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Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, the Administration recently launched a new website, www.firstgov.gov. That website is the first all-government portal and will offer one stop information from over 20,000 separate federal websites. This promises to be a great tool. Throughout the country people will be able to download tax forms, read up on the status of legislation, better understand the Social Security system. But Mr. President, meaningful access to all of the important information depends on what side of the Digital Divide you find yourself. To benefit from websites like firstgov, you must have a computer and understand how to use it, and you must have an Internet connection with speeds fast enough to search databases, view graphics and download documents.
As the demand for high speed Internet access grows, numerous companies are responding in areas of dense population. While urban America is quickly gaining high speed access, rural America is being left behind. Ensuring that all Americans have the technological capability is essential in this digital age. It is not only an issue of fairness, but it is also an issue of economic survival.
To remedy the information gap between urban and rural America, I along with Senator DASCHLE introduced S. 2307, the Rural Broadband Enhancement Act, which gives new authority to the Rural Utilities Service to make low interest loans to companies that are deploying broadband technology to rural America.
The Rural Utilities Service has helped before; it can help again. When we were faced with electrifying all of the country, we enacted the Rural Electrification Act. When telephone service was only being provided to well-populated communities, we expanded the Rural Electrification Act and created the Rural Utilities Service to oversee rural telephone deployment. The equitable deployment of broadband services is only the next step in keeping American connected, and our legislation would ensure that.
If we fail to act, rural America will be left behind once again. As the economy moves further and further towards online transactions and communications, rural America must be able to participate. They must be able to start their own online business if they so desire and access information about government services efficiently.
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I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to address this problem and to bring meaningful data access to all parts of this country.
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