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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release January 13, 1994

                    The CompuServe Information Service
         Transcript of Vice President Al Gore in Convention Center
                         Jan. 13, 1994  5:30p.m. ET

% The Vice President Gore/Jan. conference is beginning

Your moderator is Bill Allman/US NEWS (10)

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

Welcome to the live "electronic town meeting" with Vice President Al Gore, hosted by U.S.News Online and CompuServe. I am William F. Allman, a Senior Writer at U.S. News & World Report, and I will be the moderator this afternoon.

Vice President Gore will join us online from his office in the West Wing of the White House in a few minutes; in the meantime, I'd like to make some suggestions as to how to make this historic first appearance of a Vice President in a live, online conference go smoothly. If you would like to ask a question once the conference is underway, please type a slash followed by the word "question" [/question], which will put you in the question queue. When you get the message that it is your turn to ask a question, please begin by telling us where you are from. It is not necessary to state your name, as this appears automatically. You should keep your question as short as possible -- only a sentence or so. It also helps to type your question as a series of very short lines -- about 65 characters long -- followed by carriage returns. This helps others follow along as you type, as well as presenting a readable text. If your question goes on too long, I may have to move on to the next question. For technical reasons, those of you who have entered into GORE2 or GORE3 will not be able to ask questions.

Vice President Gore will be typing his own responses from his office in the White House, and should be online shortly. This conference is also being broadcast live on C-SPAN cable television. Greetings from the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, for a live, electronic town meeting with Vice President Al Gore, hosted by U.S. News & World Report and CompuServe. Just as President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared in one of the world's first television broadcasts at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, it is only fitting that Mr. Gore, one of the key proponents of the coming information superhighway, should be making history by being the first U.S. Vice President to participate in a live, interactive conference on a prototype of thatinformation revolution. I am William F. Allman, a Senior Writer at U.S. News & World Report, a sysop for U.S.News Online, and the moderator this afternoon. I'd like to remind everyone to keep their questions to only a sentence or so, type in short lines (less than 65 characters wide), and to please start your question by telling us where you are from. Vice President Gore will be typing his responses on his computer from his office in the White House. Welcome, Mr. Vice President.

(#11,Vice President Gore)

Welcome to the White House. Let's get started.

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

I'd like to start things off with a question that was submitted in advance to the U.S. News Online Forum, about the

% Moderator recognizes question #1
Dion Douglas (46)

(#46,Dion Douglas)

Mr VP... I am from Hammond IN What are your views on These "Virtual Communities....and Are you currently involved in iany networks?

(#11,Vice President Gore)

I think they are terrific. I do a lot of my work on a virtual community

(#46,Dion Douglas)

Thank you....and I am currently watching you on C-span... :)

(#140,Vice President Gore)

I'm back. Sorry. Anyway, we have a kind of "virtual community" here in the White House that gets a lot of work done but we have not yet established the myriad links outside that we hope to soon.

% Moderator recognizes question #2
Aaron Dickey [HelpF (60)

(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF)

Mr. Vice-President... Huntington, WV here I'm a 23-year-old student... Myself, and most of my friends, are finding ourselves ing more and more time spending excuse me in front our computers thanin the "real world". Are you at all worried that eventually we ALL may end up spending too much time iba*iuXE>ytoo (line snoise sorry) on the Net, and not enough time in face-to-face conversations/socialization?

(#140,Vice President Gore)

Yes. But it's better than the same amount of time

(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF)

(line noise was my father picking up an extension, Mr. VP, sorry <grin>)

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Sorry. in front of a non-interactive

(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF)

No sir, it was my father, not your fault.

(#196,Vice President Gore)

screen. Plus... soon, the nature of the be enriched with full- motion video and much faster links...which I predict will lead to a renewed appetite for REAL communities.

(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF)

(Member? I'm a sysop, Bill. <grin>.) Those are...very good points, Mr. Vice-President...thank

% Moderator recognizes question #3
jacquelyn a close (29)

(#29,jacquelyn a close)

Hello from Jackson, Mo Would you establish a single-source repository for all environmental data dna lab analyses and make that information accessible through the envisioned information super highway?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Great idea. A great deal of that information is already accesible, but a single-source is worth exploring. I will raise the idea in our weekly environment idea group here in the White House.

% Moderator recognizes question #4
Ricardo Bunge (34)

(#34,Ricardo Bunge)

Ricardo Bunge from Mobile, AL Good afternoon, Mr. Vice President, and than you for this historic opportunity Where (in society) do you see the Information Super Highway having the greatest impact? Business, science, etc?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Schools. Classrooms. At-home learning.

