[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[September 25, 1992]
[Pages 1638-1640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to Motorola Employees in Schaumburg, Illinois
September 25, 1992

    Thank you for that Motorola welcome. Thank you for that warm welcome 
to Motorola. I can't for the life of me understand why you give me such 
a pleasant welcome. You've been standing out here a long, long time. But 
I'm sure glad to be here. It's a great pleasure, of course, to have been 
introduced by Ronnie Haggert and then to be here with Governor Jim 
Edgar, one of the truly great Governors in the United States, and also 
be here with a longtime friend, your Congressman, my former colleague, 
my former colleague Phil Crane, two strong supporters of this high-tech 
economy of tomorrow. I'm delighted to be here with the men and women of 
Motorola, winners of the first Baldrige Award.
    I hope you know how important that is. I hope you know just how 
important that is not just to Motorola but to the entire country 
because, under the leadership then of Bob Galvin and certainly George 
Fisher, this company set an example for others. And now that coveted 
award that you won for the very first time is sought after by thousands 
of companies across this country. They're setting an example of quality. 
We have the best workers, and we have the best quality when we set our 
mind to it.
    So I thank George Fisher, and I thank Bob Galvin, an old friend 
standing here. I thank Gayle Landuyt, who gave us a tour. Marvelous, it 
was an absolutely fantastic tour. I don't know where she is. Oh, there 
she is right there. Let's hear it for Gayle. Come on, you guys, you 
chauvinists, get clapping. [Applause] She's embarrassed, and I'm happy.
    But no, seriously, I came to pay tribute to your skills, your 
creativity, your hard work

[[Page 1639]]

because if you use this as a microcosm of our country, they're writing 
the future for our whole country, the future for the United States of 
America. What you're doing is the perfect put-down for the professional 
pessimists, the doomsayers, some of whom say we cannot compete in a 
changing world. You've taken the challenges of this new world, and 
you've done what America has always done, reinvented them as 
opportunities for yourselves, for your families, and for every single 
American.
    You know, a few weeks ago in Detroit, I presented my Agenda for 
American Renewal. It is an integrated strategy for keeping America 
competitive in the new century. After our visit here this morning, I'm 
heading over to the University of Chicago, where I will expand on one 
part of this agenda, how to sharpen America's competitive business edge. 
You see, I believe that we will succeed in the new world not by making 
Government bigger but by making private business better. That's what 
Motorola's been doing. The genius, and it's true genius, the genius that 
will take our country forward is not found in the committee rooms and 
the bureaucratic beehives in Washington. It's found right here in 
companies like this. Of course, I'm not denying that Government has a 
role, but it's a role of supporting the private sector, not leading it.
    Now the professional pessimists don't want you to hear this, but 
that's what we've been doing for 4 years, laying a groundwork to help 
American business compete in this new global economy. That's why we've 
been working diligently to open markets for American goods, making 
America the greatest export superpower that the world has ever seen.
    We've had tough economic times in this country, tough economic times 
in the European countries with whom we trade; our economy doing better 
than theirs. But it is exports, it is companies that export that have 
saved the day in these difficult times. Again, I salute your leadership 
in all of that.
    I hope you don't mind if I point out a difference with my opponent. 
My opponent isn't sure exactly how he feels about free markets, open 
markets. And sometimes he says he's for them; other times, especially 
when he's talking to the special interests, he hedges his bets. But when 
American jobs are at stake, a President cannot hem and haw, can't 
waffle, can't waver in his commitments, say, ``On the one hand I'm for 
this; on the other I'm for that.'' You've got to work night and day to 
open those markets for American workers.
    You look at the radio equipment you're building right here, the 
trunked radio equipment. Before 1989, American manufacturers of this 
equipment were effectively cut out of the Japanese market, couldn't sell 
there. Well, we went to work. We got an agreement, opened up that 
market, and now your systems cover 85 Japanese cities. I salute your 
management, and I take pleasure that we were at your side in this 
effort.
    That success has been repeated over and over again. And Governor 
Clinton won't tell you and neither will the media, so let me tell you. 
Over the last 4 years our exports to Japan have grown 12 times faster 
than our imports from Japan. That is good, and you are a fundamental 
part of this. Those are new customers for the products you build. New 
customers abroad mean new jobs right here in the U.S.A. Somebody ought 
to tell my opponent Americans do not retreat; we compete. And we're 
going to win.
    You may not have yet read in today's paper the timely news about our 
mutual success for semiconductor sales in Japan. Our Government and the 
Japanese Government announced a significant increase in foreign 
semiconductor sales in the second quarter to Japan, a step-up to 16 
percent of their market share. Now, this is importantly attributable to 
effective negotiations by administration officials over many preceding 
months. And it's your achievement even more because your company had led 
the industry effort to gain access to that important market and had 
designed and produced the quality devices and the circuits that the 
Japanese want. You are leading by this kind of innovation, this kind of 
research, this kind of competition.
    Our products are clearly the best in the world. Give them the 
chance, and Americans can outwork, outthink, outcreate any-

