[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 163 (Friday, October 20, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15371-S15372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SENATE AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am privileged to be joined this morning 
by my distinguished colleague and friend, Senator Ford. Senator Ford 
and I have the joint responsibility for the Rules Committee, and we 
come to the floor today to announce the Senate presence on the World 
Wide Web.
  As of this morning, nearly 6 million Americans will have access to 
educational information about the U.S. Senate by way of Internet. We 
envision the Senate Home Page as a tool that can be used by educators 
all across our Nation in helping with their teachings of the 
constitutional and historical role of this institution, and its place 
in American Government and its underlying responsibilities within our 
society.
  The U.S. Senate World Wide Web Server provides information from and 
about the Members of the Senate, the Senate committees, and Senate 
leadership. This evolving service also provides general background 
information about U.S. Senate legislative procedures, the Senate 
facilities in this Capitol Building, and the history of this 
institution. It also includes a visual tour of the Capitol for those of 
our constituents who may be unable to visit in person, and particularly 
for those who can visit it. It includes many suggestions on how to plan 
their visits to the U.S. Capitol Building.
  The Capitol Building also has, as we all know, a permanent art 
collection of great renown and of great historical significance. That 
too is treated in this Internet.
  I want to thank Senator Stevens and my colleague, Senator Ford, and 
other members of the Rules Committee who began this effort early this 
year. We have a very valued staff, and this effort has been led by John 
McConnell and Paul Steele, and most recently by the acting staff 
director, Grayson Winterling.
  Special thanks to additional staff persons with technical ability in 
the Sergeant at Arms, Tom Meenan, Chris Lee, Charlie Kirsch, Alex 
Hobson, Jenny Yu, Roger Myers, Jim Judy, and Sara Oursler along with 
Cherie Allen of the Secretary of the Senate's office, for developing 
this technical achievement.
  Additional thanks to many of those Senators and their high-technology 


[[Page S15372]]
staff members who were early adopters of this emerging technology, and 
who indeed gave us the impetus to move forward to this day.
  Further, Mr. President, I would emphasize that this is but one step 
under the current leadership of the Rules Committee, myself and Mr. 
Ford. We hope to enrich and further expand the Senate Internet presence 
in the coming months with additional information about the Senate, and 
its Members.
  Further, Mr. President, some of the additional services that we hope 
to add will be a calendar of events in the Capitol and the Senate, 
video and voice excerpts of Senate proceedings, and expanded home page 
percentages.
  I yield the floor to my distinguished colleague.
  Mr. FORD addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. Ford] is 
recognized.
  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with Senator Warner, 
our new chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, in announcing that as 
of this morning, the Senate is now online on the World Wide Web.
  The Senate Rules Committee first authorized a Senate presence on the 
Internet in September, 1993, with the creation of the Senate FTP Gopher 
Server. In November of that year, the Rules Committee established 
policies and procedures for Senate participation on the Internet. In 
the short 2 years since that time, Internet technology has leaped 
forward producing the significantly improved graphics capability of the 
World Wide Web. The Web provides the Senate an improved opportunity to 
provide educational information to the public and I am pleased that we 
are able to announce this step forward today.
  The U.S. Senate World Wide Web Server is produced under the auspices 
of the Secretary of the Senate's office with technical advice and input 
from the Sergeant at Arms' Office and the Rules Committee technical 
staff. The Senate Server will provide the public with general 
information on the Senate and how it works. The Senate Home Page will 
provide a direct link to Member's home pages located on the Server and 
will allow the public to surf such useful information as visual tours 
of the Capitol, committee membership and jurisdiction, a glossary of 
frequently used legislative terms, and the history of the Senate.
  While we all recognize the somewhat limited reach of the Web today, 
with an estimated 6 million users nationally, the potential--and I 
emphasize ``potential''--for this technology to eventually reach every 
school child, office place, and even private home, is obvious. The 
Senate needs to move into the 21st century and our presence on the Web 
ensures that the Senate will not be left behind as this technology 
explodes.
  The Rules Committee will continue to monitor the development of the 
Web with an eye to ensuring that as technology moves forward, the 
Senate keeps pace with policies and procedures that ensure access to 
improving technology on a fiscally sound basis. I congratulate our 
chairman, Senator Warner, on moving forward with this initiative and 
encourage my colleagues to take advantage of this important 
communications tool.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague. I say 
to Members of the Senate, Senator Ford and I have worked together on 
many things for now some 17 years and he is a tough, fair working 
partner, I tell you that.
  Mr. FORD. Leave the ``tough'' out.
  Mr. WARNER. All right. He is a man who takes very conscientiously the 
duties of the Rules Committee and has for many years. It is a pleasure 
to work with him.

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