[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 15, 1992]
[Pages 1567-1570]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to Sandia National Laboratories Employees in Albuquerque, New 
Mexico
September 15, 1992

    Thank you for that welcome. Thank you so very much. And it's a joy 
to be introduced by your great Senator, Pete Domenici, steadfast, loyal 
supporter of the people that sent him to Washington. He knows how he got 
elected, and he hasn't forgotten. And he does something unique. He votes 
the way in Washington that he talks in New Mexico, making him quite 
different than many Members of the United States Senate. And so he's 
doing a great job for the people of this State.
    I'm also pleased to see two of our Cabinet members here: Secretary 
Manuel Lujan, a former Congressman from New Mexico, great American; and 
of course, Jim Watkins, former Chief of Naval Operations, now our 
Secretary of Energy; both doing a superb job in our Cabinet. And may I 
salute Steve Schiff and Joe Skeen. If we had more Members of Congress 
like them everybody wouldn't be yelling at me, ``Clean House!''

[[Page 1568]]

We've got two good ones right here. And Bruce Twining, the manager of 
the Department of Energy's Albuquerque office; and let me also 
especially thank Al and Sig, my two hosts here today. I love that 
plowshare, I love it. And it's a wonderful thing when you can think what 
it really signifies. It will have a special place in any library that 
I'm associated with in the future.
    It's great to be back in Albuquerque, this beautiful city, and I 
understand that you'll host the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. 
I'll leave it to you to decide whether the Presidential candidates 
should be invited. [Laughter]
    But I came here today to talk a little bit about the future. And 
it's really your future. But before I look ahead, a word of thanks for 
the past, because I can stand before this wonderfully productive and 
patriotic audience this afternoon and say something no President has 
ever said before: The cold war is over, and freedom finished first. 
Where was the cold war won? Well, it was won along the trenches of 
Korea, on the training fields of our military academies, and inside the 
pockets of our taxpayers who dug deep and spent $4 trillion over four 
decades to keep the Soviet bear at bay. But the cold war was won in 
other places, like right here in Sandia and up on the hill in Los 
Alamos. And let me quote someone who I'm not in the habit of quoting 
very often, Leonid Brezhnev. Speaking at the height of the cold war, 
Brezhnev said, and I quote, ``At the present stage, problems of 
scientific technological progresses are acquiring, quite frankly, 
decisive importance.'' Now, I admit that's not exactly the most 
memorable statement ever made. It's not exactly going to compete with 
``You got the right one, baby.'' But Mr. Brezhnev was right: All the 
courage, all the sacrifice, all the wealth in the world would not have 
made a difference had we not had scientists on our side.
    And so I've come here today on behalf of all Americans, on behalf of 
all who love freedom, to say thanks to you, thanks to the men and women 
of Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and Sandia. You were the scientific 
saviors of the free world. Now you are in the forefront of our effort to 
help ensure the safe and secure dismantling of former Soviet nuclear 
warheads. With the historic agreements I've reached with Boris Yeltsin, 
I know you're awfully busy lately. And yet, although we are now reducing 
our nuclear forces dramatically, a safe and reliable deterrent remains 
essential to our national security. Let's not kid ourselves: The Soviet 
bear may be gone, but there are still plenty of wolves in the woods. And 
those wolves could turn into full-fledged, fire-breathing dragons if 
they acquire nuclear capability. And I make this promise: I will never 
let these threats endanger our kids' security.
    In July, I announced a comprehensive strategy to stem the spread of 
weapons of mass destruction and discourage the use. Today I want to take 
the next step. With the cold war over, we can do with a smaller nuclear 
stockpile. And with a smaller stockpile, we need smaller amounts of 
tritium, an essential ingredient in nuclear weapons. Today I am 
announcing the immediate deferral of the Department of Energy's billion-
dollar program to build a new production reactor for tritium. But the 
safety of our children is paramount. So I will ask the Congress to 
redirect $166 million to support the nuclear nonproliferation initiative 
I announced in July through work done at national laboratories like 
Sandia. You and your colleagues will develop new technologies to detect 
and prevent the spread of weapons on land, at sea, and in space. And 
once again, your scientific brilliance will help make sure that our 
children sleep soundly and dream the sweet dreams of peace.
    Also today I'm asking Congress to reallocate $250 million in funds 
for the Department of Defense procurement items to provide an increase 
in research and advance technology programs through DARPA. This research 
in communications, supercom- puters, and manufacturing technology will 
help protect our national security and strengthen our civilian 
technology. And by the way, it will employ the talents and skills of 
more than 3,000 scientists and engineers.
    You see, the end of the cold war brings more than new security 
challenges. It's brought a period of global economic transition. And I 
know you're feeling the impact

