IP: The technology president:

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/opinion/columns/078563.htm

Published Tuesday, September 19, 2000, in the San Jose Mercury News




>JOHN DOERR AND BILL JOY
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>The technology president: From wiring schools to a Net tax moratorium to
>globalization, Gore gets it better than anyone
>BY JOHN DOERR AND BILL JOY
>
>
>You hear it all the time: Who cares about this presidential campaign? Gore,
>Bush -- there's not a dime's worth of difference between them. The country
>is at peace. The economy is booming. What difference does it make who sits
>in an oval office, 3,000 miles away?
>
>
>A big, big difference, we think.
>
>
>The boom we're enjoying didn't happen by accident. Although it was driven
>by smart, risk-taking entrepreneurs, particularly in places like the
>valley,
>the current presidential administration played an integral part in making
>the boom happen. Its policies have been farsighted and rooted in a firm
>understanding of the dynamics of the New Economy. And nobody in Washington
>understands those dynamics, and has done more to encourage them than Al
>Gore.
>
>
>Gore has been, in effect, the chief architect of our national technology
>and information policy for nearly 25 years. In his early years in the House
>and
>Senate, he was among the first national politicians to recognize the scale
>of the changes being unleashed by chips and bits and networks of fiber. He
>co-authored the Small Business Innovation Research program, helping small
>businesses bring new technologies to market. He introduced the
>Supercomputer Network Study Act of 1986, which created the University of
>Illinois
>lab where Marc Andreessen and the half-dozen kids who would later found
>Netscape developed the first graphic Web browser, Mosaic. Gore sponsored
>the
>High Performance Computing Act of 1991, which boosted federal support for
>the
>Internet backbone by billions of dollars; and the Information
>Infrastructure and Technologies Act of 1992, which invested billions more
>in
>technology to improve education, expand health care and create jobs.
>
>
>And despite all the jokes about him creating the Internet, the truth is
>this: Gore was speaking with clarity and passion about the advent of a
>seamless global information network long before most in the Valley had
>dreamed of such a network. Gore didn't call it the Internet; he called it
>the ``information superhighway.'' The name hardly matters. The point is he
>foresaw it, worked for it, got it.
>
>
>As vice president, Gore was instrumental in the administration's economic
>program and took charge of its technology agenda. He led the fight for
>global free trade. He played a key role pushing through the sweeping
>overhaul of the telecom industry in 1996, which championed competition over
>bureaucracy and monopolies. He helped discourage frivolous shareholder
>lawsuits and steadfastly argued that the government should ``keep its hands
>off the Internet,'' arguing in favor of a moratorium on Internet taxation
>and of regulating cyberspace with a light touch, if at all.
>
>
>Through all his efforts, Gore has worked to ensure that all Americans have
>the opportunity to benefit from the wonders of the new economy. He has
>focused on areas where technology and education come together. He helped
>create the E-rate program, which is wiring our nation's schools and
>libraries for Internet access. He's pushed for testing and accountability
>in education, charter public schools, smaller class size, and more teachers
>with the time and incentives to be well prepared.
>
>
>Gore understands deeply that although the New Economy was born in America,
>it's not just an American thing -- globalization matters, and more so every
>day. In the next four years, the president will face complex and delicate
>international issues: global environmental regulation; global labor
>standards; tariffs and trade. Having a president with experience and a firm
>grasp of the complexities of the world would be a very good thing.
>
>
>The New Economy has improved the way we live and work. It has led to record
>growth, more than 20 million new jobs, low inflation, and an incredibly
>favorable entrepreneurial culture. Think of all of the changes that have
>happened over the past eight years, many of which are accelerating at
>Internet speed. Think of all the possibilities and opportunities yet to
>come.
>
>
>To deal with these changes and make good these opportunities, we must elect
>a leader who understands where we've been and where we can go in the future
>-- and who has the intelligence and competence to lead us there.
>
>
>We need Al Gore.
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>John Doerr is a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture
>capital firm in Menlo Park. Bill Joy is co-founder and chief scientist of
>Sun Microsystems.