Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, when we talk about our development efforts around the world, we often focus on very big concepts, promoting democracy and human rights, making governments more open and accountable, expanding economic opportunity. Those are, of course, very important ideas, and we need to keep those big-picture goals in mind. But we also need to be working constantly to develop the specific day-to-day tools and efforts that will help us advance towards those goals. In the 21st century, a lot of those tools have to do with technology. Think of the way the internet has changed the global economy; the way technology has improved communication; the sharing of information; the ability of people to participate in worldwide markets and conversations. Now, think of the fact that 4 billion people around the developing world do not have access to the internet; think of the untapped potential, the number of people who cannot participate in a constantly expanding online marketplace of goods and services and ideas. The number of people with stories to tell, whether they are about life in remote communities or the corruption of a repressive government, but who cannot get their hands on the modern-day tools we use to communicate with one another; the number of people who cannot get information about a new opportunity or an impending disaster because they don't have a laptop or a smart phone.…”