“Meeting our Needs through Investment in America’s Future”
National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Legislative Conference
Senator Maria Cantwell Washington, DC
Good Morning and thank you very much for the opportunity to address the National Association of Counties 2001 Conference.
I want to thank NACo’s President and fellow Washingtonian Jane Hague for her kind welcome and her great work as president of this organization. Jane has been a true pioneer.
It was not that long ago that our country was focused on the out come of the Presidential election in Florida. Our state’s Senate race was equally close but because of Jane’s prior leadership and the leadership of other Washington election officials our election process was reformed. The result was that our State’s recount process went much smoother instilling higher voter confidence in the outcome.
Jane is now being a pioneer at NACo, helping County government connect the dots in the Information age. Last month Seattle hosted the third NACo technology summit to discuss a number of important cyberspace issues among them:
protecting personal privacy
the development and delivery of e-government services
and the eventually of online voting.
It is heartening to know that this organization is dedicating time to these complex issues. Jane thanks for playing this cyber leadership role.
I also want to recognize the great work of NACo Executive Director Larry Naake, in putting together this legislative conference.
There is much work to do in the 107th Congress. The input we receive from NACo is extremely helpful in developing policies that help meet the needs of our mutual constituents and back home.
And I cannot go further without saying a personal hello to the county leaders from all over Washington State who do a tremendous job year in and year out delivering services to the people of the Northwest. I can say it I am truly grateful to see all of you hear today. Especially given the 6.8 earthquake that shook Washington last Wednesday morning.
Many are saying that Washington state was lucky -- but as Thomas Jefferson once said, "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have". Clearly, the state of Washington’s luck resulted from a lot of hard work.
In traveling with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director, Joe Allbaugh, last week to survey the effects of our state’s second largest earthquake ever, I was struck by the professionalism and preparedness of our state and county emergency response organizations in responding to this crisis.
Naturally, I am concerned that FEMA impact dollars might be cut, and I am very appreciative of NACo’s position on maintaining disaster planning funding from the federal government.
I was pleased to hear that even prior to last Wednesday’s earthquake NACo was planning to recognizing King County Executive Ron Simms for his outstanding work in overseeing the preparations in his county for precisely this kind of natural disaster. The retro-fitting of buildings, roads and investment and training of emergency personnel saved the people of King County hundreds of millions of dollars, and, more importantly, his leadership in preparing the county, saved lives.
Ron, seeing your work put to the true test and seeing the effective response is truly amazing. We in Washington are very proud of your work.
Speaking of work, there is much to do in the 107th Congress to address the many of these challenges facing our country in the 21st century. I would like to mention a few of the issues where early consensus is likely to drive Congressional action and then spend the remainder of my time this morning discussing the challenges I believe we face in rethinking government in the information age.
First, on the consensus issues.
There seems to be a unique opportunity in the 107th Congress to pass legislation helping counties with land and water conservation. We need to ensure that growth policies allow our economy to expand while paying proper attention to land and water conservation.
Many of you are facing this issue on a daily basis in your home counties, and I firmly believe that local land and water conservation is also a national concern and deserves more attention from the Federal government.
I am a strong supporter of the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA), that would direct a portion of oil and gas revenues paid to the Federal treasury to go directly to states and local governments like yours for land and water conservation and protection programs.
Given the Administration's recent announcement to seek permanent funding for some of the conservation programs specified in the bill, along with Congressional support, this is the best opportunity ever for passage of a comprehensive conservation funding bill that will be good for land and water conservation in counties throughout the nation.
Second, many of your counties depend on agriculture and you know all too well, how difficult these past few years have been for our nation’s farmers—loss of export markets to subsidized competitors, higher production costs, and lower prices.
Farmers like Washington State Apple Growers are facing economic hardship at every turn and their livelihood direct impacts our ability to expand economies.
To meet this crisis, I support Senate Bill 20, the Securing a Future for Independent Agriculture Act. This comprehensive legislation would address the difficulties facing American farmers by:
Improving market access and competition by demanding attention to agricultural priorities in trade negations and strengthening laws against anti-competitive practices;
Increasing the availability of equity for cooperatives through federal matching programs;
Equalizing marketing loan rates to protect farmers from distortions in both market and production signals; and
Protecting farmland by providing farmers and ranchers financial incentives to keep their land; Furthermore, I will work hard to advance a new Farm Bill that address other important needs such as rural development, conservation, food safety, and research.
