[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 18 (Monday, May 8, 2000)]
[Pages 959-960]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Decision To Stop Degrading Global Positioning System 
Signals

May 1, 2000

    Today I am pleased to announce that the United States will stop the 
intentional degradation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals 
available to the public beginning at midnight tonight. We call this 
degradation feature Selective Availability (SA). This will mean that 
civilian users of GPS will be able to pinpoint locations up to 10 times 
more accurately than they do now. GPS is a dual-use, satellite-based 
system that provides accurate location and timing data to

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users worldwide. My March 1996 Presidential Decision Directive included 
in the goals for GPS to: ``encourage acceptance and integration of GPS 
into peaceful civil, commercial, and scientific applications worldwide; 
and to encourage private sector investment in and use of U.S. GPS 
technologies and services.'' To meet these goals, I committed the U.S. 
to discontinuing the use of SA by 2006, with an annual assessment of its 
continued use beginning this year.
    The decision to discontinue SA is the latest measure in an ongoing 
effort to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users 
worldwide. Last year Vice President Gore announced our plans to 
modernize GPS by adding two new civilian signals to enhance the civil 
and commercial service. This initiative is on track, and the budget 
further advances modernization by incorporating some of the new features 
on up to 18 additional satellites that are already awaiting launch or 
are in production. We will continue to provide all of these capabilities 
to worldwide users, free of charge.
    My decision to discontinue SA was based upon a recommendation by the 
Secretary of Defense in coordination with the Departments of State, 
Transportation, Commerce, the Director of Central Intelligence, and 
other executive branch departments and agencies. They realized that 
worldwide transportation safety, scientific, and commercial interests 
could best be served by discontinuation of SA. Along with our commitment 
to enhance GPS for peaceful applications, my administration is committed 
to preserving fully the military utility of GPS. The decision to 
discontinue SA is coupled with our continuing efforts to upgrade the 
military utility of our systems that use GPS and is supported by threat 
assessments which conclude that setting SA to zero at this time would 
have minimal impact on national security. Additionally, we have 
demonstrated the capability to selectively deny GPS signals on a 
regional basis when our national security is threatened. This regional 
approach to denying navigation services is consistent with the 1996 plan 
to discontinue the degradation of civil and commercial GPS service 
globally through the SA technique.
    Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a military 
system, GPS has become a global utility. It benefits users around the 
world in many different applications, including air, road, marine, and 
rail navigation, telecommunications, emergency response, oil 
exploration, mining, and many more. Civilian users will realize a 
dramatic improvement in GPS accuracy with the discontinuation of SA. For 
example, emergency teams responding to a cry for help can now determine 
what side of the highway they must respond to, thereby saving precious 
minutes. This increase in accuracy will allow new GPS applications to 
emerge and continue to enhance the lives of people around the world.