By Kelly McCormack

Congressional Websites: The Bright, Bland and Bizarre (excerpt)

“House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has an attention-grabbing website. The site combines design elements in burgundy, white and blue, with graphics of gas pumps, money and the House floor. There are more than 20 photos in his gallery, which show the minority whip with constituents and soldiers in Iraq and at press conferences.

“Blunt’s webpage for kids is well organized. He even has a welcome video just for young constituents, whom he urges to e-mail him. The effort is admirable considering such youngsters can’t yet vote, but his video message would only entertain a sliver of the under-18 set.

“Hi kids. Welcome to the page we put together just for you. Look around, whether you’re looking for information about how a bill becomes a law or planning a trip to your nation’s capital,” Blunt says in the video, in which his eyes look everywhere but into the camera. “There are lots of links to sites you like and fun games you can play as well, but of course only after you finish your homework.”

Blunt’s site links to the White House website, Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government — where a cartoon Ben Franklin teaches children about the ins and outs of the American system — kids.gov and the Smithsonian Kids website.”

Senators Webb, Tester, McCaskill are Key Votes

By Manu Raju

Three centrists whose razor-thin election victories in November tipped control of the Senate to the Democrats now hold potentially decisive swing votes on the immigration measure the chamber will try to revive later this week.

All three Democratic freshman senators — Jim Webb (Va.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) — voted against efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to shut down debate over the measure earlier this month. The freshmen each have controversial amendments in the package that will be considered once the Senate moves to resume debate later this week. And no member is decided on how he or she will vote on the underlying bill.

How these Democrats approach the debate is one of a host of obstacles the legislation’s supporters face as the Senate attempts to complete the immigration bill by next week.
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