Vice President Al Gore holds up a copy of "Businesslike Government, Lessons learned from Americas Best Companies", to emphasis the intention of a sweeping program to reform the "business" of the Department of Defense announced at a Pentagon press briefing on Nov. 10, 1997. Gore joined Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (left) in announcing the Defense Reform Initiative which will aggressively apply to the Department those business practices that American industry has successfully used to become leaner and more flexible in order to remain competitive. Gore endorsed the effort as exemplifying the objectives of the National Performance Review.