[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[July 30, 1992]
[Pages 1200-1203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1200]]

Remarks at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory in Waxahachie, 
Texas

July 30, 1992
    Thank you all so much for that introduction. Thanks for that welcome 
back home. Thank you so very much, and good morning everyone. Please be 
seated--never mind. [Laughter]
    Joe Barton, thank you sir, for your kind introduction, your generous 
comments. And let me just say to you, some of whom are constituents, 
many friends, the confidence I have in this man knows no bounds. He's an 
outstanding Representative for this area of Texas in the United States 
Congress.
    May I also acknowledge our dais companions: the Deputy Secretary for 
Energy that Joe talked to you about, Linda Stuntz; Jack Martin; Joe 
Cipriano; and of course, Dr. Roy Schwitters. Joe and Roy were kind 
enough to lead Linda and me on a tour of this impressive facility. And 
out there in the audience someplace, another I'm grateful to is 
Waxahachie's Mayor, Joe Grubbs. We salute him and thank him for his 
city's hospitality.
    Now, the super collider. The super collider is one of the greatest 
scientific projects in the entire world. This place attracts scientific 
genius the way our U.S. basketball players attract autograph seekers 
over there in Barcelona. So for me it is an incredible honor to be among 
you and to hear of your dreams and accomplishments.
    As much as any State, Texas is a land of old and new, a place where 
``boot'' means something you wear on your feet and what you do to turn 
on your computer each morning. And so I come here to talk just a little 
bit about what we need to do to prepare for the economy of the 21st 
century.
    I'd like to start with a story not about the economy but football, a 
story about a freshman who walked out onto the field over at S.M.U. for 
his first football practice. He told the coach, ``Look, I can throw the 
ball 60 yards in a perfect spiral. I can run the 40 in 4.4. My punts 
usually carry 75 yards into the wind.'' The coach looked at this guy; he 
said, ``Kid, everybody has a weakness. What's yours?'' And this freshman 
said, ``Well, some people might tell you I have a tendency to exaggerate 
a little bit.''
    Well, when we look at our economy, we should resist the urge to 
exaggerate our problems. Sure we face some very stiff challenges, but 
let's not forget a few facts. We're the world's largest economy. No 
other nation sells more products outside its borders; exports 
tremendously high. Inflation is the lowest in two decades. And if you 
want to talk to the world's most productive workers, you don't have to 
brush up on your Japanese or your German. The ``Dream Team'' of workers 
can be found right here in the United States of America.
    So the question today is not can America compete; we know we can do 
that. The question is how do we stay number one and share our prosperity 
with more Americans and create more jobs for the American worker.
    First, we face some short-term challenges. This morning the new 
economic numbers came out; they were released, telling you something you 
probably can pick up from conversations down at the local hardware 
store. The economy is growing, but it's got to grow faster. The economy 
grew at, what, 2.9 percent in the first quarter, and now--that was 
stronger than originally reported--but only 1.4 percent in the second. 
Housing sales, though, were much stronger than expected, up 8 percent in 
June. But overall, while the national economy is still growing, it is 
not growing fast enough.
    Now, economists are going to tell you that this kind of uneven 
growth is not unusual. Since World War II, the first year of every 
recovery has shown the same pattern, with one quarter up and the next 
quarter down a little bit. Most of the economists, blue chip economists, 
predict that the economy is going to get stronger the rest of the year, 
and I believe that they're right. But we have got to act now to 
guarantee that.
    On January 29th, I put forward a specific program to create new jobs 
with incentives to encourage businesses to hire new workers and help 
Americans who want to buy a

[[Page 1201]]

new home. If that plan was in place, it would have been creating almost 
15,000 new jobs a day, over a half a million jobs since February. For 
183 days, in spite of the efforts of Joe Barton and a handful of others, 
the Congress has dillied and dallied while too many Americans are 
looking for work. They have made some progress, but we need this program 
of growth incentives passed right now. I hope you and all of these 
people will join me. I hope you'll join me in reminding Congress that we 
can't wait another 183 days. This sign is right: We the people need 
jobs. And we need to stimulate this economy and get those jobs. So help 
me pass that growth program. No more holding the American economy 
hostage to politics. Vote for this economic recovery program, and put 
more Americans to work now.
    Now, that's the short-term program, but the real question on 
Americans' minds is: What about 5 years from now? What about 10 years, 
20? Will America still be the world's leading economy? That's the 
question that I want to just focus on in this very special place this 
morning.
    You know, our economy has changed in many ways since Barbara and I 
moved to Odessa 44 years ago, back in 1948. Back then, everybody was 
talking about new developments in television, atomic energy. This was 
just after World War II, and everyone in the neighborhood would turn out 
when somebody drove home in a brandnew car.
    Today the new industries are computers, biotech, material science. 
You not only can get a new car; you can get a car with a new fax machine 
inside it. I can't quite understand for the life of me why anyone wants 
to get faxed something while they are going along at 65 miles an hour or 
60.
    Back when I started out in business, you could get a job based on 
what you could lift with your shoulders. Today a good job depends on 
what you can fit inside your head. Back then, America reigned supreme in 
steel and emerging industries like electronics, and today we're 
competing for the lead in emerging basic industries of the 21st century: 
computers, biotech, and material science.
    It's fashionable this year for people to talk about change, about 
preparing for the future. But for the past 3 years, without a lot of 
hype or fanfare, we've put forward a series of dramatic ideas to change 
America so that we will win in the new economic olympics. From our 
unprecedented effort to open up new markets to our products to our 
program to make our grade and elementary schools as great as our 
colleges, from proposed record increases in basic laboratory research to 
new ways to help our companies get ideas from the laboratory to the 
marketplace, from new incentives for American business men and women to 
new efforts to rip away the regulations that hinder innovation, from top 
to bottom our entire program is designed to build America for the 21st 
century.
    Now, some advocate a very different, different approach. They want 
to erect protectionist walls around our economy. They suggest that 
Government should invest directly in industry and that maybe it's time 
we try having some guy in Washington pick economic winners and losers.
    I don't trust that approach. I trust our business men and women to 
create and innovate. I trust our workers to perform. I trust you, our 
best researchers and scientists, to lead America to a bigger and 
brighter future. All you need is some tools, and that's what our 
programs provide.
    First, in an age when knowledge is king, we want Americans to wear 
the crown. I admit I am very proud of our young people's domination in 
swimming and basketball. But by the year 2000 I want our kids to be 
champions not just in the pool and on the court, I want them to be 
number one in the math class and in the science lab.
    Our second priority is to extend America's heritage as the world's 
leader in technology. The new industries that I've mentioned this 
morning will potentially create millions of new jobs. We don't want them 
nurtured in Germany or Japan. We want them built here in Texas, here in 
America.
    The programs that we've put forward to build America are all 
prejudiced, yes. They are prejudiced to the future, loyal only to our 
children. But we can make this investment without new taxes or budget-
busting spending today.

