[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 36 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Page 1705]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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.