[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[October 22, 1993]
[Pages 1805-1806]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With Rolland Smith of KNSD-TV, San Diego
October 22, 1993

Technology Reinvestment Project

    The President. I think we're ready now.
    Mr. Smith. Mr. President, your technology reinvestment project has 
been funded for $472 million. You have received proposals for 2,850 
projects requesting $8.4 billion. Doesn't that tell us that much more is 
needed?
    The President. Absolutely. We just got another $500-plus million 
through the Congress that we'll be coming forward with next year. And in 
January I expect to ask for more money for this program. Much more money 
is needed, and I hope the Congress will now be willing to provide more 
money for it. There were both Democratic and Republican Members of 
Congress from California to the East Coast at our announcement today. 
And I'm very hopeful now that when Members of Congress see the 
incredible number of worthy projects and the potential they have to 
revolutionize our economy in America and to put our high-tech workers 
back to work and to create more jobs, that they'll be able to fund it. 
I'm very excited. But keep in mind, this is a big first step.
    Mr. Smith. Mr. President, you said in your announcement today that 
we needed new training, new markets, new technologies. What do you say 
to the General Dynamics worker who has lost his job and lost his home, 
to the biotech worker who has lost his job and home, what do you say to 
them now? They need help now.
    The President. I say that I'm doing the very best I can. We started 
cutting back on defense long before I became President. The defense cuts 
started in '87, and there was no investment in defense conversion to 
amount to anything until I took office. The Congress appropriated $500 
million last year which was not even released by the previous 
administration until I took office. I believe in defense conversion. I 
believe in helping those people through retraining, through new 
investments, through new job opportunities, through things like this 
technology reinvestment project. And I'm going to do the very best I can 
to give them the opportunities that they need and that our country needs 
for them to have.
    Mr. Smith. The UCSD project, using materials for helping to fix 
bridges and make new lightweight ones, how many jobs do you think that 
will create?
    The President. Depends on what the market for bridges are. But let 
me just say that if you look at the evidence, at literally the thousands 
of bridges in America that are in disrepair, that desperately need 
repair, and the potential that this material has to permit that repair 
to be done quickly and efficiently, there may be a virtually unlimited 
market for it. It depends on how quickly they can make sure that this 
prototype bridge they're building works and then how quickly they can 
get out to every State in the country that controls the market for 
bridge repair and market this product. But I would say that there is an 
enormous potential to generate new jobs and incomes in your area because 
of this, for the simple reason that we have thousands and thousands of 
bridges which should have been repaired in the eighties which weren't.

Immigration

    Mr. Smith. Mr. President, we've got a border war of sorts going on 
here in San Diego. A lot of it has to do with illegal aliens coming 
across taking some jobs. And now there's an ``anti'' feeling on both 
sides, including a boycott being called for against American businesses. 
What can you do to stop the ``anti'' feeling on both sides?
    The President. Well, I think, first of all, from the point of view 
of the ``anti'' feeling on our side, we have to be able to enforce our 
immigra-


[[Page 1806]]

tion laws more equitably and more firmly. We welcome immigrants into 
this country; we always have. Southern California is, in many ways, the 
product of our commitment to opening our doors to immigrants. But when 
we have so many illegal immigrants and half of them now lodging in 
California at a time of economic difficulty, it undermines support for 
immigration in general. So first we have to try to enforce our 
immigration laws.
    Let me just mention that just this week the Senate passed, and I 
will soon sign, the bill that will permit 600 more border agents and 200 
others in supporting roles to help to increase our capacity to enforce 
our immigration laws. So that's a beginning.
    The second thing we have to do in your area is get that horrible 
pollution problem fixed, where you're getting all the pollution coming 
up from Mexico and raw sewage. We've got to accelerate the construction 
of that sewage treatment facility down there and do what we can to make 
sure that people pay their fair share on the Mexican side of the border. 
Congressman Filner is doing a terrific job for you back in Washington on 
that.
    The third thing we need to do on the Mexican side of the border, I 
guess, is to remind our friends in Mexico that we're not anti-
immigration. We just want to enforce our laws. We're doing our best, I 
am at least, to pass the NAFTA treaty, and I hope that I'll have a lot 
of support in the Congress from California on that, because it will be 
good for easing the immigration pressures. So we have to assure the 
Mexicans that we want to work with them, we want to be a partner with 
them, but we have every right to want our immigration laws to be 
respected and honored.
    Mr. Smith. Okay, Mr. President, thank you very much for joining us 
this morning.
    The President. Thank you.

Note: The interview began at 11:56 a.m. The President spoke via 
satellite from Room 459 of the Old Executive Office Building.