"High technology is one of the things that is right with America," says Representative Charlie Rose. His slow, North Carolina gentleman's drawl makes you feel as comfortable with his vision of "wired government" as he is.
Part of Washington's techno-savvy new order, the 54-year-old Democrat says he's pushing as hard as he can to give government back to the people. How? Through landmark legislation called the Window Bill, Rose hopes to have all public information - including congressional records and hearings - transferred into cyberspace for public access.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 1972, Charlie Rose is a newcomer neither to government, nor technology. Rose was a member of the first intelligence committee ever formed (along with then-Senator Al Gore). As a result, Rose was exposed to the technological inner-workings of the National Security Agency, and was "absolutely amazed" at its resources.
"I think we're in a period of what some people call 'in-your-face democracy,'" says Rose with a chuckle. With a new administration that shares his goals, Rose is confident that projects such as Al Gore's National Data Highway will get the attention they deserve. (Rose made no comment about how the government's project will impact private efforts by companies like AT&T.)
Current Chair of the House Administration Committee (which maintains the Congressional infrastructure, including computers and networks), Rose also serves on two joint committees - one oversees the Library of Congress, the other, the government printing office. "The name of the game in both places is information," Rose explains. "Access to power and access to how things get done are the main commodities bought and sold in Washington....And literally most of that can be swept away and replaced with simple, open, electronic access by the people, to their government."
Although he is committed to open government (Rose supports a house proposal that each member of Congress have an online address), he is well aware that not every official shares his desire for openness. One senior congressmember's response to making an informational database of government funds and grants publicly available, Rose said, was, "Hell, if that database goes too far, those people won't even have to come to me anymore."
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