NETWATCH . . . CYBERPOLITICS

A political drag-race is shaping up on the Info Highway. House Speaker Newt Gingrich today unveiled a system called "Thomas" (for Thomas Jefferson), which will provide online denizens easy access to congressional legislation. The system already has full texts of bills from the last Congress; by the end of the month, the Library of Congress will start to upload all new bills. The announcement by Gingrich follows President Clinton and Veep Al Gore's recent unveiling of aWhite House "web site"that provides access to information from many federal agencies. SaysTIME Science writer Philip Elmer-DeWitt"Al Gore and Clinton have tried to make the info highway their thing. Now, Gingrich is trying to grab it. It raises a funny question: Whose info highway is this?"