[[Page 1202]]

    The Federal Government already spends, here it is, $1.4 trillion of 
your money every year. So I have proposed to do what you do with your 
family budget every weekend: set priorities. Cut back on mandatory 
spending today, and do away with almost 250 Government programs that 
simply don't work anymore.
    I've got a friend that many of you know, Randy Travis, and he sings 
something about love going on ``forever and ever.'' Well, I'm not sure 
Randy would sing the same tune about a taxpayer-supported research 
program on the mating habits of minks. We've got to get rid of those 
needless programs.
    But then we come to priorities. The super collider is big priority, 
a big part of our investment in America's future. When you talk basic 
research, this is the Louvre, the pyramids, Niagara Falls, all rolled 
into one.
    Where once we reached for the Moon above to explore new frontiers of 
our universe, soon we'll begin to tunnel below to learn about the 
fundamental question of science, how our universe began.
    A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a meeting on this project in the 
White House with seven preeminent scientists, including four Nobel prize 
winners, four Nobel laureates. They started talking about quarks and 
quenches, and I wondered for a minute if they had all spent the weekend 
bird hunting. But nevertheless--[laughter]--but beneath all the 
discussion about matter and antimatter was real talk about what matters 
to our kids' future: maintaining America's technological supremacy.
    History has shown again and again that by pushing technology to 
ever-higher levels of accomplishment, we can achieve immensely practical 
consequences. To give you just one example, at Argonne Laboratories 
years ago, scientists were trying to purify liquid hydrogen for use with 
what was then the world's largest accelerator. They ended up figuring 
out a way to make artificial kidneys for just $15 apiece. That resulted 
from this fundamental science. The same kind of developments will occur 
right here, on a scale never before imagined. Here, for example, is 
where a new electronics industry is going to be born.
    Some in Congress don't see it this way. They talk a good game about 
investment. While they proclaim to be ``future's friend'' they have 
repeatedly blocked programs I have put forward in education and 
research. And now, they've set their sights on the super collider.
    The House last month voted to shut down this project, the House of 
Representatives, in spite of the heroic efforts of this scientist, this 
Congressman with me here today, and this Deputy Secretary of Energy with 
me here today. Now, the Senate will consider it soon. And no one should 
be under any illusion: Savings from killing the super collider will not 
be used to reduce the deficit, as some said.
    Some Members of Congress want to use this money to support organized 
interests whose backing they need in an election year. They will 
squander the taxpayer's money today rather than invest in our economy 
with tomorrow in sight. Make no mistake: This is a battle being waged 
right now in the Congress between the patrons of the past, and the 
architects of the future. And that is every one of you standing here 
today.
    It may not be popular in all places, but I am determined, election 
year or not, to do what is right for America. Today I say: I stand with 
our young people who want the jobs of tomorrow. I stand with our future. 
And I will fight hard and continue to fight hard for the super collider, 
and call everybody necessary to get them to do what is right by science 
and technology.
    Five hundred years ago this Monday, a man named Columbus set sail on 
a journey that brought him to the shores of this great land. But in many 
respects, America's voyage is never-ending. Centuries after Columbus set 
sail, our forebears tread this soil in wagon trains, and two centuries 
after that, scientists at Johnson Space Center watched as brave 
Americans set sail for the stars.
    Today, new frontiers beckon; new discoveries await; new progress 
lies before us. Our adventure is not to sail the open ocean but rather 
to go to the edge of the universe and see the birth of space and of 
time. Our vessel is not called Santa Maria, it is the super collider. 
But human imagination is still our compass and human ingenuity and

[[Page 1203]]

yearning for progress our only power. To those who would sacrifice 
tomorrow for today, I say: Trust in America's future. Trust in America's 
incredible capacity for renewal and innovation. Trust in the spirit that 
is here today, for ours is an eternal voyage to greatness. And each and 
every one of you is a part of that voyage.
    Thank you for listening. May God bless Texas, and God bless the 
United States of America. Thank you very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. in the 
                        String Test Building. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Jack Martin, chairman, Texas 
                        National Research Commission; Joseph Cipriano, 
                        director of the Superconducting Super Collider 
                        Project, Department of Energy; and Roy 
                        Schwitters, Director, Superconducting Super 
                        Collider Laboratory.