[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[June 14, 1991]
[Pages 659-662]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 659]]


Remarks at the California Institute of Technology Commencement Ceremony 
in Pasadena, California
June 14, 1991

    Thank you, Pete, for that very generous introduction. I'm delighted 
to see Gayle with you over here. Congressman Moorhead--and to the 
business at hand--your chairman of the board, Dr. Mettler, who I've 
known for years and admired and respected. Dr. Everhart, the president; 
Dr. Jennings; Dr. DuBridge; Dr. Beckman; Dr. Brown; Mr. Avery; Dr. 
Shuster--hello.
    I'd also like to acknowledge this distinguished board of trustees 
that I had the honor to meet with just a while ago. And it's a pleasure 
to be here at CalTech, my first visit. I'm told it's the first visit of 
a seated President since Teddy Roosevelt.
    However, my trip back to Washington, I understand, will be delayed. 
Some of CalTech's finest reassembled Air Force One in the lobby of my 
hotel. [Laughter] Ditch day, perhaps.
    You look restless out there--let me tell you about a Yale 
graduation. I will confess to having gone to Yale. A minister gave the 
graduation speech. ``Y,'' of course, was for youth; that took 40 
minutes. ``A,'' altruism--brushed that one off in 20 minutes. ``L'' was 
for loyalty--45 minutes. ``E'' for enterprise--30 minutes. The speech 
ended and most of the kids had left. There was one guy praying. The 
minister went over and said, ``Oh, son, I'm glad to see a man of faith 
here. What were you praying for?'' He said, ``I was giving thanks that I 
didn't go to the California Institute of Technology.'' [Laughter]
    So, I'll try to be respectful in that regard. But I should say with 
pride that we celebrate today the centennial of CalTech. This 
institution has accomplished astonishing things in 100 years. Your 
students, your professors, and your graduates have peered into the heart 
of the atom, gazed out at stars billions of miles away. They've inspired 
new medicines and biotechnologies, and they've hurled rockets into the 
heavens. And they've helped redefine the sciences upon which modern 
technology and modern life depend. CalTech's mission is outward-looking, 
its quest never-ending, and its path of discovery truly remarkable.
    We now stand on the verge of a new voyage in the American 
experience, charting a fresh course to a world of unseen possibilities 
and promise. This is mild compared to what I normally run into; I feel, 
out of respect for the office, it ought to be greater. [Laughter] But to 
reach it, we will need a strong, swift current of ideas. Thomas Aquinas 
once said that if the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his 
ship, he would stay in safe harbor forever. Now, as our imagination 
mulls over the prospects for the 21st century, the time has come to 
leave port and set sail--to the new world beyond.
    Many Techers have already explored new worlds--worlds of the 
positron and the quark, and the fingerprint of the human gene, and the 
microcosm of the silicon chip. These brilliant men and women understood 
the architecture of a problem, and they knew how to navigate the maze of 
possibilities that stood between them and a solution. Like them, you 
think about the opportunities--not the obstacles--that lie ahead.
    I think of the day I graduated from college. We were impatient, were 
optimistic, bored with the speaker--but we sensed a coming adventure. 
And I suspect it's the same with you. Only this time, you probably 
aren't thinking about becoming farmers, like Barbara and I were. My 
generation built our future with mortar and brick and machinery. And 
yours will propel us toward destiny and innovation, ingenuity, and 
imagination.
    Earlier this century, Henry Luce declared this ``The American 
Century.'' In his time, that future consisted of smelters and 
smokestacks--heavy, productive industries. And now, as this American 
century draws to a close, ours is an age of microchips and MTV. Ours is 
an economy increasingly dependent not upon our natural resources or 
geographic location but upon knowledge. As you well know, knowledge is 
dynamic,

