Politics

Cantor unveils new citizen engagement initiative through Facebook

Josh Peterson Tech Editor
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Through the development of a new congressional initiative on Facebook, U.S. citizens can now have a more immediate voice in the legislative process.

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced the rollout of the Citizen Cosponsor Project — a new initiative which allows citizens to comment on pending legislation in the House via their Facebook profiles. From there, users are able to follow legislation they are interested in and receive updates on the status of the bill as it moves through Congress.

The majority leader called Citizen Cosponsor Project “a dynamic communications platform that creates a more open, visible and participatory legislative process.”

Cantor has been proactive over the past year in incorporating social media into the way he and the House majority connect with their constituencies.

Other citizen engagement social media initiatives by the House majority include House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s KeepTheWebOpen.com. Issa first debuted the site during the Stop Online Piracy Act saga, which features the Madison — a web application that allows users to log in via their Facebook profile and comment on changes they’d like to see to the bill in question.

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