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right here in New Mexico. But while some will tell you America's in 
decline, I say the best days are yet to come. The defining challenge of 
our age is to win the new economic competition, to make sure that in the 
21st century America remains not just a military superpower but an 
export superpower and an economic superpower.
    Last week I laid out my Agenda for American Renewal, a 
comprehensive, integrated strategy to respond to the challenges of this 
new, more competitive world. My agenda has six parts to start. I want to 
aggressively pursue free trade agreements with other nations, because 
American workers never retreat; we always compete. And we will win.
    I have a program already well underway to revolutionize our schools. 
Somebody was asking, what about education? Well, let me say this: You 
tell me why a nation that can make smart bombs cannot produce the 
smartest kids in the entire world. I want to sharpen the competitive 
edge in education. And we can do it.
    I want to sharpen the edge of American business, especially small 
business. And that means relief from taxation, regulation, and yes, 
litigation.
    American men and women deserve economic security. For example, I 
have a plan to make health care available to every working American and 
to cut costs through competition. The way I see it, you should only feel 
the pain in your head when you're at the doctor's office, not 2 months 
later when you get the bill at home.
    America in the 21st century cannot afford to leave anyone behind. 
And so we need a welfare system that encourages families to stick 
together and fathers to stick around.
    And lastly, but not in the least, we need to change the only 
institution in our society that has been resistant to change for so many 
years: the Federal Government, and the United States Congress included. 
And I have a plan to limit the growth of mandatory Federal spending and 
save almost $300 billion over the next 5 years. But while we set 
priorities, Government can still have an important role in responding to 
the challenges of a new economy.
    Look what's going on right here. I got a little bird's-eye view of 
that in this tour I've just had at the labs right here in Sandia. The 
same scientific talents that won the cold war are now being put to use 
in the new economic competition, as we strengthen our high-tech 
manufacturing base, as we improve our productivity and create the high-
paying jobs of the future for you and your kids. I just had a tour of 
your lab, and I must say I was deeply impressed by what is going on 
here, especially with your robotics operation. I'm just waiting for one 
of you to come up with a robot that can give a public speech. I'm sure 
it will make my life easier and also yours. And I won't ask the national 
press to touch that one with a 10-foot automated pole.
    Listen, inside these labs you're teaching American business how to 
manufacture, how to take the lead in building new industries of the 21st 
century. And just as important, you are leading the way to a clean 
environment. Some say the only way to clean our air and water is with 
regulation, Government keeping an iron arm on business. And I say there 
must be a better way. In these walls and at Los Alamos you are devising 
new technologies in waste reduction and environmentally conscious 
manufacturing. These technologies will allow us to manufacture products 
without pollution and achieve the elusive but important balance of good 
jobs and a clean environment for our children.
    So your work is one part of our advanced manufacturing initiative: 
investing a billion dollars in labs across this Nation to build new 
industries. And we're fighting to reform the antitrust laws to allow R&D 
cooperatives to make their research and development tax credit 
permanent, to expand the small-business innovation research program and 
regional technology alliances, and to streamline controls on American 
exports. And every one of these programs is intended to build a sturdy 
foundation for our 21st century economy. And so if you hear a certain 
young and energetic Governor saying that we need a strategy to encourage 
manufacturing, maybe you can bring him here, bring him here to Sandia to 
show him that the future has already begun. You are doing this right now 
here in these labs.
    You see, here's my belief: If we're going

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to reap the fruits of a high-tech harvest tomorrow, we have to plant the 
seeds today. Our great national labs like Los Alamos and Sandia are 
working in partnership already with businesses large and small to take 
ideas from the lab right to the marketplace. And I want to encourage 
this. That's why my budget for 1993 includes $76 billion for research 
and development, a record amount. We are investing in basic research: 
programs like the National Science Foundation, whose budget I've said we 
must double by 1994; and in health and agricultural research; in 
projects like the superconducting super collider and the human genome 
project, through which we can revolutionize our understanding of biology 
and health care. And we're making a renewed commitment to applied 
research, spending the process--speeding that up from when the scientist 
in the laboratory says ``Aha!'' to when the consumer in the store says, 
``I want to buy that.'' We have special programs underway in high-
performance computing, space exploration, the advanced materials 
sciences, and biotechnology. And we are setting priorities, holding the 
line on money in other areas of Government spending so that we can turn 
the scientific prowess of America away from creating weapons of mass 
destruction to creating new industries for mass employment.
    Now, Pete Domenici will tell you that not everyone shares our sense 
of priority, this loyalty to the future. There are many Members of the 
Congress, mainly on the liberal side, whose idea of robotics is how they 
mechanically move to satisfy the special interests. And these Members 
are constantly cutting our investments in tomorrow, to keep dollars 
pumping into the pork barrel projects today. So let them, let those 
liberals in Congress keep trying to divert tax dollars away from 
research and development. I am going to keep fighting for science and 
fighting for our economic future.
    I know this is a time of anxiety in America. Tough questions are 
being asked around dining room tables. But we have confronted much 
tougher challenges in our history, and we've won. America is always on 
the rise because of our incredible capacity for rebirth, regeneration, 
and renewal. Look what's going on right here at Sandia, the power of 
science turned in a new and more productive direction. If I were our 
economic competitors, I'd be trembling in my boots, if I knew what was 
going on in these great labs.
    Almost a 100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt led America through a period 
of transition much like this one, another time when the cynics asked, 
will tomorrow be as good as today? And Teddy Roosevelt said, ``We look 
across the dangers of the great future, and we rejoice as a giant 
refreshed. But great victories are yet to be won. The greatest deeds yet 
to be done.'' You helped bring peace to the world. Look at your work 
that way. You helped bring peace to the world. And now we turn our 
energy to a new deed: to build new industries and new jobs and create 
peace of mind here at home. For you and your colleagues across America, 
there are new deeds to be done. There are more victories to be won.
    So thank you very much for your hard and dedicated work for your 
country. Thank you for listening. And may God bless the United States of 
America, the greatest country on the face of the Earth. Thank you very 
much. Thank you all. Keep up the great work.

                    Note: The President spoke at 5:07 p.m. at the 
                        laboratory. In his remarks, he referred to 
                        Albert Narath, president, Sandia National 
                        Laboratories, and Siegfried Stephen Hecker, 
                        director, Los Alamos Laboratory. Mr. Narath gave 
                        the President a plowshare sculpted out of 
                        material from a dismantled nuclear weapon.