It was just a matter of time. After successfully extorting some of what it wants from the tobacco and gun industries, the Gorton Administration has begun applying the same "persuasion" to the computer and telecom industries.
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"First they came for the Jews, and because I was not a Jew, I didn't speak up. Next they came for the Communists, and because I was not a Communist, I didn't speak up. Then they came for the trade unionists, and because I wasn't a trade unionist, I didn't speak up. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up." -- German priest taken to Auschwitz by the Nazis
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EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - Pushing to bring high-tech benefits to places missing out on America's prosperity, President Clinton won more than $100 million in pledges from the computer industry Monday. He also promised $1-a-month telephone service to 300,000 American Indian households.
"No one has to be bypassed this time around," the president said. "The choice is in our hands.'
Clinton said, "This is one of those fortunate times when by doing the thing that is morally right, we actually help to keep America's economic expansion churning forward."
On a chilly, rain-threatening morning, the president came to East Palo Alto, a pocket of poverty in technology-rich Silicon Valley, to dramatize the "digital divide" of inequality between computer haves and have-nots.
More than 24 percent of youngsters in East Palo Alto live in poverty and over 80 percent are eligible for the free-lunch program. Schools have just one computer for every 28 students.
Later, Clinton was heading to a Navajo reservation in northwest New Mexico.
American Indians rank far below the national average in their access to telephones, computers and the Internet. In the Navajo Nation, only 22.5 percent of households have home telephone service compared with to the national average of 94 percent. The Navajo high school dropout rate averages 20 percent for 9th graders, and only one-quarter of adult Navajos have graduated from high school.
Clinton was announcing a plan to provide basic telephone service to American Indians for $1 a month. That would be financed by raising universal service assessments on interstate and international carriers by 0.4 percent.
Gene Sperling, head of the president's National Economic Council, said long-distance users would pay about a penny a month more if carriers pass the charge on to consumers. "This is a very worthwhile investment," he said.
In East Palo Alto, speaking at a community technology center called Plugged In, Clinton said, "We can truly move more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever before. Or we can allow access to new technology to heighten economic inequality and sharpen social division. Again I say, the choice is ours."
Asked by a young boy about his own computer use, Clinton said, "I confess I don't use it much for e-mail but that's for very personal reasons."
"If you work for the government you don't use e-mail very much unless you want it all in the newspapers," the president said.
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the White House failure to review thousands of e-mails that may have been under subpoena.
Clinton was joined in East Palo Alto by computer and civil rights leaders.
He said Gateway would provide technology training to 75,000 teachers, including every teacher in East Palo Alto, while Novell would donate $20 million in software for nonprofit organizations helping Hispanic organizations. Hewlett-Packard will invest $15 million in a new "digital village" initiative in three underserved communities, including East Palo Alto.
Qualcomm will commit $25 million to bridge the digital divide in San Diego, where it is based.
PowerUp, a partnership of America Online, Gateway and other companies to bring technology to young people in schools and community centers, pledged to expand from 19 to 250 sites nationwide.
AOL said it would provide 100,000 accounts for use at PowerUp, and the Waitt Family Foundation said it would donate 50,000 Gateway computers.
Other, smaller pledges came from Cisco, Applied Materials, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, AT&T and People PC.
The Kaiser Family Foundation will create a public service campaign to urge young people to learn computer skills. The ads will feature former basketball star Magic Johnson and current women's star Rebecca Lobo.
Microsoft Corp. donated more than $2.7 million in software and cash to be divided among eight Indian tribal colleges.
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"First they came for the Jews, and because I was not a Jew, I didn't speak up. Next they came for the Communists, and because I was not a Communist, I didn't speak up. Then they came for the trade unionists, and because I wasn't a trade unionist, I didn't speak up. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up." -- German priest taken to Auschwitz by the Nazis
===============================
EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - Pushing to bring high-tech benefits to places missing out on America's prosperity, President Clinton won more than $100 million in pledges from the computer industry Monday. He also promised $1-a-month telephone service to 300,000 American Indian households.
"No one has to be bypassed this time around," the president said. "The choice is in our hands.'
Clinton said, "This is one of those fortunate times when by doing the thing that is morally right, we actually help to keep America's economic expansion churning forward."
On a chilly, rain-threatening morning, the president came to East Palo Alto, a pocket of poverty in technology-rich Silicon Valley, to dramatize the "digital divide" of inequality between computer haves and have-nots.
More than 24 percent of youngsters in East Palo Alto live in poverty and over 80 percent are eligible for the free-lunch program. Schools have just one computer for every 28 students.
Later, Clinton was heading to a Navajo reservation in northwest New Mexico.
American Indians rank far below the national average in their access to telephones, computers and the Internet. In the Navajo Nation, only 22.5 percent of households have home telephone service compared with to the national average of 94 percent. The Navajo high school dropout rate averages 20 percent for 9th graders, and only one-quarter of adult Navajos have graduated from high school.
Clinton was announcing a plan to provide basic telephone service to American Indians for $1 a month. That would be financed by raising universal service assessments on interstate and international carriers by 0.4 percent.
Gene Sperling, head of the president's National Economic Council, said long-distance users would pay about a penny a month more if carriers pass the charge on to consumers. "This is a very worthwhile investment," he said.
In East Palo Alto, speaking at a community technology center called Plugged In, Clinton said, "We can truly move more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever before. Or we can allow access to new technology to heighten economic inequality and sharpen social division. Again I say, the choice is ours."
Asked by a young boy about his own computer use, Clinton said, "I confess I don't use it much for e-mail but that's for very personal reasons."
"If you work for the government you don't use e-mail very much unless you want it all in the newspapers," the president said.
The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the White House failure to review thousands of e-mails that may have been under subpoena.
Clinton was joined in East Palo Alto by computer and civil rights leaders.
He said Gateway would provide technology training to 75,000 teachers, including every teacher in East Palo Alto, while Novell would donate $20 million in software for nonprofit organizations helping Hispanic organizations. Hewlett-Packard will invest $15 million in a new "digital village" initiative in three underserved communities, including East Palo Alto.
Qualcomm will commit $25 million to bridge the digital divide in San Diego, where it is based.
PowerUp, a partnership of America Online, Gateway and other companies to bring technology to young people in schools and community centers, pledged to expand from 19 to 250 sites nationwide.
AOL said it would provide 100,000 accounts for use at PowerUp, and the Waitt Family Foundation said it would donate 50,000 Gateway computers.
Other, smaller pledges came from Cisco, Applied Materials, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International, AT&T and People PC.
The Kaiser Family Foundation will create a public service campaign to urge young people to learn computer skills. The ads will feature former basketball star Magic Johnson and current women's star Rebecca Lobo.
Microsoft Corp. donated more than $2.7 million in software and cash to be divided among eight Indian tribal colleges.
