    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [April 12, 1993]
    [Pages 420-421]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Technology Reinvestment Project Conference
    April 12, 1993

        I want to welcome you to the first of five White House briefings on
    the Technology Reinvestment Project, a key part of my defense
    reinvestment and conversion initiative. I'd like to thank the
    organizations that are hosting this event, the Northeast Midwest
    Institute and the New York Academy of Sciences, as well as the 10 States
    that are participating. You're in good hands today with Energy Secretary
    Hazel O'Leary and our science adviser, Jack Gibbons. They're here to
    kick off the event. A superb team lead by Gary Denman, the Director of
    the Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA, and Fred Bernthal,
    Acting Director of the National Science Foundation, will fully brief you
    on the Technology Reinvestment Project and answer all your questions.
        With the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the end of the cold
    war, we've been undertaking substantial cuts in defense expenditures,
    and they will continue while still maintaining a flexible and effective
    military force. Now we can turn our attention to other national needs.
        But the adjustment to lower defense spending is still painful for
    many communities and workers and firms. An estimated 60 percent of the
    total loss in defense-related jobs between 1991 and 1997 will occur in
    only 10 States. Those of you here today represent communities and
    companies that face the challenges of moving to a civilian economy.
        Defense conversion is one of my highest priorities. It's one of the
    reasons I ran for President in 1992. We simply must act to ease the pain
    of defense downsizing, while capturing the great potential that defense
    workers and firms offer to meet pressing national economic needs. And we
    have to do it quickly.
        Last month, I announced a $20 billion 5-year initiative to reinvest
    in workers, communities, and companies harmed by cuts in military
    spending. The plan provides immediate help for hard-hit defense workers
    and communities, as well as long-term investment in our Nation's
    industrial technology infrastructure. The reinvestment and conversion
    initiative will rededicate $375 million this year alone to helping
    defense workers and military personnel hurt by cuts. They'll receive job
    training, employment services, and transition assistance to help them
    put their skills to work in a new setting.
        We're also targeting assistance to communities that are hard hit by
    defense drawdown. Through programs in the Department of Commerce and the
    Department of Defense that provide grants and revolving loans, we're
    helping these communities identify new sources of economic strength that
    will create new jobs. These defense workers and the communities will
    succeed in adapting only if we have an expanding industrial base. The
    Technology Reinvestment Project, a key component of my conversion plan,
    will play a vital role in helping defense companies adjust and compete.
        I've given this project another name, Operation Restore Jobs, to
    signify its ultimate mission, namely, to expand high quality employment
    opportunities and to enhance demonstrably our Nation's competitiveness.
    This project has generated enormous interest in the 4 weeks since I
    announced it at a Westinghouse plant outside Baltimore. More than 8,000
    people have called our 1-800-DUAL-USE hotline. Many of you who have
    placed those calls are here today. Others plan to attend one of the
    briefings to be held later this week in Detroit, Orlando, Dallas, and
    Los Angeles.
        As this enthusiastic response demonstrates, the Technology
    Reinvestment Project marks a new way of doing business. First, it begins
    a

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    new partnership between Government and industry aimed at making American
    companies more competitive. Industry must take the lead and share the
    cost. But, in return, the Federal Government will directly support
    commercial technology through industry consortia, regional technology
    alliances, and other collaborative activities. This approach rejects the
    reliance on defense spinoffs that has been the core of the Federal
    Government's technology strategy for more than 40 years. It recognizes
    that in the years ahead a growing number of defense needs can be met
    most efficiently by commercial products and commercial technology.
        Second, the Technology Reinvestment Project marks a new partnership
    between the Federal and State governments. The States have pioneered
    programs to apply technology to industrial needs, and these programs
    often provide the most effective way to help smaller defense firms
    adjust and compete in commercial markets. By supporting industry-led
    consortia through this project, we'll nurture technologies with the
    potential to become commercial products and processes within 5 years. By
    funding regional technology alliances, we'll encourage companies in
    defense-dependent regions to share information and technology in order
    to develop new products and new markets. By supporting innovative
    manufacturing extension programs run by States and universities, we'll
    help small defense firms make the transition to commercial production.
        The Technology Reinvestment Project will provide matching funds for
    efforts such as New York's defense diversification program, which has
    worked closely with more than 100 small and medium-size defense firms
    just in the last 2 years. For example, the EDO Corporation, which some
    of you visited this morning in Queens, makes antisubmarine warfare and
    aircraft armament. With help from the State's diversification program,
    this company is moving into the market for natural gas fueling stations.
    New York is also working with defense-dependent regions, particularly
    Long Island and the southern tier, to develop regional strategies for
    diversification and economic growth.
        Our past experience with defense conversion yields two lessons. The
    first is that the process of defense conversion can be improved by
    government policies designed to help companies and workers make the
    transition to new forms of production. The Technology Reinvestment
    Project, Operation Restore Jobs, is a model of how that can work. Lesson
    two is that conversion proceeds more smoothly if the domestic economy is
    growing rapidly. That's why it's so important for Congress to enact my
    whole economic program, including the stimulus package, which will help
    put Americans back to work and provide the kind of short-term boost that
    New York and New England so desperately need.
        If you want this program to go forward, if you believe in the need
    for conversion, I need your help. While Congress has passed the broad
    outlines of our economic program, it will be considering the specifics
    in the next couple of weeks. And if you've been following the filibuster
    in the Senate, you know that just a few people can stop action on
    important economic legislation by talking and talking and talking.
    You've got to remind them that they can save jobs, indeed, create new
    jobs if they'll just save their breath, stop playing politics, and start
    responding to the needs of the American people for a change.
        My mission is simple and straightforward. I want to create a healthy
    economic climate for all Americans and all businesses in all regions. I
    want to create a program of economic conversion for your businesses. I
    believe in jobs. I believe in the private sector, and I believe in you.
        Thank you for attending this conference. And thank you for your work
    in creating profits, products, and opportunities for our economy and our
    people.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:20 p.m. in Room 459 of the Old Executive
    Office Building.