White House e-mail (fwd)

[Jim Beach]

>
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>              THE WHITE HOUSE
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>               Office of Presidential Correspondence
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> ______________________________________________________________
> For Immediate Release                             June 1, 1993
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>           LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
>       IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHITE HOUSE ELECTRONIC MAIL ACCESS
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>      Dear Friends:
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>      Part of our commitment to change is to keep the White House
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> in step with today's changing technology.  As we move ahead into
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> the twenty-first century, we must have a government that can show
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> the way and lead by example.  Today, we are pleased to announce
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> that for the first time in history, the White House will be
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> connected to you via electronic mail.  Electronic mail will bring
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> the Presidency and this Administration closer and make it more
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> accessible to the people.
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>
>      The White House will be connected to the Internet as well as
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> several on-line commercial vendors, thus making us more
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> accessible and more in touch with people across this country.  We
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> will not be alone in this venture.  Congress is also getting
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> involved, and an exciting announcement regarding electronic mail
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> is expected to come from the House of Representatives tomorrow.
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>      Various government agencies also will be taking part in the
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> near future.  Americans Communicating Electronically is a project
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> developed by several government agencies to coordinate and
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> improve access to the nation's educational and information assets
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> and resources.  This will be done through interactive
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> communications such as electronic mail, and brought to people who
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> do not have ready access to a computer.
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>
>      However, we must be realistic about the limitations and
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> expectations of the White House electronic mail system.  This
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> experiment is the first-ever e-mail project done on such a large
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> scale.  As we work to reinvent government and streamline our
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> processes, the e-mail project can help to put us on the leading
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> edge of progress.
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>      Initially, your e-mail message will be read and receipt
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> immediately acknowledged.  A careful count will be taken on the
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> number received as well as the subject of each message.  However,
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> the White House is not yet capable of sending back a tailored
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> response via electronic mail.  We are hoping this will happen by
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> the end of the year.
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>      A number of response-based programs which allow technology
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> to help us read your message more effectively, and, eventually
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> respond to you electronically in a timely fashion will be tried
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> out as well.  These programs will change periodically as we
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> experiment with the best way to handle electronic mail from the
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> public.  Since this has never been tried before, it is important
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> to allow for some flexibility in the system in these first
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> stages.  We welcome your suggestions.
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>      This is an historic moment in the White House and we look
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> forward to your participation and enthusiasm for this milestone
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> event.  We eagerly anticipate the day when electronic mail from
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> the public is an integral and normal part of the White House
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> communications system.
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>
>
>           President Clinton        Vice President Gore
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>
>      PRESIDENT at WHITEHOUSE.GOV      VICE.PRESIDENT at WHITEHOUSE.GOV
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>                                ###
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>
>

____________________________________________________________________________

James H. Beach                                         beach at huh.harvard.edu
Data Administrator                                     Tel:   (617) 495-1912
MCZ, Herbaria, Arnold Arboretum                        Fax:   (617) 495-9484
22 Divinity Avenue
Harvard University                                     Lat:   42 22' 43.8" N
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA                               Long:  71 06' 54.0" W