Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 13:47:52 EDT From: Rita Marie Rouvalis Subject: File 6--Bill Clinton on Electronic Technology (From EFFector 3.04) STATEMENT OF BILL CLINTON FOR THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS (IEEE) Bill Clinton for President Committee * 1317 F Street, NW, Suite 902 * Washington DC 20004 Telephone 202-393-3323 FAX 202-393-3329 e-mail correspondence@dc.Clinton-Gore.org "We face a fundamental economic challenge today: to create a high-wage, high-growth national economy that will carry America into the 21st century. We need a long-term national strategy to meet this challenge and win. "Our productivity and income have been growing so slowly because we've stopped investing in the economic infrastructure that binds our markets and businesses together, in the education and training necessary to give our workers world-class skills, and in the research and development that can restore America to the cutting edge of the world economy. As a nation, we're spending more on the present and the past and building less for the future. We need a President who will turn the country around and refocus on the long view. As President, I will divide the budget into three parts, creating a separate 'future budget' for the federal government to make investments that will enrich our country over the long term. Today the federal government spends only 9 per cent of the budget on investments for the future; a Clinton Administration will double that. We will pay for it by diverting resources no longer needed for defense, but we will ensure that every dollar we take out of military R&D goes into R&D for civilian technologies until civilian R&D can match and eventually surpass our Cold War military R&D commitment. "As President, I will create an investment tax credit and a new enterprise tax cut that rewards those who invest in new businesses that create new jobs. I will also make the research and development tax credit permanent. "My administration will create a civilian research and development agency to support research in the technologies that scientists have already identified as the basis for launching new growth industries and revitalizing traditional ones over the next two decades. This civilian DARPA will coordinate R&D to help companies develop innovative technologies and bring new products to market. And without inhibiting the competition that drives innovation, we will encourage and promote collaborative efforts among firms and with research institutes for commercial development just as we have done with defense technologies for 40 years. "A Clinton Administration will create a high-speed rail network between out nation's major cities. And in the new economy, infrastructure means information as well as transportation. More than half the U.S. workforce is employed in information-intensive industries, yet we have no national strategy to create a national information network. Just as the interstate highway system in the 1950s spurred two decades of economic growth, we need a door-to-door fiber optics system by the year 2015; a link to every home, lab, classroom and business in America. "For small defense manufacturers hit by cuts in defense spending, the Small Business Administration will provide small conversion loans to help finance their transition, and launch a Technology Assistance Service -- modeled on the Agricultural Extension Service -- to provide easy access to the technical expertise it takes to convert to commercial production. "To enjoy the full benefit of these investments, we must do everything possible to open up markets now closed to American products. My administration will provide the leadership for Japan and the European countries to join us in coordinating our macroeconomic policies and in reaching multilateral trade negotiations. But we will also provide the muscle to open up Japan's markets to competitive U.S. products using a stronger and more carefully targeted "Super 301" approach. We favor a free and open trading system, but if our competitors won't play by those rules, we will play by theirs. "All the investments in the world won't mean much if our workers don't have the education or the skills to take advantage of the opportunities they create. My administration will fully fund Head Start, increase funding for Chapter 1, and provide seed money for innovative education projects. However, we will also raise standards by establishing a national testing system in elementary and secondary schools and instituting report cards for ever state, school district, and school in the nation, to measure their progress. We will also create a nationwide apprenticeship program for those young people who choose not to go to college, and a national trust fund for college loans for those who do. These loans will be repaid either as a small percentage of income over time or with a couple of years of national service. "With the strategy I have outlined, we can restore the American Dream by enabling every citizen and every business to become more productive, and in so doing, restore our nation to the front lines of high technology. ------------------------------ Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253