[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 274

     To express the sense of the Senate regarding the outstanding 
                       achievements of NetDay96.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 1996

  Mrs. Feinstein (for herself and Mrs. Boxer) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      To express the sense of the Senate regarding the outstanding 
                       achievements of NetDay96.

Whereas the children of the United States deserve the finest preparation 
        possible to face the demands of this Nation's changing information-based 
        economy;
Whereas on March 9, 1996, California's NetDay96 succeeded in bringing together 
        more than 50,000 volunteers to install the wiring infrastructure 
        necessary to connect classrooms, from kindergarten to the high school 
        level (K-12), to the Information Superhighway and bring them the 
        educational benefits of contemporary technology;
Whereas California's NetDay96 succeeded in wiring 3,500 K-12 schools efficiently 
        and cost-effectively, while establishing and improving classroom 
        information infrastructure;
Whereas NetDay96 organizers created a World Wide Web site (http://
        www.netday96.com/) with an on-line database of all schools, where 
        individuals with a shared interest in upgrading technology in their 
        schools can locate each other and form communities with a lasting 
        interest in their schools;
Whereas NetDay96 stresses educational opportunity for everyone by reaching out 
        to rural and lower income communities to equalize access to current 
        technology;
Whereas the relationships formed on NetDay96 between schools and their 
        communities will last well beyond March 9, 1996, and other states are 
        already planning to organize future NetDay activities, for this October 
        and beyond, that build and expand upon the initial achievements of the 
        NetDay96 activities;
Whereas NetDay96 has substantially increased the visibility of educational 
        technology issues;
Whereas NetDay96 enables schools to move into the information age through 
        community and cyberspace-based action;
Whereas students and schools benefit from significant NetDay96 corporate 
        sponsorship, including MCI, America Online, Netscape, Netcom, Earthlink, 
        who all agreed to provide free Internet access to every K-12 school in 
        California, AT&T, Pacific Bell, Sun Microsystems, and hundreds of other 
        companies, who contributed by sponsoring individual schools, providing 
        wiring kits, and helping to design and test the networks;
Whereas NetDay96 will help facilitate the placement of educational technology, 
        such as computer hardware, software, Internet and technical services, 
        and teaching aids and training material, in the hands of schools through 
        NetDay96 activities nationwide;
Whereas NetDay96 and future NetDay activities across America will save schools 
        and taxpayers millions of dollars in technology startup costs;
Whereas President Clinton and Vice President Gore participated in California's 
        NetDay96 activities and support the expansion of NetDay96 activities 
        throughout the Nation in an effort to increase the level of technology 
        in this Nation's classrooms and to enhance the ability of children to 
        learn; and
Whereas the Administration plans to work with NetDay96 organizers and corporate 
        sponsors including Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, and BellSouth, to 
        organize a national conference to allow States that are planning or 
        considering NetDay96 activities to learn from each others' experience: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the organizers, coordinators, and volunteers of 
        NetDay96 throughout the Nation should be commended for their 
        actions;
            (2) NetDay96's success in California should be used as a 
        positive model in other States throughout the Nation, this year 
        and in future years;
            (3) NetDay96 should be expanded nationwide to assist 
        students, parents, and schools across the country, so that they 
        may obtain the full benefits of computer equipment and 
        networks, strengthen their educations, and begin careers with 
        more skills and opportunities in order to help them compete 
        more successfully in the global economy;
            (4) businesses, students, parents, educators, and unions 
        throughout the country should consider organizing NetDay96 
        activities in their communities to provide similar 
        opportunities for their schools; and
            (5) the Senate affirms its support of NetDay96's commitment 
        to have United States classrooms fitted with the needed 
        technological infrastructure for the 21st century.
                                 <all>