Commerce Sec. reveals vision for America

Emphasizing that the United States is going through a "dawning of a new century of hopes and opportunity," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown spoke at the Musser-Schoemaker Leadership Lecture Monday. Brown, an African-American native of Harlem and a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, spoke in the Annenberg School Theater about important issues he feels America is currently facing. "We need to have priorities concerning what we do with our nation," Brown told the audience. He added that people should make choices in the context of a changing world. On the subject of the federal budget, Brown maintained that the country is on the right path toward reducing the deficit. He said people should realize that in the last three years, the Clinton Administration has reduced the budget deficit by $1.4 billion. But he stressed that people tend to lose sight of their goals when discussing the budget deficit. "It is important that people take on responsibilities in society," Brown said. "Too many people think that once the deficit is eliminated, all our problems will be solved." Brown said this is not the case, pointing out that there was no deficit during the Great Depression in the 1930s. "The determination to keep America's marketplace expanding and to enable the youth of today to become leaders of tomorrow has to come from within ourselves," Brown said. Brown urged students not to let themselves become insulated in their lives and forget their responsibilities to society. The other theme Brown discussed was technology's role as a driving force in job security. "We are in the process of building up an incredible information-driven superhighway," Brown said. He explained that as the Internet becomes the up-and-coming medium in society, "America has a responsibility to make sure that it does not divide into a society of information haves and have-nots." "In this globally competitive environment we don't have a single person to waste," Brown added. Brown admitted that there are currently too many obstacles for all his hopes to take shape immediately. But he said he is still optimistic. "I had many experiences before becoming secretary of Commerce that taught me that America needs to not only redefine its attitude towards social relationships, but the government as well," Brown said. Prior to his involvement in politics, Brown spent time in the army and worked as a welfare case worker. "I have two visions of the future," he said. "One is a society where we act as a community, thinking about the next generation. The other would basically be survival of the fittest, where people are only concerned with their immediate self-interest," he added.