[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1993)]
[Pages 1915-1918]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Announcing the Clean Car Initiative

 September 29, 1993

    Thank you very much, and good morning ladies and gentlemen. I want 
to say a special good morning to the young people whose vision of the 
future can be seen on these great drawings they have done.
    I want to begin by, as the Vice President did, acknowledging the 
presence here of Mr. Eaton, Mr. Poling, Mr. Smith, Mr. Bieber, and also 
a lot of representatives of auto suppliers, people who supply component 
parts who will have a major role in this great project, I thank all them 
for being here, the Members of Congress. I also want to acknowledge one 
that we inadvertently omitted, Senator Bryan from Nevada, a longtime 
leader in the struggle to increase fuel efficiency.
    I kind of liked the Vice President's story about the self-starter. 
When I first met Al Gore, I thought he had one of those implanted in him 
at an early age. [Laughter]

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    This is especially a happy moment for me. Some of you know that when 
I was a young man, when I was very young, my father was a Buick dealer 
in a small town in Arkansas where I was born, and he later went into 
business with my uncle in a larger town. I can still remember the first 
gainful work I think I ever did, when I was 6 years old, was trying to 
help my dad restore some Henry J.'s that had burned in a fire 35 miles 
from our home. And as a favor to the dealer, he helped him restore the 
cars, and we got to keep one. So until I was 18 years old, I drove a 
1952 Henry J. self-made convertible. I once had an accident in it, and 
my jaw hit the steering wheel, and I broke the steering wheel in half. I 
don't know if that was an advertisement for my jaw or a condemnation of 
the steering wheel.
    One of my most prized possessions is a 1967 Mustang convertible that 
I restored a few years ago. And I think when I left my home, it was the 
thing that I most regretted leaving behind. The other people who drove 
on the roads in my home State, however, were immensely relieved.
    I think that all of us have our car-crazy moments and have those 
stories. Today, we're going to try to give America a new car-crazy 
chapter in her rich history, to launch a technological venture as 
ambitious as any our Nation has ever attempted. General Motors, Ford, 
Chrysler, and your National Government have agreed to accept a set of 
ambitious research and development goals for automobiles. We're 
confident that other companies outside Detroit will join in.
    Our long-term goal is to develop affordable, attractive cars that 
are up to 3 times more fuel-efficient than today's cars--3 times--and 
meet strict standards for urban air pollution, safety, performance, and 
comfort.
    Industry and Government engineering teams will work together on 
this. The project will involve Federal and industry funding. The 
Government will pick up a greater share of the high-risk projects, ones 
identified by an auto industry/Government team. We'll have three types 
of research projects: first, advanced manufacturing techniques to lower 
production costs and get new products on the market fast; second, 
research on technologies that can lead to near-term improvements and 
auto efficiency safety and emissions; and third, research that could 
lead to production prototypes of vehicles capable of up to 3 times 
greater fuel efficiency.
    Now, the Vice President mentioned that this brings together a number 
of things we are trying to do in this administration. First, there's a 
public-private partnership. Government can't do these things by itself, 
but there are a lot of things that we need to be working on that market 
forces alone can't do. So the third way, a partnership between the 
Government and the private sector to avoid the inefficiencies, the 
bureaucracies, and the errors of Government policy but to add the 
technology and the investment expertise we can bring, I think this is 
the way we're going to solve a lot of problems in the future. We'd be 
foolish not to rely on the auto industry with its clear understanding of 
the practical problems, and this makes sure that neither Government nor 
industry wastes money on projects with no real future.
    The second thing we want to do is to keep America competitive. When 
you think of all the slogans you've heard over the years, what stands 
out is not just how catchy they are but how much truth there is to them. 
In the new Chrysler form skillfully follows--in the new Chryslers--
excuse me--form skillfully follows functions. Ford has had better ideas. 
And there is a lot to admire if you've driven a Buick lately. We have 
got to do more of this.
    You know, one of the great untold stories, although it's beginning 
to get out, is that these people up here on this stage are regaining 
American market share. People are buying more American cars made in 
America because they're doing a good job.
    And since the auto industry is responsible for one out of every 
seven jobs in the United States, it is clearly incumbent upon all of us 
to support this effort and to make sure it succeeds. What better way is 
there to work together on a car that's practical, affordable, fun to 
drive, places little or no burden on the environment? We want American 
cars at the head of this parade, not bringing up the rear. Believe me, 
there will be a huge market for them.