Third, is the issue of a National Energy Policy. We in the West are facing a supply shortage that have left consumers and industrial users reeling from the effects of spot market prices and in some cases 100% rate increases.
The President has listed this as one of his seven major policy initiatives and has asked Vice President Cheney to head an energy policy group due to make recommendations sometime this spring.
Chairman Murkowski, of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which I am a member, has also introduced legislation that we the committee is starting reviewing. While there is consensus that there is a crisis and the need for a national energy policy there is debate on what the solutions should be.
As we address this issue, it is important to remember that smart growth policies will demand that we pay as much attention to conservation, new technologies that help individuals monitor conservation and renewable resources as much as we look at increasing supply.
While there may be consensus in the 107th Congress on fully funding land and water conservation, farm relief and an energy policy, and probably several other measures that I did not address, increasing access to health care through a patients bill of rights and new prescription drug benefit.
There is an area of new policy that is just being explored that elected officials at all levels of government should pay attention to -— rethinking government in the information age. You at NACo have started this process with your three technology summits. But I would like to focus on two issues that I think are critical important for counties to think about along with the other technology issues outlined at your summits.
These two issues are infrastructure issues -- First, is the question of how do we build the physical infrastructure, if you will the farm to market roads of the 21st century that connect all citizens to the powers of the communication world; and, Second, how do we develop the human infrastructure—rethinking of our education and job training infrastructure so that more people can gain access to the job skills that they need to remain competitive in the market place.
Over the last decade, in counties all over the nation, we have experienced what many believe to be the greatest structural transformation of the American workplace since the onset of the industrial revolution: The information revolution.
We have seen a shift from an economy based solely on material resources to one based on human resources, knowledge and information. This transformation has brought with it extraordinary economic gains. We have experienced the longest period of economic expansion and productivity growth in U.S. our history, along with higher median income levels across the country and our lowest unemployment rates in fifty years. And, despite the current short-term economic climate, I am very optimistic about our long-term outlook.
However, one of the factors most responsible for our prosperous new economy may be a source of social and economic disparities and further divide us as a nation. This critical variable of which I am speaking is digital technology, and the problem is what has become known as the "digital divide." And, while the term "digital divide" is over-used, its consequences for our economy and our communities are under-estimated.
As I can personally attest, the innovation and dynamism of the high tech sector has brought tremendous benefits to our businesses and workplaces, into our homes and our relationship with government.
For business, computer technology and the Internet have rapidly transformed the workplace and brought measurable improvement to the way we do business. In increasing numbers, businesses are moving their supply networks on-line, developing on-line marketplaces, and expanding their use of computerization and network technology to bring increased levels of efficiency and productivity.
The Internet has also become a key gateway for industry to access the national and international marketplace. For businesses large and small, the ability communicate to existing customers, suppliers or future partners let alone sell products on-line can exponentially increase their business.
Fortunately, government and private sector leaders have recognized these needs.
The private sector has stepped up to the challenge to expand public access to the Internet, and we will continue to encourage industry to take the lead in expanding communication channels into our nation’s urban and rural areas.
In our State, the Governor helped drive passage of rural telecommunication legislation making it easier for public utility districts to work on high speed access in rural communities. While we are just in the initial stages of this experiment, I believe the federal government should work with local governments to speed up the process of delivering universal broadband access by;
Helping local jurisdictions with planning dollars and expediting citing permits on public lands.
Helping counties invest in telecommunications infrastructure,
Making available grants to accelerate private-sector deployment of broadband networks in under-served urban and rural communities; and
Providing technical assistance to small and medium-sized businesses so that they can enhance their competitiveness through the application of new technology. The federal government should also consider what appropriate tax credits, grants, and other incentives are available to make sure rural America is appropriately wired.
The contributions of numerous private individuals and organizations are also helping to make the Internet accessible to people of all walks of life. I am proud of the leaders in American industry that have taken the responsibility to enhance access to education through their Foundations - Hewlett-Packard, Intel, AOL-Time Warner, Microsoft and others have provided millions of dollars to bring technology to the historically under served.
One example in my own state is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that has partnered with public libraries to bring access to computers, the Internet, and digital information to patrons in low-income communities in the U.S. and Canada. This fund is endowed with over $200 million and plans to equip over 10,000 public libraries in North America with Internet access by 2003.
The second issue is increasing access to education and job training.
In our homes, the Internet has changed the way many of us shop, find jobs, and get an education. Use of the Internet is now vital for our economy and of our society. The ability for an individual to have access to -- and to use and understand the new technologies -- is no longer a convenient luxury, but rather a growing necessity for Americans to function as workers, consumers, and even citizens in our society.
