Berry Statement on Tornado Devastation in Southwest Arkansas

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected by the tornados that devastated southeastern Arkansas over the weekend. Although this natural disaster may have destroyed many homes and businesses, the people of Arkansas are generous and caring - and I have no doubt we will pull together to rebuild this community to make it stronger than before. I look forward to working with my colleagues to assist the families in need and help them move forward from this tragedy.

Berry Wins 2006 Gold Mouse Award for Outstanding Website

Today the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan management consulting and research organization in Washington, D.C., announced that my website was being recognized for being one of the best in Congress.

The site, http://www.house.gov/berry/, was one of 615 evaluated in The 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill. Eighty-five websites were recognized in 2006, with 18 winning Gold, 27 winning Silver, and 40 winning Bronze Mouse Awards.

I'm very pleased with this award and look forward to making the First Congressional District of Arkansas’ website even more innovative and user friendly. This website is an important and convenient way for everyone in the district to let me to know what’s on their minds. The open dialogue it creates helps me to best represent you in Congress.

Web sites were graded on how well they incorporate five basic building blocks that extensive research has identified as critical for effectiveness: audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation. You can read the full copy of the report, the 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill, is available on the Congressional Management Foundation’s Web site at www.cmfweb.org.