    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 22, 1993]
    [Pages 1806-1807]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With John Culea of KFMB-TV, San Diego
    October 22, 1993

    Technology Reinvestment Project

        Mr. Culea. All right. Well, we'll see if we can put you on the hot
    seat here. [Laughter] How do you balance a cash award in this
    announcement today to one company with its potential negative job impact
    on a competitor? Wouldn't  tax  incentives  be  more equitable?
        The President. No, I disagree with that. For one thing, these awards
    are designed to develop defense technologies for commercial purposes.
    And they were the result of a competitive process. For those who were
    not picked, let me say we're coming back next year with over $500
    million in new funds for these kinds of projects, and we will be doing
    more.
        But the reason it's important to do it this way is that we have all
    these defense technologies that need to be put to work in the commercial
    sector. And in terms of the award in San Diego, let me remind you that
    there are literally thousands of bridges in this country, thousands,
    that need repair and a lot of new ones that need to be built. So if this
    technology can be put to work in doing that, they shouldn't be able to
    push anybody else with a genuinely competitive product out of the
    market, because there are so many thousands of bridges that need
    repair--and cities and local governments and States are just beginning
    to face up to those responsibilities--and because in the 1980's this
    country walked away from its infrastructure needs. So, I don't see that
    as a problem, particularly in this sector of the economy.
        Mr. Culea. You mentioned awards to Redondo Beach, Fullerton, I
    believe two others. Most of the awards, though, were out of State. We
    have 250,000 defense jobs that were lost here. What do you say to those
    people who need help?
        The President. Most of the awards were out of State, but California
    got the lion's share of the awards, ran away with the contest, as well
    you would expect, because there are so many defense workers out of work
    and because there's so much technology capacity. So the State did very
    well on this first round, and I would expect

    [[Page 1807]]

    that there will be more in the second, third, and fourth rounds.
        Keep in mind, this was just the first of four rounds between now and
    November, and then next year we'll have another $500 million-plus to put
    in a whole new round of these projects. So I would say to them, I'm
    going to fund as many of these projects as possible; I'm working as hard
    as possible.
        I also would point out that in the San Diego area, two other things
    have been done which will help in the base closing and reorganization.
    There will be a net gain of 5,200 jobs in the San Diego area, and we
    just released from export controls $37 billion worth of computer,
    supercomputer, and telecommunications equipment, which will open new
    markets and create many thousands of jobs in California; many of them
    will be in southern California.
        So I'm moving as quickly as I can on this, and I hope that the
    Members of the Congress will all be as supportive as Congresswoman Lynn
    Schenk has been of this project, because if we had more folks like her
    who were willing to fund this project at higher levels, we can move even
    more quickly and help even more California working people.
        Mr. Culea. This being a Navy-Marine town, there is concern that our
    military be prepared for anything in the future. What can you say to
    that as far as defense conversion and our ability to be prepared for
    future contingencies?
        The President. The head of naval research was here today with me,
    Admiral Pelaez. He made the point that in a very profound way, this
    program we announced will help to keep our defense strong, because we
    know that the defense budget's going to be reduced. This program will
    help to use the commercial research and development sector to keep the
    defense technology strong, even as we're using defense technologies to
    create jobs in the commercial sector. That is, by putting the two
    together, we'll be able to get a bigger bang for our defense dollar. So
    that even though there will be some reduction in defense spending, we'll
    be able to keep ahead of all of the other countries in the world and as
    far as we need to be on technology.
        Mr. Culea. Could you give us an idea of the control of this money in
    some defense contractors? Jobs have been cut, profits go up, and then
    bonuses are given to top executives. What about the control of the money
    going to these firms?
        The President. Well, first of all, let me explain what happens now.
    We have announced the projects that were worthy and that won the right
    to participate in this project. Now, what will happen is the group of
    people from our Government's side who work in this area will negotiate
    with each and every company to make sure that they put up their share of
    the money and to determine how they will spend this money.
        This money, in almost every case, is not an overwhelming amount of
    money for these companies. What this money will be necessary for is to
    actually invest in developing this new product and marketing it
    commercially. So there won't be much of an opportunity for a rake-off
    here, otherwise the whole thing will collapse. And they have to agree in
    advance not only on a contribution schedule from their point of view but
    on what the money's going to be spent on. And I think we'll avoid those
    abuses.
        Mr. Culea. All right. Mr. President, thank you so much for sharing
    your thoughts, and I hope you get a better seat next time.
        The President. Thank you very much.

    Note: The interview began at 12:02 p.m. The President spoke via
    satellite from Room 459 of the Old Executive Office Building.