[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 113 (Monday, July 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9015-S9016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NETDAY EAST

  Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I rise today to speak briefly about an 
exciting new project called NetDay East, which is mobilizing volunteers 
in several States, including the Commonwealth of Virginia, to wire our 
public schools for the Internet. It is exciting, Mr. President, because 
of how the Internet has transformed the way people communicate and 
expanded access to information worldwide.
  Our challenge now is to bring this technology into all of our 
Nation's schools as quickly as possible so that all students, 
regardless of their economic status or where they live, have access to 
the same global library of knowledge and information to compete on a 
level playing field.
  The biggest barrier has been the lack of money and manpower needed to 
physically wire the schools to the Internet. Laying the necessary cable 
to link our K-12 classrooms is estimated to cost billions of dollars 
nationwide.
  But a project in California has showed us that we can overcome this 
obstacle if we mobilize our communities and work together. In 1 day, 
California wired 3,500 schools at little or no cost to the schools 
themselves through the outstanding volunteer efforts of parents, 
teachers, students, businesses, and elected officials.
  Because of the vision and commitment reflected in their NetDay, 
hundreds of thousands of young Californians will be able to experience 
a new global world of unlimited possibility with the stroke of a key.
  As one who cares deeply about education and surfs the Internet from 
my Senate office, I am delighted to be a part of NetDay East. Modeled 
after California's project, NetDay East is now organizing to cable 
schools every weekend in October in Virginia, the District of Columbia, 
and Maryland. Similar efforts are taking place in Massachusetts, North 
Carolina, Montana, Connecticut, and Louisiana as well.
  Mr. President, an estimated 40 million people from more than 150 
countries use the information superhighway. They include Kathleen 
Butzler at Northampton Middle School who can lead her seventh grade 
class on a virtual tour of the White House or talk to a Member of 
Congress without leaving their home in Mochipongo on Virginia's Eastern 
Shore.
  We shouldn't forget that the Internet is a two-way communications 
tour. Through NetDay East, thousands of Virginia students will be able 
to create Web pages, like those at the Northampton Middle School, to 
teach the rest of the world about the treasures of our beautiful and 
diverse State.
  This technology is fascinating and could very well be the spark to 
ignite the imagination in children who would otherwise be disinterested 
in school work. Capturing the interest and imagination of our students 
through this technology can yield enormous future benefits, for 
students with access will have a distinct advantage over those who do 
not. We cannot afford to let our schools slip behind those of our 
international competitors when the technology, technology that we 
created, is literally right at our fingertips.
  There are many ways to participate in NetDay, Mr. President. 
Businesses can contribute in a variety of ways, including partnering 
with local schools, purchasing wiring kits, lending technical staff, 
and encouraging their employees to volunteer.

  Individuals can help pull wire in schools, since installing this type 
of cable requires a great deal of labor but very little technical 
expertise.
  Schools can register to be a part of this project and encourage their 
parents to volunteer and promote NetDay. This October on a Saturday, my 
staff and I plan to help cable A.P. Hill Elementary School in 
Petersburg, VA, as a part of NetDay East. We will also be doing a 
demonstration project in Northern Virginia right after school starts in 
September.
  There is no question, Mr. President, that when we wire schools for 
the Internet this October, we will complete just the first step in a 
much greater effort to help young Virginians and young Americans in 
other States travel the information superhighway.
  It is a first step, but it is certainly an essential one. There will 
be much to do to finish the job, including arranging for Internet 
connections, training students and teachers in the effective uses of 
the Internet and helping to acquire computer donations to the schools. 
I hope NetDay forms an important and productive alliance between our 
communities and our schools that can continue well beyond October.
  Finally, I fully endorse NetDay East, and I encourage others to join 
us during the month of October to participate in this modern-day barn 
raising.
  If anyone would like to sponsor, volunteer, endorse, sign up their 
school or just find out more information, please visit the NetDay East 
home page at ``www.cgcs.org/netday-east.''
  For anyone who does not have access to the Internet, I invite them to 
contact my office, and we will certainly assist them with registration.
  With the help of many caring and committed individuals, Mr. 
President, we can keep our children off the wayside and ensure they 
move swiftly and surely forward on the information superhighway.
  With that, I thank the Chair, I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page S9016]]



