Remarks at the
Swearing-In Ceremony for C. William Verity, Jr., as Secretary of Commerce
The President. Thank you, and with
regard to your invitation -- you mean the place is younger than I am?
[Laughter] Well, we're here today to honor an old friend and welcome a new one.
The
old friend, of course, was Malcolm Baldrige. No one
knows and appreciates better Mac's contribution to the history of our times
than you in this room. You were his colleagues for 6\1/2\ years. The
partnership between you and him was, perhaps, the most fruitful in the history
of this Department, going back even to Herbert Hoover's term here. Mac had a
special quality. He was direct and unassuming. He didn't stand on ceremony. He
kept his eye on the big picture, but not so much that he ever took for granted
those working with him. We won't see Mac in the halls or in meetings anymore,
but we'll remember him in our prayers.
You
may remember some years ago a definition of prayer that was in a movie called
``How Green Was My Valley.'' It reminded me of Mac. It's when Walter Pidgeon tells young Roddy McDowall: ``Prayer is only another name for good, clean,
direct thinking. When you pray, think. Think well what you're saying and make
your thoughts into things that are solid.'' And he concluded: ``In that way,
your prayer will have strength, and that strength will become a part of your
body, mind, and spirit.'' I wanted to come over here today to tell you that our
thoughts of Mac will also take a solid form in the years ahead. You see, the
Great Hall of this -- one of Washington's great, monumental buildings, the
building in which Mac did so much good work for our country -- the Great Hall
is to be renamed after Mac: the Malcolm Baldrige
Great Hall.
Now,
I said we were also welcoming a new friend today. And you know who I'm talking
about: your new Secretary, Bill Verity. Bill has big shoes to fill, and I'm
confident he's just the man to fill them. You know his story: the man who
successfully charted the course of Armco Steel in the sixties and seventies,
the Chairman of the highly successful Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives,
the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The president of the union that
represents Armco's workers recently said of Bill: ``He's an honest person. He's
strong. He listens to both sides, and then he gives you a fair decision.''
Well, I can't think of any fairer or better endorsement than that. Bill, the
Commerce Department is one of the class acts of the administration, and so are
you. Welcome aboard.
By
the way, Bill, you may have heard questions over the years about whether
Departments run Secretaries or Secretaries run Departments -- who's really in
the driver's seat? Well, it can be confusing, and it reminds me of a story. In
case you were wondering, this is my way of sliding into a story. [Laughter]
Many of you here work on East-West trade issues, and I like to collect stories
that I can verify that the Russian people tell among themselves, so I'm going
to tell you this one.
It's
about General Secretary Gorbachev. It seems that as part of the campaign to
straighten things out there in his country he had issued an order that everyone
caught speeding, or seen speeding, should get a ticket, no matter how important
they might be. Well, one morning he was out at his country home and realized
that he was running late for a meeting that he had in the Kremlin. And he went
out to get in his car and told the driver to get into the back seat, that he'd drive. And he did, and down the street he
went. And they passed two motorcycle policemen, and one of them took off after
him. And a little while later, he came back and joined his companion, the other
motorcycle officer. And the fellow said, ``Did you
give him a ticket?'' And he said, ``No.'' ``Well,'' he said, ``why not?''
``Well,'' he said, ``No, no, this was someone too important.'' ``Well,'' he
said, ``we were told to give it no matter who it was, that they would get a -- -- '' ``No,'' he
says, ``not -- -- '' ``Well,'' he said,
``who was it?'' ``Well,'' he said, ``I don't know. I couldn't recognize him
there, but his driver is Gorbachev.'' [Laughter]
Well,
Bill will be in the driver's seat with some very important people -- and I mean
all of you. I can't think of a Department with a more noble purpose, one more
central to the long-term welfare of our nation, than this one. If it is true,
as I believe it is, that trade and economic relations are the brick and mortar
in the temple of world peace, then your Department is
a department of peace.
I
know how many extraordinarily different functions are in the Department. You're
often compared to a business conglomerate. But each of these activities --
whether it's predicting the weather, taking a census, compiling economic data,
or working on international trade -- each of these helps make America stronger
in the world economic arena.
Our
trade policies, of course, must always be consistent with our national security
interest. Today we know that the national interest of our country is directly
challenged by the flow of advanced technologies and defense-related know-how
and materials to hostile nations. Your Department, under the leadership of Bill
Verity, must be ever vigilant in stopping this kind of harmful technology transfer
to our adversaries. That's one of the challenges of the growing world economy.
