    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 22, 1993]
    [Pages 1156-1157]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1156]]

    Remarks at a Communications Technology Demonstration
    July 22, 1993

        Thank you very much. Distinguished Members of Congress, FCC
    Commissioners, Mrs. Graham, distinguished members of the high-tech
    community and communications industry who are here today, I thank all of
    you for coming, and I appreciate your sitting through my education here.
    I hope it isn't too warm. We've gotten a little bit of break in the
    weather. I got to send the Vice President that message over there, and
    it's nice to know he'll be able to stop the rains in the Midwest within
    a few moments, remote control. [Laughter]
        Just beginning by building on what the Vice President said, it is
    perfectly clear that in our Nation we need an economic strategy that
    deals with a lot of our larger structural issues, particularly the
    deficit, but also recognizes that creating jobs today in a global
    economy requires us to make the most of the assets we have and to find a
    way once again to make sure that technology continues to be a net
    generator, not a net reducer, of jobs. We are here today to celebrate
    one of those opportunities. In recent years, we haven't done enough to
    control our larger economic issues, nor have we done enough to seize
    these particular opportunities. We want to reverse both these trends and
    ignite growth.
        The economic plan that I have presented to the Congress, as all of
    you know, offers $500 billion worth of deficit reduction divided equally
    between spending cuts and revenue increases, with most of the revenue
    increases coming from people with incomes well above $200,000 and the
    spending cuts coming across the board in virtually every area of our
    national life.
        The Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, in testimony to
    the House Banking Committee on Tuesday said that the reason long-term
    interest rates were at a 20-year low is because, and I quote, ``of the
    expectations of a significant, credible decline in the budget deficit.''
    And he pointed out that if we did not act now and significantly, those
    good trends and long-term interest rates being down--which are leading
    millions of Americans to refinance their homes, I would imagine
    including some people here in this audience today, refinance business
    loans, and otherwise move in ways that are advantageous to themselves
    and the economy--that if we did not do that, we would be in trouble. He
    further pointed out that if we resolved the budget issue and dealt with
    our health care cost problems, the United States economy could, quote,
    ``emerge healthier and more vibrant than in decades.'' That is what
    we're talking about, the future of this country. And I think that is
    what we must focus on.
        Part of this economic plan is the ``Emerging Telecommunications
    Technology Act'' introduced by Senators Hollings, Inouye, Stevens of
    Alaska, Congressman Dingell of Michigan, Congressman Markey of
    Massachusetts, who is here with us. It's been called the information
    equivalent of the Alaskan oil strike or the California gold rush. It
    offers great opportunities for people to create new jobs, start new
    businesses, invest in people. And it will reduce the deficit, according
    to Congressional Budget Office estimates, by something over $7 billion.
    It's a great deal for all of us.
        In this plan we allow for 200 megahertz of the electromagnetic
    spectrum now used by Federal Agencies to be licensed to the private
    sector by the Federal Com- munications Commission. For the few
    nonphysicists in the audience, the spectrum is the airwaves that
    transmit communication signals. The additional 200 megahertz of the
    spectrum would be capable of adding the equivalent of 33 television
    channels in every market in the United States. A decade ago, as the Vice
    President said, the U.S. cellular telephone industry was launched on
    only 50 megahertz of the spectrum. At that time, experts said the
    industry would have slightly less than a million subscribers by the year
    2002. Well, those initial licenses leveraged $11 billion in private
    investment that grew into more than 11 million subscribers, $3 billion
    in exports, and 100,000 jobs in 1992. When the FCC reallocates the
    spectrum for personal communication services alone, it is estimated that
    another 300,000 jobs could be added to the American economy in the next
    10 to 15 years. And that doesn't take into account what will be done
    with the remainder of this 200 megahertz allocation.
        This plan creates the infrastructure to develop the most advanced
    commercial wireless communication networks the world has ever known.

    [[Page 1157]]

    It will allow an industry to grow by tens of billions of dollars by the
    end of the decade, producing hundreds of thousands of new high-skill,
    high-wage jobs. It will close our Federal budget deficit, or certainly
    help to, while correcting America's investment deficit at the same time,
    a win-win scenario for our taxpayers, our workers, our Government, and
    our entrepreneurs, an investment of historic proportions.
        We have entered a new era of human communications where wireless
    technologies become information skyways, a new avenue to send ideas and
    masses of information to remote locations in ways most of us would never
    have imagined, and as we've just seen in all these demonstrations, also
    provides new ways to improve people's lives in very practical ways, and
    perhaps to save lives in remote areas or emergency circumstances where
    once that was simply impossible. Wireless hand-held computers and phones
    will deliver the world to our fingertips, wherever we may be, with speed
    and flexibility.
        Only last week the FCC reallocated emerging technology spectrum for
    the kinds of services and benefits we've seen here today. When a natural
    disaster hits, this technology can come to the rescue. When an emergency
    medical vehicle has a patient and the only hospital is a long way away,
    it can mean the difference between life and death, as we've seen this
    morning. In schools where wires may be too costly to run, this
    technology can link students with other students, with libraries in
    other schools. In manufacturing, this technology can give our companies
    the extra speed and production that today may make all the difference
    between staying ahead of the competition and going under.
        When the race toward innovation knows no boundaries, this economic
    plan can keep America ahead of our competitors with information highways
    and skyways second to none and the best educated, best trained, and best
    equipped work force in the world. That's what this economic growth
    strategy is all about: historic change, more growth, more free
    enterprise, more innovation to put the American people to work and give
    them the future they deserve.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:13 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Katharine Graham, chairman of the
    board, Washington Post Co.