USAGov's mission and history

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<aside class="usa-layout-docs__sidenav desktop:grid-col-4 layout-sidebar-first"> <div id="block-usagov-leftmenusidebarblock" class="settings-tray-editable block block-usagov-menus block-usagov-sidebarfirst-block" data-drupal-settingstray="editable"> <nav aria-label="Secondary"> <ul class="usa-sidenav"> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/about" class="active-trail"> About USAGov </a> <ul class="usa-sidenav__sublist"> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <div class="active-trail usa-current"> <p class="usa-sr-only">current page</p> USAGov's mission and history </div> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/products-programs"> Products and programs </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/partner-with-usagov"> Partner with USAGov </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/website-policies-and-notices"> Website policies and notices </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/website-analytics/"> USAGov website data </a> </li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"> <a href="/contact-us"> Contact us </a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </aside> <div class="usa-layout-docs__main usa-prose desktop:grid-col-8"> <h1 class="text-red-50" id="skip-to-h1"> <span>USAGov's mission and history</span> </h1> <div id="block-usagov-content" class="block block-system block-system-main-block"> <div class="content-wrapper"> <div class="usa-prose"> <p class="usa-intro"> Learn about the USAGov program and the U.S. government's official website, USA.gov. </p> </div> <div class="usa-prose body-copy"><p>USA.gov is the official website of the U.S. government. The bilingual, interagency site is managed by USAGov, a program within the <a href="https://tts.gsa.gov/">U.S. General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services</a>.</p><p>The USA.gov website is legislatively mandated through Section 204 of the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-107publ347/pdf/PLAW-107publ347.pdf">E-Government Act of 2002 [PDF, 316KB]</a>.</p><h2>USAGov's mission</h2><p>The mission of the USAGov program is to make it easier for people to find and understand the government services and information they need—anytime, anywhere, any way they want.</p><p>In addition to USA.gov, the USAGov program serves people through:</p><ul><li><a href="/es/">USAGov en Español</a>, USA.gov's Spanish-language counterpart</li><li>The <a href="/contact-center">USAGov Contact Center</a>, answering questions in English and Spanish about government services by phone or web chat</li><li>USAGov Outreach, connecting with people in English and Spanish through social media, feature stories, and <a href="https://blog.usa.gov/">a blog</a></li></ul><h2>USAGov history</h2><p>The USAGov program has existed under various names for over 50 years, dating back to the Federal Information Center call centers in the 1960s and the Consumer Information Center, distributing government consumer booklets from Pueblo, Colorado beginning in the early 1970s. <a href="https://blog.usa.gov/usagov-always-evolving-always-connecting-people-with-their-government">Read a blog post about how USAGov has been helping people</a> through decades of cultural and technological change. </p><h2>The history of the USA.gov website</h2><p>Many people and organizations had a hand in creating this comprehensive portal to government.</p><p>USA.gov got its start when internet entrepreneur Eric Brewer offered to donate a powerful search engine to the U.S. government in 1999. That gift helped speed up the government's earlier work to create a government-wide portal. And in 2000, USA.gov went live under the name FirstGov.gov.</p><p>The General Services Administration and 22 federal agencies funded the initiative in 2001 and 2002. Since 2002, USA.gov has received an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress.</p><p><a href="/es/">USAGov en Español</a> was launched in October 2003 as FirstGov.gov en Español in response to <a href="https://www.lep.gov/executive-order-13166">Executive Order 13166, “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency.”</a></p><p>In January 2007, FirstGov.gov officially changed its name to USA.gov. 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