In the first-ever Internet-only address to the nation by a Chief Executive, President Clinton this week announced a Web site that will include every resource offered by the U.S. government will be launched within 90 days.

The new FirstGov.gov site will also allow Americans to learn how to invest wisely, track Social Security benefits, buy a house, find fuel-efficient vehicles and a wide variety of other things.

"When it's complete, FirstGov will serve as a single point of entry to one of the largest, perhaps most useful, collection of Web pages in the entire world," Clinton said in a speech Webcast to the nation last Saturday. "Increasingly, we'll give our citizens not only the ability to send and receive information but also to conduct sophisticated transactions online."

The free site unites the more than 20,000 existing government Web pages Internet users will be able to search more than half a billion documents, and FirstGov is being designed to handle at least 100 million searches per day, Reuters reports.

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

The site will be prepared by a team led by Inktomi's Eric Brewer at no cost to taxpayers.

Clinton also announced a program that offers a $50,000 reward for anyone who has the best idea on advancing "e-government." More details about the program can be found at ExcelGov.org, Reuters News reports.

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