[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
[Pages 552-553]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

April 19, 1997

    The President. Good morning. Vice President Gore and I are here in 
the Oval Office on the second national NetDay, when citizens and 
communities all across America come together to help us meet the goal of 
connecting every classroom and library in the United States to the 
Internet by the year 2000. With us today are three AmeriCorps members, 
two local high school students, and two Communication Workers of America 
volunteers, all of whom are contributing to this effort.

[[Page 553]]

    NetDay is a great example of how America works best when we all work 
together. It's like an old-fashioned barnraising, neighbor joins with 
neighbor to do something for the good of the entire community; students, 
teachers, parents, community groups, government, business, unions, all 
pulling together to pull cable, hook up our schools, and put the future 
at the fingertips of all our young people.
    Once we reach our goal of linking our schools to the Internet, for 
the first time in history, children in the most isolated rural schools, 
the most comfortable suburbs, the poorest inner-city schools, all of 
them will have the same access to the same universe of knowledge. That 
means a boy in Lake Charles, Louisiana can visit a museum halfway around 
the world, a girl in Juneau, Alaska can visit the Library of Congress 
on-line.
    Since the first NetDay just over a year ago, nearly a quarter 
million volunteers have wired 50,000 classrooms around our country. 
Today NetDay activities are occurring in more than 40 States. In a few 
minutes, Vice President Gore and I will have a chance to use a new video 
and computer technology set up for the first time right in the Oval 
Office to meet with volunteers in south central Los Angeles and children 
in Hartford, Connecticut. I want to thank them and all the NetDay 
volunteers for their service to our country.
    We have to do everything we can to make technology literacy a 
reality for every child in America. That's why I asked the Federal 
Communications Commission to give our schools and libraries a discount, 
a special ``E-rate,'' or education rate, to help them connect classrooms 
to the Internet and to stay on-line. On May 6th, the FCC will vote on a 
plan to provide more than $2 billion in yearly E-rate discounts for 
schools and libraries. This can make all the difference for communities 
struggling to make sure their students are ready for the 21st century. 
So today, again, I call on the FCC to approve this plan and give our 
children access to this new world of knowledge.
    Now, more than ever, we can't afford for our children to be priced 
out of cyberspace. But connecting young people to the Internet is not 
enough. We have to make sure that when they log on they have access to 
the information that will prepare them for the world of the future. And 
Government has a vital role to play in all this. For instance, NASA lets 
students talk to astronauts on the Internet. And Vice President Gore's 
GLOBE project gives tomorrow's environmental scientists a chance to 
interact with the scientists of today. Today I am directing every 
department and agency in our National Government to develop educational 
Internet services targeted to our young people. With this action, we are 
one step closer to giving young people the tools they need to be the 
best they can be in the 21st century.
    We owe much of our progress thus far to the efforts of the Vice 
President. He has led our national campaign for technology literacy, and 
I'd like him to say a few words now.
    Mr. Vice President.

[At this point, the Vice President made brief remarks.]

    The President. Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
    Both of us encourage all of you to visit the White House home page. 
And once again, let me thank all the NetDay volunteers. We are going to 
meet our goal. We're going to get every classroom and every library in 
this country hooked up by the year 2000.
    Have a great day, and thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.