E-Government President Clinton and Vice President Gore have also used the Internet to make government work better for the American people. We have come a long way since Vice President Al Gore became the first nationally elected official to participate in a live, electronic town meeting six years ago. Every Cabinet department is online, using web sites to make information and services available to people at the click of a mouse. You can go online to apply for student loans, find new jobs and compare Medicare options. People are tapping into the latest health care research, browsing the vast collection of the Library of Congress and following NASA missions into outer space.
Citizens can avoid traveling to government offices, waiting in line or mailing paper forms.
The federal government is saving time and money by transacting business electronically and providing better services. As part of the Administration's continuing efforts to shift government services to the Internet, the White House is launching Firstgov.gov, which President Clinton announced in his first web cast address in June. This effort introduces a single point of entry to one of the largest and most useful collections of web pages in the world. With regard to electronic financial services and transactions, the Administration has already taken two very important steps to put in place a framework for the future that lies ahead for the financial industry. The first step was the landmark financial modernization act signed by the President last fall.