                   TRAGEDY AT THE CENTENNIAL OLYMPICS

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I have just returned from the 
Centennial Olympics in my home city of Atlanta.
  I ask unanimous consent for a brief moment of silence for those who 
died or were wounded in the bombing the other evening.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  [Moment of silence.]
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, we, of course, extend our grief and 
condolences to the family of Alice Hawthorne from Albany, GA, and for 
Melih Uzunyoz, a Turkish national, both of whom lost their lives in a 
terrorist-related bombing that occurred at approximately 1:20 a.m. the 
other morning. Also, we extend our concern and prayers to the 110 
casualties that occurred during the bombing and to the 17 who remain in 
the hospital.
  Mr. President, we all owe a group of law enforcement officers a deep 
debt. The officer who spotted this bomb and his colleagues, in the face 
of grave danger, were heroes, in every sense, of the Centennial 
Olympics. In the face of danger themselves, they remained on site, and 
with every avenue available and open to them they tried to evacuate the 
crowd from the area of danger. I am absolutely convinced that, without 
their diligence and duty, the casualties would have been far, far 
greater. So these officers, these men and women, who tried to evacuate 
the park are due a deep debt of gratitude from all of us.
  Further, the volunteers and officers who stayed, not knowing whether 
there was a series of bombs, to help those wounded receive comfort, 
aid, and assistance so that they might be appropriately hospitalized, 
performed admirably, incredibly in the face of grave danger. To all the 
officers, the men and women, Federal, State, and local, who in the 
following hours did everything within their power to bring order to the 
situation, and who were deluged with what I characterize as thrill-
seekers reporting bombs in other venues, other high-density areas. With 
precision and expertise and valor, they proceeded to secure this great 
world event in our State and in our Nation. So my hat is off to these 
people. Again, the word ``hero'' comes to mind.

  Mr. President, I was first notified of this incident at 3 a.m. in the 
morning. By 6:30 that morning, I had been in touch with the law 
enforcement command center, which I visited to try to take stock of the 
situation. It was a gloomy, dark night, drizzling, and as you might 
imagine, a sense of great concern and pall fell over all of us. As I 
was driving back pondering what it was that all of us were confronted 
with, as I was driving into the city, I looked at the interstate that 
you have to walk over, which many fans have to walk over in order to 
get to the grand Olympic stadium, and there was a vision of valor, 
defiance, courage, and will--the fans. There they were. I could not 
believe it. I looked up and, by the thousands, they were walking onto 
the stadium and throughout the city to the other venues.
  It will, in my judgment, be a mark of heroism, broad heroism, on a 
par with the athletes themselves, because this world community gathered 
up and said, ``No way; we will not be intimidated. We will go on with 
the games.'' Not only did IOC proclaim the games would go on--that is a 
statement--but the key was that the world community said, ``The games 
will go on.'' The families, the children, all alike, everywhere you 
went, were coming out to say that the Centennial Olympics is bigger 
than this heinous act against defenseless and helpless citizens.
  In many ways, I think it will mark a period of great thought for us 
in this country. The Presiding Officer, among others, is very much 
aware that there has been a growing discussion and debate. I think it 
probably ultimately will call for vaster resources, a better capacity 
to deal with this kind of era that we approach as we come to the new 
century. But, for a moment, I had a chance to personally see a broad 
statement of valor by people from nation after nation. I talked about 
it all afternoon. One volunteer had been coming in on the rapid transit 
system that morning, and the car, of course, as you might expect, was 
crammed from side to side with people of every nation--Dutch, German, 
American, and the like--and the fans broke out into song singing as 
they went on to the venues.

  So, again, Mr. President, our grief to the families involved, our 
thanks to those that stood in the face of danger to help, and our 
acknowledgment of a heroism and a worldwide statement that was made in 
Atlanta the very next morning as the centennial games continued.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kempthorne). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, under the previous order, I am to be 
recognized during morning business for a period of 60 minutes.
  I ask unanimous consent that during this period I be permitted to 
yield portions of my time to other Members without losing my right to 
the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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