This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release February 2, 2000

STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT

Today, millions of Americans own computers and have access to the rich resources of the Internet. For many, these Information Age tools are now an important part of their everyday lives. They use them at work, at home, and to help their children with their studies at school.

Unfortunately, there is also strong evidence that there exists a "digital divide" in our country. For while it's true that many more Americans now have access to the tools and resources of the 21st century, it's also true that minorities and low-income households are still far less likely to have personal computers or on-line access to the Internet than white or more affluent households.

With technology increasingly playing such a pivotal role in our society, it is imperative that we ensure that this division does not continue. We must begin this millennium not as a country technologically divided, but instead as one committed to creating digital opportunity for all our citizens.

That's why I have fought to help connect all our classrooms to the Internet and that's why we're taking these new steps today to turn America's digital divide to digital opportunity.

I commend those in the private sector who have already stepped forward -- and those who will to help meet this daunting challenge.

###