The first in a series of Online Issue Briefs presented to congressional offices by the Congress Online Project, this report examines the email overload in Congress. The email flow to the House of Representatives, for instance, more than doubled between 1998 and 2000 and continues to increase by an average of one million messages per month. The report strongly recommends that Congressional offices automate their email systems, analyzing both the reasons and obstacles involved. This recommendation will no doubt encounter some opposition among voters as well as their representatives, who worry about a real or perceived decline in access to our elected officials. Users can read the full text of the report at the above URL. The Congress Online Project is "a joint research project of the Congressional Management Foundation and The George Washington University to study the use of Web sites and Internet technologies by U.S. congressional offices," and more information on the project is available at the main page.