[[Page 660]]

never standing still as it expands beyond the horizon. So, my challenge 
to you today is to push beyond today's horizons and create new and more 
distant horizons for your future.
    This is the next frontier. In the 21st century, knowledge will shape 
the power of the individual--as well as the power of the Nation. 
Knowledge, defined in our labs and libraries, on bookshelves and 
computer screens. Whether you're in the military, at the market or on 
the mainframe, that knowledge will define opportunity.
    Some call this the Third Wave or the Information Age or the New Age 
of Discovery. With a nod to Henry Luce, I believe this serves as a 
cornerstone for the next American century. If we face this future 
foursquare, if we accept the call to unleash our imaginations, we will 
transform this nation. And I have no doubt American will transform the 
world.
    We begin with the free market, the powerhouse of ingenuity. Free 
markets and free people breathe life into the American dream. Look at 
the good that people can achieve. Charles Richter and George Housner's 
research has saved untold lives through their work on predicting and 
preparing for earthquakes. Harry Gray's research could lead to our 
harvesting energy from sunlight the same way the plants do. And medical 
researcher Pamala Bjorkman's research may someday prevent such diseases 
as arthritis and diabetes.
    Look at all the creative enterpreneurs, the ones transforming basic 
research into new products, the ones with that knack for know-how. This 
is a true story: I got a letter the other day from a company named 
Genstar, founded by four CalTech grads. They'd heard me talk about our 
six national education goals to achieve excellence by the year 2000. I 
once joked that the seventh goal should be that by the turn of the 
century, Americans must be able to get their VCRs to stop flashing 
``12:00.'' [Laughter]
    I admit that I didn't think it was possible. [Laughter] But this 
team of upstarts, CalTechers, invented a device that solves the VCR 
clock problem easily. [Laughter] They wrote, ``We respond promptly to 
your national call for VCR literacy by the year 2000--in fact, 9 years 
ahead of schedule.'' [Laughter]
    Well, with mentors like these, there may be hope for students like 
me, still struggling with the complexities of this age of technology. 
Their kind of entrepreneurs--their approach to entrepreneurship helped 
make our nation prosperous and great. This kind of can-do spirit, this 
expression of natural American creativity will make our new education 
strategy work. America 2000, as we call it, summons the Nation to create 
a new generation of American schools--schools that break the mold, 
schools where all students reach world-class standards of performance in 
English, science, history, geography, and mathematics. It's time that we 
started measuring success by something other than the Federal dollars 
spent. Let's not ask ourselves: What does it cost? Let's ask: Does it 
work?
    This administration has rewarded programs in which government acts 
intelligently and programs produce results. Head Start, where kids get 
the tools they need to start school ready to learn--it works, and we 
support it. We've expanded Head Start funding by over $700 million in 
the last 2 years.
    We advocate programs that employ free market incentives--like tax 
credits for low-income parents to choose their own child care--because 
they use human nature as a lever, not as an obstacle. We support 
initiatives that create opportunity--like our housing vouchers for 
public housing tenants. Our HOPE initiative gives public housing tenants 
control over their lives and their futures.
    But, you see, home ownership and tenant management--these are the 
waves of progress that can truly reduce hopelessness and despair in our 
great country.
    Whether in schools, in child-care centers, or factories or 
neighborhoods, we must ensure that government is part of the solution, 
not part of the problem.
    I'm not opposed to government per se. I'm not a government-basher. 
But we in government must understand, bigger isn't better; better is 
better.
    One hundred days ago today, I asked the Congress--and Pete referred 
to this--to tackle the urgent problems here at home