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    The third thing we want to do--and this is very, very important to 
this administration; part of our commitment to reinventing Government--
is to get rid of wasteful and costly regulation. The Government will in 
no way abdicate its responsibility in the search for near-term 
improvements in fuel efficiency, but we do want to break the wasteful 
gridlock in Washington over auto issues. We want a vehicle that lets us 
scrap a lot of the regulation in place today because it's achieved the 
objectives of the regulation in a much more efficient and market-based 
way.
    This agreement represents an important peace dividend. It makes the 
expertise of the Department of Energy's weapons labs, as well as the 
research departments throughout the Department of Defense available to 
industry. That means all those super-strong, light-weight materials 
developed for weapons systems will be available here.
    I told someone today right before we came out--I told the Vice 
President that I remember very vividly over 30 years ago standing in the 
showroom of the Buick dealership in my hometown and having my dad look 
at the new models and say, ``You know, some day they'll figure out a way 
to make a car that weighs less than half this much, and the fuel 
efficiency problems will be a long way toward being solved.'' Now we 
know we'll be able to do things with engines that we never dreamed over 
30 years ago.
    Let me make one last point. This agreement grows out of a bedrock 
premise of this administration, one of the reasons that I ran for 
President. This agreement reflects an understanding that changes in this 
world are inevitable. They cannot be repealed. They cannot be rolled 
back. They cannot be denied. They can be avoided or delayed at our 
peril. What we have to do is to try to find a way to make these changes 
our friends. This is a visionary effort on behalf of the American people 
to make change our friend in one of the most important economic areas of 
American life. We do not have the choice to do nothing. We have to act 
decisively to shape change so that it matches the needs of the future. 
That's what we're trying to do with health care. That's what we're 
trying to do with economic policy. That's what we're trying to do here 
today.
    This is the end of a long negotiation and the beginning of a great 
period of action and excitement in American life. Is there any risk? You 
bet there is. We have to condition the American people to be willing to 
take more risks and fail in order to ultimately succeed. Will we have 
setbacks? I imagine we will if we do anything. But that's no reason to 
give up.
    Alexander Graham Bell once remarked that if he had known more about 
electricity, he never would have invented the telephone. We need a 
little more of that kind of ignorance today--to just keep walking into 
those solid walls until they give way.
    We cannot be deterred by the difficulty. For 50 years, the companies 
represented here today have comprised the basic engine of American 
prosperity. Working together, we can make sure the freedom and 
convenience of personal vehicles will continue to be available to all 
Americans. We intend to do nothing less than to define the world car of 
the next century, to propel the auto industry to the forefront of world 
automobile production, and to make this industry the source of 
imagination for young people of the future, for their ideas, their 
careers, and their efforts.
    I'm excited. But most importantly, maybe, our young people are 
excited. And let me just close with this story. I was greeting a number 
of Ambassadors the other day, including an Ambassador from one of the 
Baltic countries who has an American wife and a young son who is 5 years 
old, who speaks fluent English and German, because his father had been 
living in Germany. I never met a 5-year-old kid like this in my life. 
And when I shook hands with him, he said, ``I'm glad to meet you, Mr. 
President. I want you to make a car that runs on electricity and doesn't 
pollute the air.'' And he said, ``I intend to work on this, and I want 
you to tell the Vice President that I'm working on this.'' [Laughter]
    So I said, ``Well, you tell him.'' I was so impressed I went to get 
Al Gore, and I introduced him to this 5-year-old boy, and he said, 
``Hello, Mr. Vice President. I intend to spend my life working on 
this.'' And he said, ``I am going to help you develop an electric car 
that has no pollution.'' And Al Gore says, ``That

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means we're going to be partners.'' He said, ``Yes, I guess so. But you 
don't understand. I'm going to spend my whole life on this.'' [Laughter]
    We've got all these kids out there that are on fire about this. And 
I want to say again, maybe that's the most important thing in the world. 
We can keep them looking to the future with confidence. This country 
needs a good dose of old-fashioned confidence today that all the 
challenges we face can be met and conquered. And this ought to be a 
clear signal to America that the core of the American industrial 
economy, the auto industry, is looking to the future with confidence and 
that the United States Government is going to be their partner in that 
successful march.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:24 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Robert J. Eaton, chairman and 
chief executive officer, Chrysler Motor Co.; Harold A. Poling, chairman 
and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Co.; John F. Smith, Jr., 
president, General Motors Co.; and Owen Bieber, president, United Auto 
Workers. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
these remarks.