@TEXT <B>gore-urban-league 6thadd<P> GORE/URBAN LEAGUE PAGE 10 08/06/97 .STX x x x high. You know, forget about the gold standard; we're on the information standard. There's $1-1/2 trillion in the global economy sloshing around every single day, flowing toward those nations that make hard choices based on real numbers and get away from illusionary policies based on secondhand smoke and rear-view mirrors. By making the tough choices and investing more in our priorities for the future, while at the same time steadily reducing the budget deficit, we are keeping interest rates down and drawing investment capital to the right places in the United States of America. President Clinton and I know that while a strong and growing national economy is job number one, and while we are proud of the progress that has been made, we know that it is only a start, and much more needs to be done. We know that it's also not enough, because while we must improve the track, we must also make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get to the starting gate. That's especially important today, because we are entering a new economy, one that is not just better and stronger than the old one, but one that is very different as well, in fundamentally new ways. It is an economy driven by information and technology. It is an economy that depends less on the size of our factories than it does on the skills and creativity of our people. It is an economy that is linked to the global marketplace by phone, fax, and computer cable. It is an economy that is zapping dollars and data around the world every moment at the speed of light. That's something new. We all know that. We see it in our daily lives. We experience it when we walk into a business establishment. We see it in our own work. And if we prepare for this new economy, this new world, in the right way, then this new economy can be the most empowering and inclusive economy that the United States of America has ever known. In an economy where goods and services are increasingly traded along and across the information superhighway, a simple connection to the Internet can transform an isolated urban community into a thriving economic center. In an economy where companies cannot afford not to hire and promote the best-educated, best-trained, best-skilled employees, the right kind of education can indeed help to crack the glass ceiling and break through the barriers of prejudice and hatred, and get rid of the residue of that hatefulness from history in an economy. .ETX GORE/URBAN LEAGUE PAGE 11 08/06/97 .STX MORE .ETX Aug 06, 1997 12:04 ET .EOF