Stevens said the new information highway sounded to him like
an ordinary highway project, where rural states need far more
money than urban states because they ``drive five times
longer.''
Well, the Internet has arrived, folks -- it's nothing more than
everyday pork... RK
Forwarded Text ----
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Development of the next generation of
the Internet must involve rural states or Congress will not fund
it, powerful senators warned President Clinton's technical
advisers Tuesday.
The senators said at a hearing they were unhappy that elite
urban universities seem to have the best representation on a
White House planning committee for a new generation of the
Internet, promised to run 100 to 1,000 times as fast as the
existing one.
``Why proceed with a proposal that will isolate the rural
universities?'' Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who
chairs the Appropriations Committee, said during a hearing
before the Senate Commerce subcomittee on communications. ``This
proposal leaves us entirely out. You go back to the drawing
boards.''
Clinton pledged with great fanfare during the election
campaign last year to promote the next generation of the
Internet, promising the government would spend $100 million
annually for five years to build the super high-speed network
and promote its use.
But several key members of the Senate don't like what they
see.
``I am very concerned that rural states are not being given
a seat at the table as critical decisions are being made,'' said
Committee Chairman Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican.
He said that of 20 members on Clinton's advisory committee
on the new Internet, 11 are from California and only eight
states are represented overall.
Leading members of Clinton's technology team said they were
ready to accommodate the concerns of Congress as they fill
existing vacancies on the 25-member committee.
``It was always our intention to get rural people on the
committee,'' said Henry Kelly, acting associate director of
technology in the White House Office of Sciences and Technology
Policy.
Stevens said the new information highway sounded to him like
an ordinary highway project, where rural states need far more
money than urban states because they ``drive five times
longer.''
But Neal Lane, director of the National Science Foundation
said the new Internet ``is not (established) infrastructure like
a highway. (This) is a work in progress, it is experimental.
That is the reason we need the nation's researchers to help us
move forward.''
The White House's Kelly said that nonetheless he sees the
new project as vital to rural America.
``This is one of the key technologies of the 21st Century,
touching almost every part of the economy,'' he said.
Burns said he thought that the hearing set the stage for
introduction of a bill to provide the needed money.
``We have to find a mechanism to put (the plan) together and
present it to Congress,'' he said. ``I personally place a high
importance on this project. People in remote areas should have
access to this new technology.''
-=-=-