WASHINGTON – The Democratic platform of the party’s national convention this week in Chicago will stress technology and applaud the historic enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as well as the Clinton administration’s trade achievements.
Tonight’s program will feature a video tribute to former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who died along with 34 others in a plane crash in Croatia April 3 during a trip to assess reconstruction prospects in the war-ravaged Balkans. That will be followed by remarks from Brown’s wife, Alma, honorary chairwoman of the Democratic National Convention. Brown played a key role in promoting U.S. telecommunications abroad.
“President Clinton and Vice President Gore fought for, and the president signed, a sweeping telecommunications reform bill that will unleash the creative power of the information industry to create millions of high-wage American jobs,” the platform states.
Clinton and Gore will speak Thursday evening, when the convention concludes.
“We recognize that our system of research colleges and universities is the bedrock of American leadership in science and technology,” the 33-page document says.
“When we invest in our research institutions we are literally investing in our future by helping train the next brilliant generation of American scientists and engineers,” it continues. “As we enter the 21st century, we will continue to invest in world-class research and development, advanced technologies in transportation, information and other industries, and agricultural and environmental research in partnership with American business.”
The emphasis on high technology investment and trade is meant to contrast Democrats with the GOP-led Congress, which supports steep cuts in federally funded research in science and technology and the elimination of the Commerce Department. There are some in the Republican Party, particularly Pat Buchanan, who oppose free trade and the World Trade Organization that oversees global commerce.
The platform boasts of the 200 trade agreements, some of which have opened wireless opportunities in Japan and elsewhere, and takes special note of Gore’s crusade to link schools, libraries and hospitals to advanced telecommunications networks in the new millennium.
“President Clinton and Vice President Gore understand that technological literacy is essential to success in the new economy,” states the platform. The only way to achieve that for every student is to give them all access to a computer, good software, trained teachers and the Internet.
