[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[December 17, 1999]
[Pages 2317-2318]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2317]]


Memorandum on Electronic Government
December 17, 1999

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

Subject: Electronic Government

    My Administration has put a wealth of information online. However, 
when it comes to most Federal services, it can still take a paper form 
and weeks of processing for something as simple as a change of address.
    While Government agencies have created ``one-stop-shopping'' access 
to information on their agency web sites, these efforts have not 
uniformally been as helpful as they could be to the average citizen, who 
first has to know which agency provides the service he or she needs. 
There has not been sufficient effort to provide Government information 
by category of information and service--rather than by agency--in a way 
that meets people's needs.
    Moreover, as public awareness and Internet usage increase, the 
demand for online Government interaction and simplified, standardized 
ways to access Government information and services becomes increasingly 
important. At the same time, the public must have confidence that their 
online communications with the Government are secure and their privacy 
protected.
    Therefore, to help our citizens gain one-stop access to existing 
Government information and services, and to provide better, more 
efficient, Government services and increased Government accountability 
to its citizens, I hereby direct the officials in this memorandum, in 
conjunction with the private sector as appropriate, to take the 
following actions:
        1.  The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with 
            the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, the 
            Chief Information Officers' Council, the Government 
            Information Technology Services Board, and other appropriate 
            agencies shall promote access to Government information 
            organized not by agency, but by the type of service or 
            information that people may be seeking; the data should be 
            identified and organized in a way that makes it easier for 
            the public to find the information it seeks.
        2.  The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) 
            shall, to the maximum extent possible, make available 
            online, by December 2000, the forms needed for the top 500 
            Government services used by the public. Under the Government 
            Paperwork Elimination Act, where appropriate, by October 
            2003, transactions with the Federal Government should be 
            available online for online processing of services. To 
            achieve this goal, the Director of the Office of Management 
            and Budget shall oversee agency development of responsible 
            strategies to make transactions available online.
        3.  The heads of agencies shall promote the use of electronic 
            commerce, where appropriate, for faster, cheaper ordering on 
            Federal procurements that will result in savings to the 
            taxpayer.
        4.  The heads of agencies shall continue to build good privacy 
            practices into their web sites by posting privacy policies 
            as directed by the Director of the Office of Management and 
            Budget and by adopting and implementing information policies 
            to protect children's information on web sites that are 
            directed at children.
        5.  The head of each agency shall permit greater access to its 
            officials by creating a public electronic mail address 
            through which citizens can contact the agency with 
            questions, comments, or concerns. The heads of each agency 
            shall also provide disability access on Federal web sites.
        6.  The Director of the National Science Foundation, working 
            with appropriate Federal agencies, shall conduct a 1-year 
            study examining the feasibility of online voting.
        7.  The Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, 
            Veterans Affairs, and Agriculture, the Commissioner of 
            Social Security, and the Director of the Federal Emergency 
            Management Agency, working closely with other Federal 
            agencies that provide benefit assistance to citizens, shall

[[Page 2318]]

            make a broad range of benefits and services available 
            through private and secure electronic use of the Internet.
        8.  The Administrator of General Services, in coordination with 
            the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, 
            the Government Information Technology Services Board, the 
            National Partnership for Reinventing Government, and other 
            appropriate agencies and organizations, shall assist 
            agencies in the development of private, secure, and 
            effective communications across agencies and with the 
            public, through the use of public key technology. In light 
            of this goal, agencies are encouraged to issue, in 
            coordination with the General Services Administration, a 
            Government-wide minimum of 100,000 digital signature 
            certificates by December 2000.
        9.  The heads of agencies shall develop a strategy for upgrading 
            their respective agency's capacity for using the Internet to 
            become more open, efficient, and responsive, and to more 
            effectively carry out the agency's mission. At a minimum, 
            this strategy should involve:
            (a) expanded training of Federal employees, including 
            employees with policy and senior management responsibility;
            (b) identification and adoption of ``best practices'' 
            implemented by leading public and private sector 
            organizations;
            (c) recognition for Federal employees who suggest new and 
            innovative agency applications of the Internet;
            (d) partnerships with the research community for 
            experimentation with advanced applications; and
            (e) mechanisms for collecting input from the agency's 
            stakeholders regarding agency use of the Internet.
       10.  Items 1-8 of this memorandum and my July 1, 1997, and 
            November 30, 1998, memoranda shall be conducted subject to 
            the availability of appropriations and consistent with 
            agencies' priorities and my budget, and to the extent 
            permitted by law.
       11.  The Vice President shall continue his leadership in 
            coordinating the United States Government's electronic 
            commerce strategy. Further, I direct that the heads of 
            executive departments and agencies report to the Vice 
            President and to me on their progress in meeting the terms 
            of this memorandum, through the Electronic Commerce Working 
            Group in its annual report.

                                                      William J. Clinton