TOKYO (01/28/2000) - U.S. President Bill Clinton tonight proposed in his State of the Union Address the creation of a series of technology centers across the U.S. and the training of all new teachers with high-tech skills.
"Today, opportunity for all requires something new: having access to a computer and knowing how to use it," Clinton said. "That means we must close the digital divide between those who've got the tools and those who don't.
"Connecting classrooms and libraries to the Internet is crucial, but it's just a start," Clinton said.
"Now, my budget ensures that all new teachers are trained to teach 21st Century skills, and it creates technology centers in a thousand communities to serve adults. This spring, I'll invite high-tech leaders to join me on another New Markets tour to close the digital divide and open opportunity for our people. I thank the high-tech companies that are already doing so much in this area, and I hope the new tax incentives I have proposed will get all the rest of them to join us," he said.
"This is a national crusade. We've got to do this, and we've got to do this quickly," the President said in the televised address, monitored in Tokyo.
More to come.