Main Points of President Clinton's speech

Education

By the year 2000, we have set a goal of connecting every single classroom and library in the entire United States to the Internet. We must redouble our efforts to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has the tools to succeed in the new century.

Economy

We have to continue the path that has restored optimism and expansiveness to our economy, but now to ensure that all Americans have a chance to benefit from it.

Culture

We have to ensure that our unique and vibrant cultural life flourishes in the new century and that our rich history is treasured and preserved. I am pleased that the will sponsor a nationally televised series of Millennium Minutes that spotlight a thousand years of important people, events, and achievements. The Leadership Project for the Millennium will tell America's stories through the arts and initiate projects, such as new boys choirs modeled after the acclaimed . The NEA will also send teams of photographers across the country to capture their vision of America at the turn of a new century. And the President's Committee on Arts and the Humanities will launch its Worthy Ancestors program, bringing together commercial, creative, and non-profit sectors to save significant cultural materials from folk, popular, and classical traditions.

Heritage

We must take steps to make sure that the documents of our democracy are safe for the ages, for the millions of Americans and new immigrants and foreign visitors who view them every year. Believe it or not, the documents - the , the and the - are seriously threatened by the wear of time and the elements, unless we act in the next three years to save them. That is why I am very pleased that the , has a three-year plan to ensure that they will also survive into the next millennium. The highest project for the millennium at is to save our Star Spangled Banner by 2001 - the very flag that flew over Fort McHenry and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our National Anthem.

Science and Technology

We must continue to push the limits of science and technology, and to continue to explore the universe. The July 4th (1997) landing of the transfixed the world. It is inspiring a new generation, and I hope very much that it has convinced a majority of Americans to continue to support our exploration of space. will launch new robotic missions to Mars in , 2001, and 2003. The will be 50 years old in the year 2000. To celebrate its anniversary and encourage young people to pursue careers in science, the Foundation will launch its National Science Foundation 2000 program, a national campaign on the importance of science, engineering and mathematics.

Year 2000 Computer Bug (Millennium Time Bomb)

Now, as the millennium turns, as we have all seen from countless reports, so do the dates on our computers. Experts are concerned that many of our information systems will not differentiate between dates in the 20th and the 21st century. I want to assure the American people that the federal government, in cooperation with state and local government and the private sector, is taking steps to prevent any interruption in government services that rely on the proper functioning of federal computer systems. We can't have the American people looking to a new century and a new millennium with their computers -- the very symbol of modernity and the modern age -- holding them back, and we're determined to see that it doesn't happen.

Environment

We must make sure that the land God has given us is preserved for generations to come. At the beginning of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt said, "We are not building this country of ours for a day, it is to last through the ages." As we enter the new century, we have a moral obligation to continue that charge. We've already acted to protect some of our most treasured places -- from Lake Tahoe to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the Florida Everglades. And we are working to address the very real problem of climate change for the next century.

"One of the most important goals for the millennium is to give every child in America access to the universe of knowledge and ideas by connecting every school and library in our country to the Internet by the year 2000.

Working together with business leaders, we've made solid progress. And as we work to connect our schools and libraries we must make sure that once our children can log on to the Internet they don't get lost there.

So today I'm pleased to announce that on the 27th of October (1997) the , in partnership with and the Council of Great City Schools, will throw the switch on a new educational website called ."