% Moderator recognizes question #5
Larry H. Lewis (65)

(#65,Larry H. Lewis)

Mr Vice-President..........:-) Alta Loma , Ca I'm handicapped & spend a lot of time on the net Do you envision home computer jobs & how will that effect the economy?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Yes. In fact you may be interested in knowing that the sysop of the White House Forum, Georgia Griffith, is deaf and blind. There will be MANY opportunities

(#65,Larry H. Lewis)

Thank you

(#196,Vice President Gore)

for the disabled to use their minds productively on networks. In my home state of Tennessee, in Jackson, there is a wonderful place called the Star Center -- and there are others elsewhere -- that finds ways to link a person's mind to new ways of communicating, no matter what their disability. In fact, they don't even ask what the disability is. They only ask, "What works?"

(#65,Larry H. Lewis)

I'm looking forward to that Mr. VP <BG>

% Moderator recognizes question #6
glen Falkenstein (102)

(#102,glen Falkenstein)

What do you think is goiong to end the problem in bosnia?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

We (the US) have believed for some time that the Bosnian government forces should not be subject to the internation embargo on the arms they need to even the odds. And we have proposed airstrikes to prevent the agressors form taking advantage of the situation while the arms are delivered. But our allies, whose votes we need in the Security Council, don't agree. We will continue to work for peace, though, in other ways -- including maintenance of the toughest sanctions against Serbia in history. And the biggest airlift of humanitarian supplies since the Berlin airlift. And if a real agreement can be reached, we will help enforce it.

% Moderator recognizes question #7
Sara Arnold (79)

(#79,Sara Arnold)

I'm from Burlington, Ma... I'm a special needs teenager... My town gives my parents... a hard time... for funding at a... theraputic school... Can the government help kids like me?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Yes. By enforcing laws against discrmination. And we will do that. Let us know if we can get involved.

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

This question was submitted to the U.S.News Online Forum: "Mr. Vice President: Do you see the NII evolving toward a global II so that Europe could be also hooked to the superhighway? My name is George Nahon and I live in Paris,

(#79,Sara Arnold)

Thnkyou, sir.

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

France. Merci. Bonne chance!"

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Yes, at least to an extent. In fact, many nations are already hooked up to the internet. And the demand for higher capacity links on an international basis is of course growing very rapidly.

% Moderator recognizes question #8
David Rogers (26)

(#26,David Rogers)

Mr. Vice President... Hello from a Houston, Texas student... What effect will the information highway... have on our health care system... in our future?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

It will make it possible to conduct remote and to link patients to the right specialist regardless of geographic location... And by making the transfer of large volumes of financial information much cheaper, it will save money. In addition it will make possible a MUCH larger role for patients in diagnosing their own problems and finding the help they need much more easily... Of course, we have to add a little for extra eyestrain treatments in a few cases.

% Moderator recognizes question #9
Scott Dart (30)

(#30,Scott Dart)

Hello from Valley Forge, PA. For those of us on the "sidelines" watching the emergence of the "information highway", can you tell us what we can do participate in the construction? Specifically, and tangibly?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

If you patronize the excellent services now beginning to be available, you will add your demand to the growing national demand that is inexorably pulling the NII toward early completion. Also, contact you member of Congress and your kSenators and urge them to support the administration's bill that I unveiled in L.A.

% Moderator recognizes question #10
Ben Huntoon (37)

(#37,Ben Huntoon)

Hello from Reynoldsburg, Home of the tomato! How will the Fedreral Government see to the fair and equal implementation of Internet technology among wealthy and poor school districts?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

two days ago. President Clinton and I \ are challenging all of the companies that do business in these industries to make a commitment to link up and provide free access to every classroom in their service areas. And some of them now pledging to do just that. I think we will have every classrom in the country -- and every library -- on line in the NII by the start of the year 2000.

(#37,Ben Huntoon)

Thank you

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

We're about out of time, Mr.Vice President Would you like to make a closing statement?

(#196,Vice President Gore)

Thanks. I loved it. I'm just sorry that it is impossible to answer everyone. Let's do it again sometime soon.

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS)

Thank you everyone. Our time is up. Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for participating in this historic event, and thank all of you in our virtual electronic community. A transcript of this conference will be available tomorrow in the ON THE RECORD library section of the U.S.News Online Forum. I invite all of you to join in a post-conference discussion which will begin immediately in the U.S.News Online Forum conference room (GO USNFORUM)

(#37,Ben Huntoon)

exit

% The conference has ended
Thank you for attending