% The Vice President Gore/Jan. conference is beginning

  Your moderator is Bill Allman/US NEWS   (10)

(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Welcome to the live "electronic town
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) meeting" with Vice President Al Gore,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) hosted by U.S.News Online and CompuServe.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) I am William F. Allman, a Senior Writer at
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) U.S. News & World Report, and I will be
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) the moderator this afternoon. Vice President
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Gore will join us online from his office
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) in the West Wing of the White House in a
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) few minutes; in the meantime, I'd like to
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) make some suggestions as to how to make
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) this historic first appearance of a Vice
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) President in a live, online conference
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) go smoothly. If you would like to ask a
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) question once the conference is underway,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) please type a slash followed by the word
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) "question" [/question], which will put you in
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) the question queue. When you get the message
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) that it is your turn to ask a question,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) please begin by telling us where you are
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) from. It is not necessary to state your
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) name, as this appears automatically. You
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) should keep your question as short as
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) possible -- only a sentence or so.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) It also helps to type your question as a
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) series of very short lines -- about 65
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) characters long -- followed by carriage
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) returns. This helps others follow along as
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) you type, as well as presenting a readable
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) text. If your question goes on too long, I
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) may have to move on to the next question.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) For technical reasons, those of you
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) who have entered into GORE2 or GORE3 will not
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) be able to ask questions. Vice President
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Gore will be typing his own responses from
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) his office in the White House, and should
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) be online shortly. This conference is also
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) being broadcast live on C-SPAN cable television.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Greetings from the West Wing of the
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) White House in Washington, DC, for
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) a live, electronic town meeting with
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Vice President Al Gore, hosted by
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) U.S. News & World Report and CompuServe.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Just as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) appeared in one of the world's first
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) television broadcasts at the 1939 World's
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Fair in New York, it is only fitting that
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Mr. Gore, one of the key proponents of
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) the coming information superhighway, should be
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) making history by being the first U.S. Vice
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) President to participate in a live, interactive
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) conference on a prototype of that information
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) revolution. I am William F. Allman,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) a Senior Writer at U.S. News & World Report,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) a sysop for U.S.News Online, and the moderator
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) this afternoon. I'd like to remind everyone to
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) keep their questions to only a sentence or so,
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) type in short lines (less than 65 characters wide),
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) and to please start your question by telling us
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) where you are from. Vice President Gore will be
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) typing his responses on his computer from his
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) office in the White House.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Welcome, Mr. Vice President.
(#11,Vice President Gore) Welcome to the White House.
(#11,Vice President Gore) Let's get started.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) I'd like to start things off with a question
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) that was submitted in advance to the 
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) U.S. News Online Forum, about the 

% Moderator recognizes question #1
  Dion Douglas (46)


(#46,Dion Douglas) Mr VP...
(#46,Dion Douglas) I am from Hammond IN
(#46,Dion Douglas) What are your views on These
(#46,Dion Douglas) "Virtual Communities....and
(#46,Dion Douglas) Are you currently involved
(#46,Dion Douglas) in iany networks?
(#11,Vice President Gore) I think they
(#11,Vice President Gore)  are terrific. I do 
(#11,Vice President Gore) a lot of my work on a
(#11,Vice President Gore) virtual community
(#46,Dion Douglas) Thank you....and I am currently watching you on C-span... :)
(#140,Vice President Gore) I'm back. Sorry.
(#140,Vice President Gore)  Anyway, we have a
(#140,Vice President Gore) kind of "virtual community" here in the White House
(#140,Vice President Gore)  that gets a lot of work
(#140,Vice President Gore) done but we have not
(#140,Vice President Gore) yet established the myriad
(#140,Vice President Gore) links outside that we hope to soon.

% Moderator recognizes question #2
  Aaron Dickey [HelpF (60)


(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) Mr. Vice-President...
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) Huntington, WV here
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) I'm a 23-year-old student...
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) Myself, and most of my friends, are
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) finding ourselves ing more and more time
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) spending
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) excuse me
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) in front our computers
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) thanin the "real world".
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) Are you at all worried
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) that eventually we ALL may end up spending
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) too much time iba*iuXE>ytoo
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) (line snoise sorry)
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) on the Net, and not enough time
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) in face-to-face conversations/socialization?
(#140,Vice President Gore) Yes. But it's better than 
(#140,Vice President Gore) the same amount of time
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) (line noise was my father picking up an extension, Mr. 
VP, sorry <grin>)
(#196,Vice President Gore) Sorry. 
(#196,Vice President Gore) in front of a 
(#196,Vice President Gore) non-interactive
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) No sir, it was my father, not your fault.
(#196,Vice President Gore) screen.  Plus...
(#196,Vice President Gore) soon, the nature of the 
(#196,Vice President Gore) be enriched with full-
(#196,Vice President Gore) motion video and much faster
(#196,Vice President Gore) links...which I predict
(#196,Vice President Gore) will lead to a renewed
(#196,Vice President Gore) appetite for REAL communities.
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) (Member? I'm a sysop, Bill. <grin>.)    Those are...
(#60,Aaron Dickey [HelpF) very good points, Mr. Vice-President...thank