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with the same commitment that this country dedicated itself to in 
tackling the crisis in the Persian Gulf. I spelled out a comprehensive 
domestic agenda, but asked Congress, recognizing the complexities, to 
pass just two bills in 100 days--a comprehensive anticrime bill and a 
transportation bill to do something about the infrastructure in our 
country. These bills would work. As a matter of fact, I sent that crime 
bill to the Hill 24 months ago--2 years ago tomorrow. Neither bill has 
reached my desk. And the American people, as they look at our system, 
don't understand why.
    The American people don't understand what's so hard about passing a 
bill in 100 days to fight crime. They don't understand the delay, the 
inaction, the foot-dragging, particularly when they see that Congress 
can pass a funding bill for a ferryboat in Samoa or a study of the 
Hatfield-McCoy feud while threatening to cancel the manned space program 
and the Space Station Freedom.
    Last week, a congressional committee nearly canceled the second 
golden age of space exploration and its possibilities for new knowledge, 
new technology, and whole new industries here on Earth. Thanks to wiser 
heads in Congress, both Democrat and Republican, the space station 
survived--not, as some believe, at the expense of science. Science and 
space must be partners in the budget wars, both vital investments in the 
future.
    We must invest now in a brighter future. That's why our 
administration fully supports high performance computing, and math and 
science education. We're also proposing a 13-percent increase, bringing 
research and development to $76 billion. We want to increase funding for 
the supercollider by more than 100 percent. Government and the free 
market often converge in the field of basic research. Together, they 
help produce a brighter future for all Americans. And that's why my 
commitment to it is so strong.
    Most Americans find beltway bickering mystifying, and they should. 
We ought to think of nobler issues and purposes. We must call upon our 
higher aspirations. We've done it before, first carving out a superpower 
out of the wilderness, and then creating the most prosperous, educated 
society on Earth, and now, thanks to the leadership of many right here 
on this stage, reaching beyond our planet to the glory of space.
    With the telescopes on Mount Palomar, with the Keck telescopes in 
Hawaii, your astronomers are looking farther than mankind has looked 
before. Your JPL labs enable unmanned space missions such as the 
Pioneers and Voyagers to touch the distant boundaries of our solar 
system.
    And here in Pasadena, scientists can now use the world's fastest 
computer. I hear that the computer is so advanced, it can actually 
calculate the number of ``Tommy's Burgers'' that you all eat. [Laughter] 
And I am told--this may be far-fetched--that it can reprogram the 
scoreboard at the Rose Bowl even faster. [Laughter]
    You know, it's great--CalTech is one of the few schools in the 
country where ``PC'' has always stood for ``personal computer.''
    To guarantee that the 21st century becomes the Next American 
Century, we must combine the might of the free market and intelligent 
government with something else: the brilliance of those who make a 
difference in the lives of others, including the ones that I refer to as 
the Points of Light.
    We know what it takes to solve problems in our own neighborhoods. 
Some among us have decided to step to the front lines of the war on 
drugs; others have taken time to teach others to read, or volunteered to 
care for AIDS babies after work and at night.
    Your education here at CalTech enables you to lead, to use your 
talents for the sake of our country and communities and our children. 
Those of you who volunteered to help abused women and children at the 
Hestia House, or taught kids to read in Pasadena, or helped the boys and 
girls at Five Acres--you have accepted the challenge. You understand 
that with your diploma today comes a commitment to reach for the 
horizons of justice and opportunity, freedom and peace.
    In the next American century, all of us will have a responsibility 
to lead. Each part of our communities--the union halls, the police 
clubs, the chambers of commerce,

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the parents, teachers--everyone can use their power to solve problems. 
Because, if you think about it, there isn't a problem in America that 
isn't being solved somewhere.
    Whether you're drawn to the magic of the marketplace, to the honor 
of public service, or to the ethic of serving others, each of you will 
be building an America whole and good. Your generation will map our 
voyage into the next century. I join you in your quest for faraway 
places and salute your vision of worlds unseen.
    Thank you for your hospitality. And may God bless each and every one 
of you as you graduate from this wonderful institution. Thank you, very 
much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:35 a.m. on the 
                        California Institute of Technology athletic 
                        field. In his opening remarks, he referred to 
                        Gov. Pete Wilson of California and his wife, 
                        Gayle; Representative Carlos J. Moorhead; Ruben 
                        F. Mettler, Thomas E. Everhart, Paul C. 
                        Jennings, Lee A. DuBridge, and Arnold O. 
                        Beckman, chairman of the board of trustees, 
                        president, provost, president emeritus, and 
                        chairman emeritus, respectively, of the 
                        California Institute of Technology; Harold 
                        Brown, chairman of the Foreign Policy Institute 
                        at Johns Hopkins University; R. Danton Avery, 
                        founder and chairman of Avery International; and 
                        Marguerite Shuster, pastor of Knox Presbyterian 
                        Church in Pasadena, CA. He also referred to the 
                        presence of protesters in the audience.