[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[September 8, 1999]
[Pages 1501-1502]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Satellite Remarks Launching the NetAid Website
September 8, 1999

    Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. I am 
delighted to share this historic moment with you, with President 
Mandela, with Prime Minister Blair, and all our friends supporting NetAid.
    The launching of this website represents a truly important new front 
in the struggle against poverty. Information technology has been vital 
to the prosperity achieved by many nations this decade, including ours. 
The people of the world have never communicated better or more easily, 
and that has spurned countless new ideas and opportunities.
    But it's also a fact that this prosperity has been very uneven 
within and among countries. The democratic promise of the Internet, 
therefore, is not yet fulfilled, because vast populations

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around the world still have no access to computers at all. Through 
USAID, the United States Government has pledged millions of dollars to 
build Internet access in other countries, especially in Africa. But the 
gulf between the haves and the have-nots is growing much too quickly.
    Today we build a bridge across that gulf. NetAid is the creation of 
a remarkable partnership combining the international reach of the United 
Nations development program and the powerful resources of the private 
sector.
    I want to thank Cisco Systems' John Chambers as well as the other technology companies. Thanks to them, 
one of the largest websites ever built has been created to spread 
information about extreme poverty and to help concerned citizens do 
something about it. The site will be available around the world, 
including places where Internet access has been limited, so that a 
farmer in Africa can find out more about fighting drought; a woman 
hoping to start a business in Bangladesh can find investors from other 
countries; a school in Indiana can raise money for a school in 
Indonesia.
    I commend all the sponsors of NetAid for their generosity and 
vision. And like millions of people, I'm looking forward to the 
simultaneous concerts on October 9th.
    Some people say the rise of the Internet will inevitably bring the 
world together; some say it will inevitably widen the gap between rich 
and poor nations. But nothing is inevitable. We have a choice about the 
future we will build. NetAid sends a powerful signal that we intend to 
make the Internet an instrument for bettering all our lives, not just 
those wealthy enough to afford a computer. The millennium should be a 
time for joining and common purpose. Today we do just that. NetAid will 
make our global village more responsible and a lot more global.
    Now, it is my honor to be the first person from North America to log 
on to the site. And thank you very much.
    Back to you, Mr. Secretary-General.

Note: The President spoke by satellite at 12:20 p.m. from Room 459 in 
the Old Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to U.N. 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan; former President Nelson Mandela of South 
Africa; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; and John T. 
Chambers, president and chief executive officer, Cisco Systems, Inc. A 
tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.