Gore announces 'e-government' plan

June 5, 2000
Web posted at: 6:15 PM EDT (2215 GMT)

RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN) -- Campaigning in North Carolina, Vice President Al Gore unveiled Monday a series of "e-government" proposals that would provide citizens Internet-based access to federal services such as Social Security and Medicare within three years.

"The power of government should not be locked away in Washington, but put at our service -- no further away than our keyboard," the Democratic presidential hopeful said during a speech at North Carolina State University.

"You should not have to fill out endless forms, or worry about somebody who is having a bad day giving you the runaround. You should not have to wait in line to communicate with your self-government," Gore said.

Under the vice president's plan, citizens would be able to obtain information about Social Security benefits, apply for a home loan through the Federal Home Administration, or check the purity of their local drinking water -- all through the Internet.

Most government services would be available online by 2003, and agencies would be required to post "e-government" performance reports on the Internet as well. The Gore campaign did not release cost figures for the proposals.

Gore also proposed a system for making major government purchases on the Internet, saving taxpayers "tens of billions" of dollars, he said, by requiring buyers to compete for government business via Internet auctions.

His proposal also calls for the creation of a "g-bay" auction site for selling government equipment that is no longer needed, and requirements for government agencies to file their progress reports on-line.

"If I’m entrusted with the presidency, together we can use this technology to ensure that by 2004, we can look back on the time before e-government, and it will seem as outdated and antiquated as government before the telephone seems today," the vice president said.

Earlier on Monday, Gore gave the commencement speech at Tarboro High School, in Tarboro, North Carolina. The school building sheltered refugees from Hurricane Floyd's floodwaters last September.

"You are American heroes," Gore said. "The whole world witnessed your bravery, your dignity, your generosity and grace under pressure ... there's nothing you cannot do."

Hurricane Floyd dumped 20 inches of rain on eastern North Carolina last September, and nearby rivers crested more than 20 feet above flood stage. The flooding was blamed for at least 51 deaths and at least $6 billion in damage, making it North Carolina's worst natural disaster.

Gore recounted how some of the graduates -- despite losing most of their possessions to the floodwaters -- showed up at the high school to help out with relief efforts.

"You made a difference in reaching out to others instead of just caring for yourself," he said.

Graduation had been scheduled for Saturday but students and parents agreed to delay it two days to accommodate the vice president's schedule. It was Gore's third trip to North Carolina since he sealed enough convention delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

Gore was joined on the campaign trail Monday by North Carolina's Democratic Sen. John Edwards, whose victory over Republican incumbent Lauch Faircloth in 1998 is seen by Gore aides as a sign of the party's emerging strength in the Tar Heel State.

No Democratic presidential nominee has won North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976. But the latest statewide poll shows Gore trailing Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican nominee, by just five points.

Bush spent Monday off the campaign trail in Austin, Texas. Gore was scheduled to arrive in New York later Monday to attend a Democratic Party fund-raiser with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in Manhattan.

The Gore campaign responded quickly over the past weekend to a housing dispute at a rental property the vice president owns nears his farm in Carthage, Tennessee. Campaign spokesman Chris Lehane said Gore learned of plumbing and other problems at the rental house late Friday, after the tenant complained to a Nashville television station.

After learning about the problems, Gore called the tenants and offered to put them up in a temporary home at his expense so that repairs on the rental property could be completed, a Gore campaign official told CNN Sunday.

The property is on land adjacent to the Gore family farm in Carthage, and the vice president has owned it for about two years since it was transferred to him from his father's estate.

The four-bedroom home is taken care of by a property manager, who had investigated the plumbing problems and concluded the tenants would have to move out of the home in order for the necessary repairs to be made. This led the tenants to complain they were being "evicted" from the property.

Lehane said the tenants would be moving to a temporary residence early this week, and the renovation on the rental property was expected to take about two weeks -- after which they will move back in.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MORE STORIES:

Monday, June 5, 2000

• Former President Ford says Bush won't easily win White House
  
• Video: Missile defense plays role in presidential election
  
• Gore announces 'e-government' plan
  
• Gloves are off in New Jersey's hottest House race
  
• More work, confusion in education testing trend backed by Bush, Gore
  
• With no pomp and little circumstance, primary season comes to an end
  
• Government figures show gun crimes down, Brady bill successful
  
• latimes.com: Scarecrow, tin man following the yellow brick road to White House
  
• latimes.com: Talking baseball and politics with George W. Bush
  
• Court dismisses tax charge against Clinton friend Webster Hubbell
  
• U.S. panel says more must be done to combat terrorism
  
• Protesters at convention could spoil Gore's day
  
• California members refuse to bolt party to protest Buchanan
  
• Tennessee's got another candidate for U.S. president
  

ARCHIVES