[[Page 1640]]

body, anytime, anywhere. And you're demonstrating that.
    Now, we have to keep that edge. We must keep that edge, especially 
in the kind of new technologies that you're specializing in here. My 
opponent says he wants to do the same, but the answer is very different 
from mine. He and his advisers talk about industrial policies, economic 
plans designed by a Government elite. The planners dictate the terms, 
pick and choose their favorite technologies, pick and choose corporate 
winners. If you're lucky, they let the private sector have a piece of 
the action. All of it is paid for with new tax dollars from the middle 
class. I think that is absolutely wrong, and you have demonstrated that 
it's wrong.
    They say Government knows best. I say private industry knows better. 
So we really need to move the power away from the Government bureaucrats 
and closer to the consumer and the producer, closer to the people who 
build the products and the people who want to buy them.
    That's why we've made it a top priority to move ideas out of the 
Government research lab--and they're very, very good; I believe that you 
people that have worked with them will say they're good people there, 
good scientific talent--to move new ideas out of the Government research 
labs and into the marketplace.
    You see, it's happening right here at Motorola. Motorola has already 
signed a number of what we call CRADA's, the cooperative research and 
development agreements, with these Government research labs. I'm told 
several more of them are in the works. And we're taking the best science 
from these Government labs and letting you, the efficient workers and 
leaders, put it to work for the American consumers.
    We've got 1,400 similar agreements up and running with businesses 
across the country, and that's double the number from a year ago. Each 
one is based on a simple philosophy: When it comes to keeping American 
business competitive, Government can facilitate; it should never 
dictate.
    Now, this may be news to the Governor from Arkansas. This may be 
news to him, but it won't be news to you. We know what made America the 
envy of the world, and we know how to keep it that way. We need to open 
markets, not close them. We need smaller Government, not bigger 
Government. We need more free enterprise, not less of it. That's what 
this choice really boils down to in the fall, a choice between the 
architects of the future and the patrons of the past.
    I am very confident about this country. You know, the Governor talks 
about, ``We're a nation in decline, somewhere south of Germany and north 
of Sri Lanka.'' He ain't been there, man. [Laughter] There is great 
respect for the United States all around the world. It's not just 
because we've won the cold war. It's because they see products like the 
ones coming out of this building here as the best in the entire world.
    So we're going to stay in there, and we are going to build this 
future together. So don't let the pessimists talk you down. You're 
showing the rest of this country that America is a rising nation now, 
just as we always have been.
    Thank you all for this wonderful day. May God bless each and every 
one of you. Thank you very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 12:53 p.m. at the 
                        Motorola plant. In his remarks, he referred to 
                        Motorola officers Veronica Haggert, corporate 
                        vice president, Washington office; George 
                        Fisher, chairman of the board; Robert W. Galvin, 
                        former chairman of the board; and Gayle A. 
                        Landuyt, director of manufacturing.