Clinton announces one-stop shopping for government information

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A new computer system will offer one-stop shopping for online information about the federal government, President Clinton said Saturday.

Logging on to one Web site, firstgov.gov, will yield links to all federal information available publicly over the Internet, Clinton said during a special ''Webcast'' that is similar to his weekly radio addresses.

''When it's complete, firstgov will serve as a single point of entry to one of the largest, perhaps the most useful collection of Web pages in the entire world,'' Clinton said during the Web speech, taped in Los Angeles.

The site, which should be up and running within 90 days, will also offer individuals, small businesses and others a single source for information about roughly $500 billion in government grants and contract opportunities, the president said.

''Whether you want crucial information in starting a small business, or you want to track your Social Security benefits, you can do it all in one place, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,'' he said.

The system is being developed by private sources and will be given to the government at no cost.

''It will uphold the highest standards for protecting the privacy of its users,'' Clinton said.

The site now features information about the coming service.