In his State of the Union Address January 19, President Clinton avoided the impeachment proceedings being conducted by Congress and appealed for unity around issues dear to Baby Boomers, including education, literacy, the Internet, and other critical library concerns.
“With over $1 billion in discounts available this year,” Clinton said, “we are on our way to our goal of connecting every classroom and library to the Internet.” He went on to call for school reform and “a dramatic increase in federal support for adult literacy.”
“I was pleased to see him mention literacy,” said Carol Henderson, director of the ALA Washington Office, pointing out that the question is how the speech will translate into funding. “Both on telecommunications and literacy, there is such a big job to be done. I will be curious to see the details of the president's budget proposal, to be presented February 1.”
Posted January 25, 1999.