Political Quotes

“I wish to applaud my distinguished colleague, Senator Allen, for his leadership. We are privileged in Virginia, primarily in the northern area, and then to an extent in the Tidewater and Richmond areas, to have a very heavy concentration of technology firms. Under the leadership of Senator Allen and other Senate colleagues we are addressing the needs of the technology improvements at historically black colleges and universities. Sixty percent of all jobs require information technology skills, and jobs in information technology can pay significantly higher salaries than jobs in other fields. At the same time, many of our historically black colleges and universities often lack the resources and the capital to offer an educational program and assistance to their students to bridge the digital divide that exists in many places in America. The bill will establish a grant program for these institutions of higher learning to bring increased access to computer technology and the Internet to their student populations. In Virginia, there are five historically black colleges and universities that will be given an opportunity for grants and/or matching funds to achieve this most noble goal of bridging the digital divide.”