Tweets From Capitol Hill - Members of the United States Congress On Twitter

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What are you doing?

It's been estimated that 6 million users of the social media site Twitter answer that question each day in text-based posts, known as tweets, up to 140 characters in length.

Twitter was in the spotlight this week. That's because while President of the United States Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress there were Senators and members of the House of Representatives twittering.

The public's reaction to members of Congress twittering while President Obama spoke about the nation's financial crisis has been mixed. I didn't have a problem with it because, to me, the President wasn't speaking to Congress, he was addressing the American people.

It did cause me to wonder, though, who in Congress is on Twitter.

A Google search led me to Tweet Congress. (@tweetcongress) Once you land on this site there's no need to look any further for information on what members of Congress are doing on Twitter. There's a search feature to find out whether or not a Senator or Representative is on Twitter and a Tweetstream to see exactly what they're tweeting in real time.

Tweets from Representative Lee Terry (R-Nebraska)
@LEETERRYNE

I looked for our Congressman, John Boccieri whom I voted for in November to represent Ohio's 16th Congressional District and found that he doesn't tweet. I signed a petition asking him to join Twitter.

I found it interesting to see not only what members of Congress are on Twitter, but to note that some follow a relatively large number of people while others follow nobody, or very few.

Members of the United States Senate
on Twitter...

Robert Bird (D-West Virginia) - @RobertByrd
Barbara Boxer (D-California) - @Barbara_Boxer
Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) - @porkbarrel - Official Blog
Susan Collins (R-Maine) - @senatorcollins
John Cornyn (R-Texas) - @JohnCornyn - Official Blog
Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) - @jimdemin - Jim's Blog
Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) - @chrisdodd
Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) - @dickdurbin
John Ensign (R-Nevada) - @johnensign
Dianne Feinstein (D-California) @DianneFeinstein
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) - @ChuckGrassley - Grassley Blog
Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) - @jiminhofe
Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) - @TedKennedy
Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) - @JonKyl
Mel Martinez (R-Florida) - @melmartinez
John McCain (R-Arizona) - @SenJohnMcCain
Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) - @clairecmc
Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) - @MitchMcConnell
Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) - @senatormenendez
Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) - @senjeffmerkley
Harry Reid (D-Nevada) - @HarryReid
Mark Udall (D-Colorado) - @MarkUdall
Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) - @tomudall
Mark Warner (D-Virginia) - @MarkWarner
Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) - @rogerwicker

Tweets from Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)
@repblumenauer

Members of the United States House of Representatives
on Twitter...

Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) - @neilabercrombie
Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) - @MicheleBachmann
Gresham Barrett (R-South Carolina) - @greshambarrett
Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) - @repblumenauer
Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) - @RoyBlunt
John Boehner (R-Ohio) - @GOPleader - GOP Leader Blog
John Boozman (R-Arkansas) - @JohnBoozman - Official Blog
Michael Burgess (R-Texas) - @michaelcburgess
Dan Burton (R-Indiana) - @danburton
Eric Cantor (R-Virginia)- @EricCantor
John Carter (R-Texas) - @judgecarter
Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) - @jasoninthehouse
James Clyburn (D-South Carolina) - @JamesClyburn
Mike Coffman (R-Colorado) - @repmikecoffman
John Culberson (R-Texas) - @johnculberson
Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) - @keithellison
Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) - @JeffFlake
Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) - @virginiafoxx
Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) - @mlfudge
Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) - @petehoekstra
Mike Honda (D-California) - @RepMikeHonda
Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) - @StenyHoyer
Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) - @Jim_Jordan
Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) - @dennis_kucinich
Randy Kuhl (R-New York) - @RandyKuhl
Tom Latham (R-Iowa) - @TomLatham
Bob Latta (R-Ohio) - @boblatta
Ben Lujan (D-New Mexico) - @repbenraylujan
Dan Manzullo (R-Illinois) - @donmanzullo
Kevin McCarthy (R-California) - @kevinomccarthy
Thaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan) - @ThadMcCotter
Cathy McMorris (R-Washington) - @cathymcmorris
Kendrick Meek (D-Florida) - @kendrickbmeek
Candice Miller (R-Michigan) - @candicemiller
George Miller (D-California) - @askgeorge
Nancy Pelosi (D-California) - @nancypelosi - The Gavel
Jared Polis (D-Colorado) - @jaredpolis
George Radanovich (R-California) - @repradanovich
Denny Rehberg (R-Montana) - @dennyrehberg
Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) - @DanaRohrabacher
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida) - @IRL
Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) - @timryan
Joe Sestak (D-Pennsylvania) - @JoeSestak
Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) - @ShaysCongress
John Shimkus (R-Illinois) - @RepShimkus
Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) - @LEETERRYNE
Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee) - @zachwamp
Joe Wilson (R- South Carolina) - @CongJoeWilson
Rob Wittman (R-Virginia) - @RobWittman
John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky) - @Yarmuth

Tweets from Representative Zach Wamp (R-Tennessee)
@zachwamp

SourceWatch (a project of the Center for Media and Democracy) also has a list of members of Congress who are on Twitter. Its another good resource for information that I recommend you check out.

To close this out, a bonus. @ObamaNews and @JosephBiden, as with some members of Congress, both these are tagged "Official News, Unofficial Twitter."