Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, say it is time the government modernized its websites.
The comments from the bipartisan lawmakers came in a column posted by Wired.
"It's no secret that the federal government is way behind the private sector when it comes to modernization and technology," they wrote. "Because of these outdated systems, many federal agencies rank staggeringly behind the private sector when it comes to customer service."
Their column noted healthcare.gov and USAJobs.gov were tied for the worst government websites for customer services, according to data collected.
And they said the low scores resulted from a "range of user issues, including the inability to get information, complete transactions, or schedule appointments with ease."
"Luckily, we can change this and bring our federal agencies into the 21st century," the lawmakers wrote.
"When the federal government's purpose is to serve the American people, lawmakers need to find ways to improve the citizen's experience when they interact with their government. As times change, and as citizens' needs transform, it's our job to ensure we evolve the services we provide."
They said one study noted 91 percent of U.S. government websites failed to perform in at least one of the following categories: mobile friendliness, security, page-load speed, and accessibility.
"As lawmakers, we know that making progress on our constituents' behalf is our main mission – that's why we're taking a new approach through the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA)," the lawmakers wrote.
"Our bipartisan legislation requires federal agencies to make changes that will bring our government into the 21st century by mandating improvements to the government's digital efforts and setting concrete deadlines for those changes to be made."
And they concluded: "Government is supposed to work for the American people, and we owe it to them to do a better job."
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