% Moderator recognizes question #3
  jacquelyn a close (29)


(#29,jacquelyn a close) Hello from Jackson, Mo
(#29,jacquelyn a close) Would you establish a single-source repository
(#29,jacquelyn a close) for all environmental data dna lab analyses and make that

(#29,jacquelyn a close) information accessible through the envisioned information 
super
(#29,jacquelyn a close) highway?
(#196,Vice President Gore) Great idea.
(#196,Vice President Gore) A great deal of that information
(#196,Vice President Gore) is already accesible, but a single-source
(#196,Vice President Gore) is worth exploring.
(#196,Vice President Gore) I will raise the idea in our
(#196,Vice President Gore) weekly environment idea group
(#196,Vice President Gore) here in the White House.

% Moderator recognizes question #4
  Ricardo Bunge (34)


(#34,Ricardo Bunge) Ricardo Bunge from Mobile, AL
(#34,Ricardo Bunge) Good afternoon, Mr. Vice President, and than you for
(#34,Ricardo Bunge) this historic opportunity
(#34,Ricardo Bunge) Where (in society) do you see
(#34,Ricardo Bunge) the Information Super Highway having
(#34,Ricardo Bunge) the greatest impact? Business, science, etc?
(#196,Vice President Gore) Schools.  Classrooms.
(#196,Vice President Gore) At-home learning.

% Moderator recognizes question #5
  Larry H. Lewis (65)


(#65,Larry H. Lewis) Mr Vice-President..........:-)
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) Alta Loma , Ca
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) I'm handicapped & spend
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) a lot of time on the net
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) Do you envision home computer jobs
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) & how will that effect the economy?
(#196,Vice President Gore) Yes. In fact you may be
(#196,Vice President Gore) interested in knowing
(#196,Vice President Gore)  that the sysop of the White House
(#196,Vice President Gore) Forum, Georgia Griffith, is deaf and
(#196,Vice President Gore) blind.
(#196,Vice President Gore) There will be MANY opportunities
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) Thank you
(#196,Vice President Gore) for the disabled to use
(#196,Vice President Gore) their minds productively on
(#196,Vice President Gore) networks.
(#196,Vice President Gore) In my
(#196,Vice President Gore) home state of Tennessee, in Jackson,
(#196,Vice President Gore) there is a wonderful place called
(#196,Vice President Gore)  the Star Center -- and there
(#196,Vice President Gore) are others elsewhere --
(#196,Vice President Gore)  that
(#196,Vice President Gore) finds ways to link a
(#196,Vice President Gore) person's mind to new
(#196,Vice President Gore)  ways of communicating,
(#196,Vice President Gore) no matter what their disability. In fact, they
(#196,Vice President Gore) don't even ask what the
(#196,Vice President Gore)  disability is. They only ask, "What
(#196,Vice President Gore) works?"
(#65,Larry H. Lewis) I'm looking forward to that Mr. VP <BG>

% Moderator recognizes question #6
  glen Falkenstein (102)


(#102,glen Falkenstein) What do you think is goiong to end the problem in bosnia?

(#196,Vice President Gore) We (the US) have believed for some time
(#196,Vice President Gore)  that the Bosnian government forces should
(#196,Vice President Gore) not be subject to the internation 
(#196,Vice President Gore) embargo on the arms they
(#196,Vice President Gore) need to even the odds. And we have proposed airstrikes 

(#196,Vice President Gore) to prevent the agressors form taking
(#196,Vice President Gore)  advantage of the situation
(#196,Vice President Gore) while the arms are delivered.
(#196,Vice President Gore) But our allies, whose votes we need in
(#196,Vice President Gore) the Security Council, don't
(#196,Vice President Gore) agree. We will continue to work for peace, though,
(#196,Vice President Gore) in other ways -- including maintenance of the toughest 
sanctions against
(#196,Vice President Gore) Serbia in history. And the biggest airlift of
(#196,Vice President Gore) humanitarian supplies since the Berlin
(#196,Vice President Gore) airlift. And if a real agreement 
(#196,Vice President Gore) can be reached, we will help enforce it.