The good news is that Americans are gaining access to the new technologies at a rapidly increasing rate. Last year, the percentage of households with Internet access jumped to 41.5%. The figure almost doubled over a three-year period. If growth continues at this rate, more than half of all Americans will be regularly using the Internet by the middle of this year.
Unfortunately, Americans have not shared equally in this trend. While many Americans are embracing new technologies, disproportionately large numbers of those in lower income levels, rural households, and Hispanics and African-Americans lag behind.
According to recent statistics:
Households with incomes of $75,000 and higher, and in urban areas, are more than twenty times as likely to have access to the Internet than rural households at the lowest income levels.
Also, African American and Hispanic households are more than two-fifths as likely to have Internet access as white households. This asymmetry has led to the "digital divide" – separating those with access to computers and the Internet and those without – that has tremendously negative consequences for counties all across our country.
Those Americans on the wrong side of the divide are missing out on the network benefits of the Internet age. Tragically, these people are precisely those who would benefit most from the valuable opportunities for business education, vocational training, and access to government that the Internet can provide. And, as more and more everyday activities migrate to the Internet, the gap between those on either side of the digital divide will only become more pronounced and have more significant consequences to our economy and society as a whole.
As a U.S. Senator who has witnessed first-hand the tremendous potential of technology for our communities, and as a citizen from a state with both stunning economic successes in the technology industries, and expansive rural regions struggling to maintain their leadership in other industries, I am particularly committed to working with local communities to close this technology gap.
From my perspective, the situation is urgent.
While we must acknowledge that access to the Internet is not a panacea, we need to realize that many of our jobs - and therefore our economy - require an individual to understand and have access to technological innovations, and to get an education that will allow them to continue to learn.
Very simply put, the digital divide impacts our ability to employ our domestic workforce. The highest unemployment rates generally coincide with the demographics of those suffering the digital disparity. Thus, increasing job training for those on the wrong side of the 'divide' will help high-tech industries meet their employment needs. We need to:
Invest in modernization of K-12;
Rethink access to financial aid;
Help speed up the access to job training and education in hard to reach rural areas;
Engage employers on programs required as part of h-1b visa legislation on meeting the needs of the local employers.
To maintain our edge in the global economy we must ensure not only that Americans have access to technology, but also that every American has the skills necessary to meet the needs of the new economy.
That is why I am a strong supporter of current legislation before Congress that will provide measures to help schools effectively incorporate technology in all classrooms around the country by providing federal support for:
Teacher training in ways to integrate technology into their classrooms; The development of innovative technologies to assist students in achieving high educational standards;
Targeted funding to provide high-need communities and students with greater access to technology.
I applaud the work of the previous Administration in partnership with the private sector on this objective. We should all be pleased to know that although six years ago, only 35% of America’s schools were Internet ready, today, school connectivity exceeds 95%. I hope the new Administration will carry on this important effort.
But this education should not stop at the 12th grade. We must make sure that Internet and technology training is available to our nation’s workforce -- particularly those in communities that have had historically disproportionately high unemployment rates -- as part of vocational training and re-training.
I strongly support expanded community and industry-sponsored education and worker training programs that will bring our workforce into the 21st Century.
In particular, I am pleased that job retraining is an important element of the enhancing Economic Security for America’s Working Families Act. This legislation would provide $100 million for grants to address the needs of workers and business for advanced skills. These grants would provide training to enhance and expand workers skills to assist them in moving into higher-paying jobs, or to change career fields in the new economy. Building these high-tech skills among our workers is an investment that will pay tremendous economic dividends in the future.
Although these gains are impressive, much work remains. We need to continue to develop federal policies - and make available federal resources - to bring educational opportunities and connectivity to all Americans. I will work very hard with my colleagues in the 107th Congress to ensure that this happens.
But, in these efforts, we in Congress must work with you and others in local government, our communities, and businesses. Only through this partnership will it be possible to make the information age the age for all Americans.
The dynamism of the New Economy presents opportunities and challenges for almost everyone. Information technology can offer cost-savings, expanded markets, and create greater opportunities for businesses in almost every industry. However, to truly embrace the potential that this technology holds, we must strive to ensure that access to information technology is available to all.
This goal is important for the less advantaged in our society; it is necessary for our continued economic prosperity; and ultimately, it is the right thing to do for our country.
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