TELEMEDICINE & DISTANCE LEARNING GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
                                            Release No. 0377.97
                                                               
Remarks


                               OF
                       SECRETARY GLICKMAN
      TELEMEDICINE & DISTANCE LEARNING GRANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
                    WITH VICE PRESIDENT GORE
                 LSU MEDICAL CENTER -- 10/21/97

     Thank you, Chancellor [Mervyn] Trail. I'd like to thank you and all
the folks here at LSU Medical Center for hosting us today, and for the work
you do every day to keep rural America healthy. I'm proud that this
Administration is helping extend the reach of your effort, and others like
it throughout the country. I'd also like to welcome the folks who are
joining us via satellite from communities across America. Thank you all for
your hard work. 

     You know, as the Secretary in charge of helping rural America succeed
in the modern world, I consider myself blessed. I'm blessed by folks like
all of you out in the countryside who are committed to a strong future for
our rural communities, and I am blessed with 2 sons of rural America in very
high places -- one from Hope, Arkansas, the other from Carthage, Tennessee.

     Whether we at USDA are working to bring safe, running water to
households and whole communities that never had it before ... or helping
more rural Americans become homeowners ...  or bringing quality, affordable
telecommunications service to rural communities -- our efforts have had the
strong support of President Clinton and Vice President Gore. 

     They get it. They understand the unique challenges facing rural
America -- sparse populations, remote locations, lack of infrastructure --
and they understand that we must work hard today to ensure that we step into
the next century as one America -- where all our people have safe, running
water in their homes and first-rate education and health care in their
communities.

     Just a few years ago, that vision for our country's future would be
dismissed as a utopian fantasy. 
But today, technology is giving us the means to make this dream a reality
for all our citizens -- even those who live in the most remote Alaskan
village or on the Louisiana bayou. Together, we are reaching toward a day
when geography is no boundary. 

     From creating virtual AP classrooms to linking rural citizens with
specialists in big-city hospitals, we are erasing the hurdles of distance,
time and space that for so long were considered insurmountable to rural
America.

     We should not underestimate the importance of this endeavor. 20% of
our people live in rural America, but they're spread out over 80% of our
land. In the 21st century, knowledge is power. Information is power. Those
who have access have the best chance of success. For our nation to live up
to its full potential in a technology-driven, global Information Age, we
can't afford to leave small towns and rural communities behind -- a fifth of
our nation. 


                             -more-
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     The simple fact is: Too often, the benefits of modern society are
limited to areas of large population. With these programs, we help ensure
that a student in a small rural Louisiana Parish gets the same quality
education as a student in Chicago, New Orleans or Los Angeles. The same goes
for health care.

     You know, I'm of the generation that really had to make the leap to
adjust to all of this new technology. I never walked 10 miles barefoot in
the snow to school, but I do remember the days when we used carbon paper and
typewriters, and if you had a problem with a mouse ... well, you called the
exterminator.

     Today, more and more Americans are embracing technology, and we're
able to use it in ways that make a dramatic difference in people's lives. So
it surprises me to still hear echoes of the old debate: Is technology good
or bad for us? I think the answer's that it's really up to us.

     To paraphrase a great President: We should ask not what technology can
do for us, but what all of us -- using technology -- can do together for our
country. From saving lives to improving the education of the next generation
of rural Americans, we can do great things for our nation.
 
     I thank you for helping us push the frontiers of America's progress,
and I'd now like to introduce you to a true pioneer. Just a few decades ago,
Sen. Al Gore, Sr., gave America the Interstate Highway System. Sen. Al Gore,
Jr., followed up with a way to improve the idea -- by getting rid of the
concrete, traffic and time in the car altogether -- letting people go
instantly where their interests and needs took them.  

     I'm proud to introduce to you the man who coined the phrase
 Information Superhighway,' one of its original champions ... a true
believer in using technology to improve people's lives ... Ladies and
gentleman, our Vice President -- Al Gore. 

                                 
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