Remarks at the Federal Conference
on Commercial Applications of Superconductivity
Thank
you, John, and thank you all very much. It's a great pleasure to welcome you to
I'm
pleased to announce, though -- I'm going to take a liberty here before getting
on with the subject that brought us together, to pause for a moment for an
announcement of something that I think is of interest to all of us -- that
today our delegation to the Geneva discussions on intermediate-range nuclear
missiles is putting forward a formal U.S. proposal that embodies two earlier
suggestions made by the United States. In November of 1981 we promised
elimination -- or eliminating the entire class of long-range intermediate
missiles. On June 15th we then formally offered to eliminate the shorter range
INF weapons, as well.
As
perhaps some of you know, until last week the
There's
still much to do in
Now,
before I begin our discussion of the vital subject that's brought us here
today, there is one person I must mention, a moving force in getting this
conference underway. He was a patriot, a fine Cabinet officer, and a champion
of American enterprise, and we will truly miss Mac Baldrige.
[Applause]
But
we're privileged to have here today with us many of those scientists whose
pioneering work made this conference on superconductivity a possibility, and
congratulations to you all. And it's a safe bet that this conference room also
contains many of the minds and spirits who will carry this revolution forward, who will open up a whole new realm of heretofore unimagined
possibilities and practical applications.
I've
had a lot of experience in my own career of how technology can change things. I
remember back in the twenties, when somebody first told Harry Warner about
talking pictures, and he said, ``Who the heck wants to
hear actors talk?'' [Laughter] Actually, I don't think he said, ``heck,'' --
[laughter] -- but Presidents aren't allowed the same license as studio
executives. Of course, when it comes to high-tech, Presidents often have
trouble, too, keeping up with the times. A favorite story of mine is about one
of the first times the White House hosted a science and technology event. A
demonstration of a recently invented device was put on for President Rutherford
B. Hayes. ``That's an amazing invention,'' he said, ``but who would ever want
to use one of them?'' He was talking about the telephone. [Laughter]
It's
hard to believe that it's been less than 1 year since we first heard news of
the startling breakthrough in superconductivity by two scientists in the IBM
labs in
Well,
to most of us laymen, superconductivity was a completely new term. But it
wasn't long before we learned of the great promise it held out to alter our
world for the better, a quantum leap in energy efficiency that would bring with
it a host of benefits, not least among them a reduced dependence on foreign
oil, a cleaner environment, and a stronger national economy. I've been accused
of being an incurable optimist, but lately I've been playing catch-up ball with
the usually more staid science profession.
And
the other day, I met with Dr. Graham and the members of the White House Science
Council for a briefing on superconductivity. Edward Teller told me that we have
seen discoveries in the laboratory these last 8 months that the optimists
thought we wouldn't make for 200 years. One theorist was quoted as saying: ``It
shows all the dreams that we've had can come true. The sky is the limit.''
There are predictions of high-speed trains levitated above their tracks,
supercomputers on a single silicon chip, cheaper and more effective medical
imaging devices, but I suspect that we haven't even begun to dream the
possibilities or imagine the potential. Just as no one imagined 747's making
transatlantic commercial flights when the Wright brothers first flew at
It
was Ben Franklin who wrote: ``I have sometimes almost wished it had been my
destiny to be born two or three centuries hence. For invention and improvement
are prolific and beget more of their kind. The present progress is rapid. Many
of great importance, now unthought of, will before
that period be produced; and then I might not only enjoy their advantages but
have my curiosity gratified in knowing what they are to be.'' Well, the present
process is rapid and, it seems, constantly accelerating. One can imagine how
gratified Ben Franklin would be if he were alive today. But you know, I bet he
would join me, and I'm sure most others in this room, in wishing that we had a
window to the future -- 10, 20, and 100 years hence -- so that we, too, could
see the marvels of the coming age. There's something universal in that
sentiment, I'm sure, but I can't help but feel that there's something
especially American in the optimism, the certainty of hope and faith with which
we look to the future.
Two
hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson said: ``I like the dreams of the future
better than the history of the past.'' Well, since that time, we've built here
something entirely new, a history in which Thomas Jefferson would have felt
more at home. It is a history that is constructed of dreams dreamt in freedom
and realized in a land of opportunity. Science tells us that the breakthroughs
in superconductivity bring us to the threshold of a new age. It's our task at
this conference to herald in that new age with a rush. If you will, it's our
business to discover ways to turn our dreams into history as quickly as
possible.
The
laboratory breakthroughs into high-temperature superconductivity are a historic
achievement. But for the promise of superconductivity to become real, it must
bridge the gap from the laboratory to the marketplace; it must make the
transition from a scientific phenomenon to an everyday reality, from a
specialty item to a commodity. And that's why we're here in this conference, so
that business and science can cross-fertilize, can begin at these early stages
to dream and plan together, because this new age of superconductivity is a new
arena for the spirit of enterprise, one that we can't even guess the limits of.
