THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                           (Istanbul, Turkey)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  November 17, 1999

                       STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

     Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced that the

"e-rate" will help connect over one million classrooms to the Internet. This is a giant step toward the goal that Vice President Gore and I set to connect every classroom and library to the Internet by the year 2000.

Children all over the United States are now able to log on to the Library of Congress, get online mentoring from a scientist halfway around the world, and acquire the skills they need to succeed in the high-tech economy of the 21st century, because of the e-rate. Parents also benefit by now being able to communicate more frequently with teachers, and follow the academic performance of their children. Combined with investments that my Administration is making in multimedia computers, teacher training, and high-quality educational software, the e-rate is putting the future at the fingertips of our children. It is also helping to bridge the "digital divide" by providing the deepest discounts to the poorest schools and libraries that need it most.

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