[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 2, 1992]
[Pages 1735-1736]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 
1993
October 2, 1992

    Let me just say this is a good morning here. And thank you all for 
coming, some from a long way. I first want to welcome those who are here 
from the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory, those here, and also 
say welcome to those that are watching this back in Texas. My greetings 
to the Members of Congress who fought hard for this legislation.
    We're here today to take another step into the future, an American 
future that really offers unprecedented opportunities in our country's 
history. The task before us is to grasp those opportunities and to make 
them available for every American.
    The great question today is not whether America will compete in the 
new century. You and I know that we will. The question is how we 
compete, how we remain the world's leader, not only militarily and 
politically but economically as well. In large measure, the answer lies 
in pushing back the frontiers of human knowledge so that daring and 
ideas and dreams of this decade become the everyday life of the next. We 
have part of that answer before us this morning, a cornerstone of our 
agenda to keep America at the forefront of science.
    The appropriations bill that I'm about to sign provides support for 
all fields of science and technology. It ensures that one of the 
greatest adventures in human knowledge will continue. The 
superconducting super collider is to basic research what the All-Star 
game is to baseball. Already it has brought together the finest 
scientific minds in the world, academic scientists, industrial 
technologists, laboratory researchers, a collection of talent and 
brainpower not seen since the great research projects of World War II; 
and all of this scientific talent, backed by the greatest workers in the

[[Page 1736]]

world at all levels.
    In the short term, the superconducting super collider will mean 
jobs, at least 7,000 first-tier jobs across the country, and already 
23,000 contracts have been awarded to businesses and to universities. 
I'm especially pleased by the participation of those small businesses 
from 40 States who will help build the SSC.
    In the longer term, the tangible benefits of the SSC will be felt by 
every single American. Time and again, history has shown that advances 
in abstract knowledge have the most practical of consequences. The work 
done with the SSC will bear fruit in new industries, new jobs, new 
breakthroughs in medicine and chemicals, transportation, and 
electronics. The list stretches into fields of knowledge we can only 
imagine today.
    Ten days from now, we will mark the 500th anniversary of a dramatic 
landfall, the moment when Christopher Columbus set foot in a new world. 
And his spirit of fearless exploration survives. Today, Americans set 
sail not for new continents but for new ideas, not for new passageways 
but for new ways of knowing. Our frontier is the human imagination; our 
vessel, the super collider.
    I believe that the bill I'm about to sign shows us that we've 
reached a consensus about the super collider and more really about the 
future.
    I thank all of you here today who share our commitment, who worked 
so hard to ward off the shortsighted attempts to kill off the super 
collider. With your help and faith, we will ensure that America remains 
for all its people the country of tomorrow.
    Thank you all very much for coming. And now I have the honor to sign 
this bill. I congratulate once again every single Member of Congress who 
worked with these leaders of Congress here with us today to bring this 
about.

                    Note: The President spoke at 8:04 a.m. in the 
                        Roosevelt Room at the White House. H.R. 5373, 
                        approved October 2, was assigned Public Law No. 
                        102-377.