The House is a-twitter, over Twitter
In the House, there’s a flutter of excitement over Twitter. Twitter is an online service where users can post up-to-the-minute messages about themselves. The messages are short. So short, they’re called tweets.
A tiny handful of lawmakers are using Twitter technology. They’ve been posting to thousands of people from committee rooms, even from the House floor. Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan:
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): "It started here on the House floor with Representative Culberson was making statements, twittering, and I was responding to his twitter."
Representative Culberson is Houston Republican and technology fan, John Culberson. He’s been roving around Capitol Hill with a mini camera streaming live discussions with other lawmakers, reporters, anyone, straight to the Internet.
REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R-TX): "I have my campaign Blackberry, I have a federal Blackberry, I have this is the campaign, this is the Quik Nokia phone."
He keeps all those gadgets because of House rules. Members get free use of the mail, congressional cell phones and the Internet for official business. But use them for anything else, and they’re in trouble. And the House panel in charge has a problem with Twitter.
The panel says a tweet from the House floor to a campaign or commercial Web site could be a violation. They’re threatening to crack down … and that’s got Culberson squawking mad.
REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R-TX): "A lot of members just don’t get it yet. What’s the difference between the conversation you and I are having right now which will be broadcast over the radio, versus what I type into a text message on Twitter."
Technology moves quickly. Congress does not. Tim Ryan says TV was around for forty years before cameras appeared in the House chamber.
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): "It’s brand-new. Any time there’s something new there’s a little controversy."
House leaders exchanged letters this week. Republicans defending members’ tweets, then Democrats guaranteeing the right to tweet shall not be infringed.
Created by Bureau Chief and Executive Producer Melinda Wittstock, Capitol News Connection provides insightful, localized coverage of participating stations’ congressional delegations.