Text: White House Announcement on Online Government Services

(White House working toward "Information Age" government)(690)







President Clinton has announced a package of new initiatives to make

government services and documents more available over the Internet. In

a Webcast June 24, Clinton announced that citizens will be able to

search online resources offered by government at a single Website

(www.firstgov.gov).





Another initiative will give greater access to government contracts

and grant opportunities. Further, Clinton announced that the

government will sponsor a competition to solicit ideas and programs on

how "the government can serve and connect with citizens

electronically."





Following is the text of the White House announcement:







(begin text)







THE WHITE HOUSE



Office of the Press Secretary







June 24, 2000







PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE: MAJOR NEW "E-GOVERNMENT"

INITIATIVES





Today in his first-ever Saturday webcast addressed to the Nation,

President Clinton will unveil a series of new initiatives to give the

American people the "Information Age" government they deserve. These

steps will cut red tape, make government more responsive to the needs

of citizens, and expand opportunities for participation in our

democracy. These initiatives build on the Administration's efforts,

led by Vice President Gore, that have already greatly expanded citizen

access to online government information and services. By the end of

the year:





-- Citizens will be able to search all online resources offered by the

federal government from a single web site called "firstgov.gov."





-- Citizens, small businesses and community groups will have one-stop

access to roughly $500 billion in grants and procurement

opportunities.





-- Citizens, students, researchers, and government employees will be

able to compete for a new $50,000 prize for the most innovative idea

for advancing "e-government."





CITIZENS WILL BE ABLE TO SEARCH ALL ONLINE RESOURCES OFFERED BY THE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM A SINGLE WEB SITE: A team lead by Internet

entrepreneur Eric Brewer will create a single web site called

"firstgov.gov" that will allow citizens to search all online

government documents. This free site, which will be developed at no

cost to the taxpayers, will have the ability to search half a billion

documents in less than one-quarter of a second, and will be able to

handle at least 100 million searches a day. This will make it much

easier for citizens to find government information and services, which

are currently located on at least 20,000 different web sites. The site

will be available this fall, and will not collect any personal

information from citizens.





CITIZENS, SMALL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS WILL HAVE "ONE-STOP"

ACCESS TO GRANTS AND PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES: This year, the federal

government will award roughly $300 billion in grants and buy $200

billion in goods and services. Currently, there is no place where

vendors can access all of the information they need to bid on

government contracts. Moreover, there are 30,000 different

organizations across the United States that receive at least $300,000

in federal grants, and must deal with systems for grant applications

that vary from agency to agency. By the end of the year, the

Administration will make it possible for people to go online to bid

on, or apply for, the vast majority of these procurements and grant

opportunities. Moving this business online will save time and money,

and will bring more Americans into the process by them the opportunity

to compete for these funds.





CITIZENS WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO SUGGEST NEW IDEAS FOR ADVANCING

E-GOVERNMENT: The Administration will work with the Council for

Excellence in Government, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, to

launch a new "e-government" competition. The Council will seek

applications from students, businesspeople, researchers, and

government employees for new applications, new technology, and new

ways that government can serve and connect with citizens

electronically. A top prize of $50,000 will be awarded for the most

innovative proposal to advance e-government that is user-friendly,

accessible, cost-effective, secure, and protects the privacy of

citizens' personal information. The Council has assembled a team of

corporate sponsors for the competition from its Technology Leadership

Consortium. For more information about the competition please contact

Council for Excellence in Government President and CEO Patricia

McGinnis at 202-728-0418, or visit their website at www.excelgov.org.





(end text)







(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.

Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

This site is produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State. Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.