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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release January 19, 1996

                  VICE PRESIDENT UNVEILS NEW WHITE HOUSE 
                        INTERNET SERVICE FOR KIDS

            Says Effort Underway to Connect California Schools
                         to the Worldwide Internet

SAN CARLOS, CA -- Reinforcing the Administration's commitment to providing America's school children with state-of-the-art learning tools, Vice President Al Gore today (1/19) unveiled a new White House service on the Internet World Wide Web geared specifically to elementary school students.

"In order for us to ensure that all our children have their shot at the American dream, we need to empower them with the technological literacy they'll need to succeed in a new and ever-changing information economy," said Vice President Gore, who met with students, parents and teachers at Arundel Elementary School in San Carlos, California. "As part of the federal government's effort to help meet this challenge, I am announcing today the first-of-its-kind online site for children who want to learn about the federal government."

Welcome to the White House for Kids, a new World Wide Web site on the Internet for elementary school children, allows students to quickly and easily access information about the federal government including the history of the White House and other children and pets who have lived there. It also provides a section where children can learn about basic economic issues such as the deficit and banking.

"Welcome to the White House for Kids is a great way to explore the Internet, expand learning and provide feedback directly to elected representatives," said Vice President Gore as he demonstrated the new site with several Arundel students. "We need to make sure that all schools in California have the technological capability to access this type of information by connecting them to the Internet and to each other."

Arundel is one of two schools already connected to the Internet information superhighway as part of a private-sector initiative announced by President Clinton and Vice President Gore in September. That initiative calls for connecting one-fifth of California's schools to the Internet and to each other by the end of this school year. On March 9, the state will kick off NetDay96, a volunteer effort by California companies, schools, parents, engineers and students to connect other schools to the network. Vice President Gore has called on all Californians to help make the goal of connecting the state's classrooms to the information superhighway a reality.

White House for Kids is reached through the main Welcome to the White House World Wide Web site at www.whitehouse.gov. Children who click on the White House for Kids icon will be greeted by Socks, the First Family's cat. Socks can lead children on a virtual tour of the White House, how it was built, and the children and pets who have lived at the White House. Children are encouraged to send electronic mail to the President, Vice President, and First Lady directly from White House for Kids.

ATTACHMENTS:

Backgrounder 1: Welcome to the White House Backgrounder 2: Welcome to the White House for Kids

Welcome to the White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov

Since the Vice President unveiled Welcome to the White House: An Interactive Citizens' Handbook in October 1994, the service has logged five million electronic visitors. Some 200,000 have signed the electronic guestbook for the White House, and the service is one of the most popular World Wide Web sites on the Internet. Welcome to the White House has been updated with the first major modifications since the service was created. It provides better and more complete information on the White House and federal agencies, and makes the information easier to find and to access.

Welcome to the White House now includes:

Information about government agencies that is easier to find and more complete: Working with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Welcome to the White House now provides access to the best search facility for government information on the Internet. Users can enter a plain language question and be directed to where information on that subject is available on all of the government sites on the World Wide Web. This index is more comprehensive and faster than other online indices for searching government information.
Information about the White House that is easier to find and more complete: The new service includes a powerful new search facility for finding any document released by the White House since the start of the Clinton Administration, ranging from key Administration documents to all Executive Orders. The service retains its links to all other government sites, but now also includes theme pages that highlight useful government information in such areas as education and training, travel and tourism, health, housing, employment, etc.
Extensive use of audio and photographs: Users can search for and listen to audio files that archive the President's weekly Saturday radio addresses. They can find and listen to the section of the speech about which they are most interested, and view selections from an extensive collection of photographs.
More material on the history of the White House: The new service includes biographies of each President and First Lady, and an extensive tour of the White House including samples of the White House art collection.
A special site for children: Welcome to the White House for Kids is a first-of-its-kind online site for children who want to learn about their federal government. The page is hosted by the First Family's cat, Socks, and includes information on the history and architecture of the White House, and children and pets who have lived there.

Welcome to the White House for Kids
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/kids/html/home.html

Welcome to the White House for Kids is a new service of the expanded Welcome to the White House Web site. It was unveiled for the first time on January 19, 1996 by Vice President Al Gore in a visit with students, parents, and teachers at Arundel Elementary School in San Carlos, California.

Welcome to the White House for Kids is part of President Clinton and Vice President Gore's commitment to providing America's schoolchildren with a world-class education for the 21st century. Geared especially to elementary schoolchildren, it allows students to quickly and easily access information about the federal government with state-of-the-art technology.
The tour guide for Welcome to the White House for Kids is Socks, the First Family's cat. Socks takes children through a menu of information about the federal government including the history of the White House and other children and pets who have lived there.
Children can access Welcome to the White House directly by pointing their Web browsers to http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/kids/html/home.html. Older students can also use the service to access other Welcome to the White House menus, including information on the budget, taxes, and the deficit, as well as White House speeches, news releases, and public documents.
Children using Welcome to the White House for Kids can start with a virtual tour of the rooms of the White House from a kid's eye perspective, including why the White House was built on Pennsylvania Avenue and how it was built. They also can read a brief history of each of the major rooms at the White House.
Socks introduces children using Welcome to the White House for Kids to some of the children who have lived in the White House through its history, beginning with Tad Lincoln, and also highlights other First Pets that have lived in the White House.
An electronic newsletter suitable for grades four and up is also available through Welcome to the White House for Kids. It's called Inside the White House.
From Welcome to the White House for Kids, children can send electronic mail to the President, Vice President, and the First Lady.
The Welcome to the White House site, of which Welcome to the White House for Kids is a part, has been in operation since October 1994. It has hosted more than five million electronic visits since then, and 200,000 visitors have signed the electronic guestbook.

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