[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.