% Moderator recognizes question #7
  Sara Arnold (79)


(#79,Sara Arnold) I'm from Burlington, Ma...
(#79,Sara Arnold) I'm a special needs teenager...
(#79,Sara Arnold) My town gives my parents...
(#79,Sara Arnold) a hard time...
(#79,Sara Arnold) for funding at a...
(#79,Sara Arnold) theraputic school...
(#79,Sara Arnold) Can the government help kids like me?
(#196,Vice President Gore) Yes. By enforcing laws against discrmination.
(#196,Vice President Gore) And we will do that. Let us know if we can 
(#196,Vice President Gore) get involved.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) This question was submitted
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) to the U.S.News Online Forum:
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) "Mr. Vice President: Do you see
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) the NII evolving toward a global II
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) so that Europe could be also hooked
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) to the superhighway? My name is
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) George Nahon and I live in Paris,
(#79,Sara Arnold) Thnkyou, sir.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) France. Merci. Bonne chance!"
(#196,Vice President Gore) Yes, at least to an extent. In fact,
(#196,Vice President Gore) many nations are already hooked up
(#196,Vice President Gore) to the internet. 
(#196,Vice President Gore) And the demand for
(#196,Vice President Gore) higher capacity links on an
(#196,Vice President Gore) international basis is of course
(#196,Vice President Gore) growing very
(#196,Vice President Gore)  rapidly.

% Moderator recognizes question #8
  David Rogers (26)


(#26,David Rogers) Mr. Vice President...
(#26,David Rogers) Hello from a Houston, Texas student...
(#26,David Rogers) What effect will the information highway...
(#26,David Rogers) have on our health care system...
(#26,David Rogers) in our future?
(#196,Vice President Gore) It will make it possible to conduct remote
(#196,Vice President Gore) and to link patients to the right specialist
(#196,Vice President Gore) regardless of geographic location...
(#196,Vice President Gore) And by making the transfer of large volumes of 
financial
(#196,Vice President Gore) information much cheaper, it will save money.
(#196,Vice President Gore) In addition
(#196,Vice President Gore) it will make possible a MUCH larger role for
(#196,Vice President Gore) patients in diagnosing their own problems
(#196,Vice President Gore) and finding the help they need much more easily...
(#196,Vice President Gore) Of course, we have to add a little for extra eyestrain 
treatments
(#196,Vice President Gore) in a few cases.

% Moderator recognizes question #9
  Scott Dart (30)


(#30,Scott Dart) Hello from Valley Forge, PA.  For those of us
(#30,Scott Dart) on the "sidelines" watching the emergence of
(#30,Scott Dart) the "information highway", can you tell us what
(#30,Scott Dart) we can do participate in the construction?
(#30,Scott Dart) Specifically, and tangibly?
(#196,Vice President Gore) If you patronize the excellent services
(#196,Vice President Gore) now beginning to be available, you will add
(#196,Vice President Gore) your demand to the growing national
(#196,Vice President Gore) demand that is inexorably
(#196,Vice President Gore) pulling the NII toward early
(#196,Vice President Gore) completion.  Also, contact
(#196,Vice President Gore) you member of Congress and your
(#196,Vice President Gore) kSenators and urge them to
(#196,Vice President Gore) support the administration's
(#196,Vice President Gore) bill that I unveiled in L.A.

% Moderator recognizes question #10
  Ben Huntoon (37)


(#37,Ben Huntoon) Hello from Reynoldsburg, Home of the tomato!
(#37,Ben Huntoon) How will the Fedreral Government
(#37,Ben Huntoon) see to the fair and equal implementation of Internet
(#37,Ben Huntoon) technology among wealthy and poor
(#37,Ben Huntoon) school districts?
(#196,Vice President Gore) two days ago.
(#196,Vice President Gore) President Clinton and I
(#196,Vice President Gore) \ are challenging all of the
(#196,Vice President Gore) companies that do business
(#196,Vice President Gore)  in these industries to make
(#196,Vice President Gore)  a commitment to link up and
(#196,Vice President Gore) provide free access to every classroom in their 
service areas.
(#196,Vice President Gore) And some of them now pledging to do just that.
(#196,Vice President Gore) I think we will have every classrom in the country -- 
and
(#196,Vice President Gore) every library -- on line in the NII by the start of 
the
(#196,Vice President Gore) year 2000.
(#37,Ben Huntoon) Thank you
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) We're about out of time, Mr.Vice
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) President
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Would you like to make a closing 
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) statement?
(#196,Vice President Gore) Thanks. I loved it.
(#196,Vice President Gore) I'm just sorry that
(#196,Vice President Gore)  it is impossible to 
(#196,Vice President Gore) answer everyone. Let's do it again sometime soon.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Thank you everyone. Our time is up. Thank
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) you, Mr. Vice President, for participating
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) in this historic event, and thank all of
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) you in our virtual electronic community.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) A transcript of this conference will be
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) available tomorrow in the ON THE RECORD
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) library section of the U.S.News Online Forum.
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) I invite all of you to join in a
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) post-conference discussion which
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) will begin immediately in the U.S.News
(#10,Bill Allman/US NEWS) Online Forum conference room (GO USNFORUM)
(#37,Ben Huntoon) exit

% The conference has ended
  Thank you for attending