Under this program, builders can secure loans in the private sector with repayment guaranteed by the federal government. This financing assistance is helping to strengthen our nation's maritime industry. The Future and Steel With all of the transportation sectors affecting steel changing and growing, the outlook is certainly positive for your industry. My colleagues and I at the Department of Transportation look forward to working with you to make our transportation system as safe and efficient as possible for the new century. I couldn't help noticing on the agenda for this meeting that there is an entire session devoted to the question of whether steel manufacturing will thrive in an electronic economy.
Many people talk about the information age and how the Internet is changing our lives.
No matter how impressive and effective the Internet is, without a transportation system to support it, the digital economy cannot move goods around the nation or the world. The Internet may change the way we do business to an extent, but the United States and the world will still need steel and basic industries and roads and bridges to function. And I hope our partnership to produce them will remain strong.