Not
only challenges await us but opportunities. I believe that the birth of a truly
global economy, such as we're seeing happen now, will mark the birth of a new
age of peace. It's already marking a new era of opportunity. This month we'll
set a record: the longest peacetime economic expansion on record. I know you
know what that means, because I get many of the numbers from you. And those
that come from elsewhere, you study with a microscope. In September the
unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in this decade. A greater percentage
of our working-age population has been employed this year than ever before in
our history. Personal and family income have risen
steadily since our recovery began.
The
leading indicators are sending a message: Steady as she goes. As one national
business magazine wrote recently: ``Business is holding to its faster growth
track, buoyed by the revival in factory output.'' Yes, even as some still talk
about the deindustrialization of
Indeed,
I'm delighted that [Treasury] Secretary Baker has proposed reforming this
process by adding a new commodity price indicator to assist us in reaching
judgments about mutually consistent policies and performance. By the way, could
you also remind those fellows in the back there that not only is American
industry more competitive than ever but that since our recovery began we've
created more jobs in America than Europe and Japan combined and that more than
10 million American jobs depend on imports, exports, or both.
This
is exactly the wrong time -- although there never is a right time -- for
Congress to get on a protectionist binge. The trade bill is working its way
through Capitol Hill, and I know I speak for all of you when I say that the
administration will work with Congress to achieve responsible trade
legislation. But we will not support, and I am prepared to veto, anything that
smacks of protectionism, whether it's procedural in nature or overt.
Protectionism destroys jobs. It destroys growth. It undermines the entire
global economy, and it undermines our own economy. I hope that Congress
understands this and will produce a trade bill that you can be proud of and
that I can sign.
And
let me add one other thing: I hope that Congress will keep in mind that a
strong and growing global economy is the great hope of the world of the next
century. More than any other Department of the Government, you are helping our
nation move into that economy of the century to come. You're helping to build
the true temple of lasting world peace.
And
too often your work is not sufficiently recognized, so let me leave you today
with my profound thanks, on behalf of the entire Nation, for your loyalty, your
dedication, and your hard work.
Thank
you, and God bless you.
[At
this point, Secretary Verity was sworn in.]
Secretary
Verity. Thank you, Mr. President, for putting your trust in me. And thank you,
Justice O'Connor, for leading me in this oath. Thank you, Tim, for your
prayers, which got Peggy and me here. Thank you, Senators, and particularly
Senator Thurmond, who's right in the center, who brought me to confirmation.
And thank you, family and friends and friends-to-be in our government, for
being here today.
This
is the start of a great adventure, and it is my hope and prayer that we in the
Commerce Department can help this President achieve his goals and that we shall
be a proud part of the most meaningful and successful Presidency of our time.
We have much to do, but we have the man and womanpower to do it. My
predecessor, Mac Baldrige, built a superb team. He
lifted the image of this Department, and he accomplished much of value. To all
the people in the Commerce Department -- I need your continued support to
finish what he has started.
We
must work for a trade bill to promote free and fair trade. We want to increase
exports, particularly by smaller businesses throughout the Nation. And we
intend to take a leadership role in strengthening trade ties with our principal
trading partners:
In
trade with Eastern Europe, where export controls are required, we want to make
certain that we effectively block transfer of militarily sensitive high
technology and that the same safeguards are in place in COCOM [Coordinating
Committee for Multilateral Export Controls]. At the same time, we must reduce
the list of products of a nontechnical nature so that
our manufacturers can increase exports and jobs rather than handing this
business on a platter to our trading partners.
Tourism
is in our beat, too. It is a tremendous new thrust for the
And
what a marvelous place is NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration] in this Department, with its vast treasures from the oceans to
space, fisheries and coastal areas, and the weather -- and our 23-ship navy.
The
National Bureau of Standards will help American industry and government
laboratories set new levels of standards and measurements to ensure that
American products and services are the highest quality in the world.
We
must assure that the 1990 census is the best ever. The completion of automating
the Patent Office will be a milestone in the legacy of this President.
And
I want to let you in on a secret: The Department of the Commerce is the best
managed Department in this government. The goals established in 1981 are on
target, so much so that we can take on three new missions: first,
privatization; second, establishing an Office of Private Sector Initiatives in
this Department; and Commerce must lead the charge in seeking innovative ways
to reduce the trade deficit.
So,
Mr. President, we're ready to go to work. And when you get me, you get a lot of
extra help. My family, 35 of them, are right in front
of me. And I want them to all stand, because I'm happy they're here, and I want
you to see them all. And they're right there. Stand up, family.
Thank
you, Mr. President, for being here. It's a great honor to have you in the
Commerce Department.
Note: The President
spoke at