We
also want to see how we in government can do our part in helping this process
along. Now, I have to confess that I'm one of those people who, when the
Government offers to help, gets very nervous. We've learned
from experience that the helping hand of government too often has a crushing
weight. I'm reminded of what Wernher von Braun once
said about
Increasingly,
in this last part of the 20th century, information is becoming the most
valuable commodity. We have begun major initiatives at our national laboratories
to improve communication, and last April I signed an Executive order ensuring
that all Federal agencies and laboratories become partners with the private
sector in moving research from the laboratories to the marketplace. The message
of government is simple: We have an open door policy to the private sector;
cooperation, wherever and whenever possible, is the order of the day. We must
also move to protect intellectual property and write protections into the
Freedom of Information Act for scientific and technical information generated
by government laboratories. We need to strengthen patent laws to increase
protection for manufacturing processes and speed up the patent process so that
it can keep pace with the fast-paced world of high technology. And of critical
importance, we must modernize our antiquated antitrust laws, laws designed for
a previous century that only held
If
we're serious about improving American competitiveness, the way to do it isn't
through protectionist trade legislation that closes markets and throws people
out of work. One good place to start is bringing antitrust laws up to speed
with the modern world. This is no longer the era of the so-called robber
barons; it's the age of high-tech and global competition. Let's stop penalizing
American business and treating it like an enemy. Let's give ourselves a fair
shake in the world marketplace. I will soon send a legislative initiative to
Congress addressing these three issues -- antitrust, patents, and the Freedom
of Information Act -- as they relate to the commercial application of
superconductor technology. I hope you will lend your support to this
legislation. Your opinions matter to your Senators and Representatives. Let
them know how you feel, individually and through your various trade
organizations. This package of reforms will go a long way toward preserving the
competitive advantage of
These
and other actions are part of an 11-point superconductivity initiative that
will also include a ``wise men's'' advisory group on Federal policies and
regulations that effect superconductivity research and commercialization, the
``quick start'' grants for good ideas on processing superconducting materials
into useful forms, the establishment of a number of superconductivity research
centers, and a nearly $150 million research and development effort by the
Department of Defense over 3 years. Funding basic research, sharing
information, removing the impediments to commercialization -- in this way
government can be a catalyst to the future. But we have an even more important
role that we must be sure to accomplish. It's a fundamental role that not only
looks forward to the 21st century but harks back to the first principles
enunciated in our Constitution 200 years ago.
First,
we must recognize that just as recent breakthroughs in superconductivity have
outrun existing theories and brought us to the threshold of a new world of
opportunities, so too, the world around us is in the process of a radical
transformation, a revolution of shattered paradigms and long-held certainties.
This transformation, too, is opening for us new horizons of possibility. In a
recent article, ``The New American Challenge,'' the economist George Gilder
describes this new reality and how we must respond to it. The information age
has only just begun, he says. Increasingly, we are moving from the economy of
the Industrial Revolution, an economy tied to the Earth's natural resources, to
an economy based on information, where that old cliche,
``Knowledge is Power,'' is truer than ever.
It's
estimated that raw materials account for 80 percent of the cost of pots and
pans, 40 percent of automobiles, and less than 2 percent for an integrated
circuit. The value of a silicon chip doesn't lie in the sand from which it
comes, but in the microscopic architecture engraved upon it by ingenious human
minds. The most promising superconductors are made from ceramics. Their value
doesn't come from their material, but from the brilliant inspiration of a few
scientists. It is the human imagination that is building the 21st century out
of sand and clay.
We're
increasingly moving from an age of things to an age of thoughts, an age of mind
over matter. In this new age, it's the mind of man, free to invent, free to
experiment, that is our most precious resource. Gold, steel, oil
-- these were the treasures of the past that made people rich and nations
strong. Today the premium is on the human heart and mind. They can't be locked
in a vault, nationalized, or expropriated. They can only be let free, and then,
really, the sky is the only limit. That is the American challenge: Will we
continue the policies of economic freedom, of noninflationary
growth, of low and flatter tax rates, and deregulation? Will we strengthen them
with an Economic Bill of Rights so that they will never again be lost?
When
I signed our tax reform legislation into law, I noted that the last 20 years
had witnessed an expansion of many of our civil liberties, but that our
economic liberties had been too often neglected, even abused. We protect the
freedom of expression of the author, as we should, but what of the freedom of
expression of the entrepreneur, whose pen and paper are capital and profits,
whose book may be a new invention or small business? What of the creators of
our economic life, whose contributions may not only delight the mind but
improve the condition of man by feeding the poor with new grains, bringing hope
to the sick with new cures, vanquishing ignorance with wondrous new information
technologies?
When
our forefathers wrote guarantees of life, liberty, and property into our
Constitution, they tapped a wellspring of hope and creativity that has
transformed history. That basic blueprint they laid down -- the Constitution,
whose 200th birthday we celebrate this year -- is, if anything, more vital than
ever. That secular trinity of life, liberty, and property is the key to the
future, the key to meeting and winning the new American challenge. Archibald MacLeish once said, ``There are those, I know, who will
reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing
but a dream.'' And then he said, ``They are right. It
is the American dream.''
You
here today will be among the pioneers carrying on that American dream into the
future, a day when this 20th century of ours may seem no more than a rough
prototype of the 21st. I wish you well with the rest of your conference. You
have captured the imagination of the American people, and I'm sure I can speak
for them all when I say our hearts and hopes and best wishes go with you. Thank
you all very much, and God bless you all.
Note: The President spoke
at