HUB FOR ACTION AND INFORMATION FOR THOSE ENGAGED IN DEMOCRACY

New Partnership with OpenCongress.org Announced

July 13, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congresspedia, the "citizens' encyclopedia on Congress," introduced a comprehensive legislation and policy section to complement its existing profiles on legislators. This new feature will give citizens access to insider information on issues and legislation, and opportunities to collaborate with policy experts.

"By adding articles on specific legislation to Congresspedia's wealth of information on members of Congress, citizen editors will have the power to thoroughly report on and follow the inner workings of Congress," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation.

A joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Media and Democracy, Congresspedia is an online wiki which utilizes "citizen reporting" to compile information about Congress. As a wiki, its content can be drafted and edited by anyone.

Through 14 new federal policy and legislative portals, Congresspedia now offers space for experts and interested citizens to update and improve articles on various policy issues and on specific legislation. Each article provides "take action" sections that link to current advocacy campaigns coordinated by outside organizations not affiliated with Congresspedia. Citizen editors can now also easily incorporate the status of bills and breakdown of congressional votes through constantly updated live feeds from OpenCongress.org, another Sunlight project.

Lawmakers and prominent think tanks have already committed to using these new features of Congresspedia as primary resources when reviewing federal law.

"I look forward to following your efforts on education and the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. The final product on this bill in Congress should reflect the research, views and experiences of people from across the country and across the political spectrum in an effort to help America's public schools," said Democratic Rep. George Miller, chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor. The article on the No Child Left Behind Act is being contributed to, in part, by the conservative Heritage Foundation's Robert Bluey.

Policy experts from more than a dozen research, advocacy organizations and journalism organizations, including the Cato Institute, the Project on Government Oversight and Food and Water Watch are contributing to Congresspedia's legislative articles, and many will also provide citizen editors with knowledge and editing guidance.

For example, the Center for Public Integrity's reporters are the lead volunteers on Congresspedia's flagship Telecom, Media and Intellectual Policy legislative section, and have authored several original in-depth articles on the rapidly evolving realm of digital convergence and its impact on public policy that they will be collaborating with citizen editors to update and expand. Congresspedia will soon install live feeds from the Center's Media Tracker, a five million record database tracking media and telecom company ownership and political influence, which the project's reporters will augment by working with citizen journalists.

All legislative information is linked to profiles of all members of Congress, providing accountability for their actions. The legislative maneuvering-both good and bad-that often gets unnoticed outside the Beltway will be available to Congresspedia's tens of thousands of daily readers, and millions on the Web.

Founded in January, 2006, the mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to strengthen the relationship between lawmakers and their constituents. Sunlight puts information and tools in citizens' hands so they can learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing. Its ultimate goal is full transparency by Congress, its Members and staff will help reduce corruption, ensure greater accountability, and foster public trust in this vital institution of democracy.

Since its founding, the Sunlight Foundation has issued nearly $2 million to groups to digitize existing information about Congress and those that use Internet technology to further Sunlight's goals. Additionally, the Sunlight Foundation has fostered its own projects such as Congresspedia, OpenCongress.org and Congress' Family Business.

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