Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993 TAG: 9302230163
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOHN W. MASHEK KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
U.S. HIGH-TECH STRATEGY UNVEILED
President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore on Monday outlined what they called a "bold and dramatic" initiative designed to improve American technology, boost the economy, employ displaced defense workers and improve the environment.The plan, estimated to cost about $17 billion over the next four years, would provide tax breaks for innovative projects, provide new money for research-and-development schemes and offer increased financial aid for high-performance computing technology.
"We face new challenges, from our competitors around the world and from the people we serve here at home, that demand new solutions and creative thinking," Clinton said. "Technology offers new opportunities for jobs, for a cleaner environment, for better schools and high-quality health care."
Three hours later, Clinton consoled workers at a Boeing aircraft plant in Everett, Wash. He promised to get tougher on Western European countries that have subsidized competing production of an airbus. But he offered no specific help to the beleaguered company, which announced recently that it was laying off 28,000 workers.
"I can't promise you overnight miracles . . . but I can say that we need a commitment, not to shield ourselves from competition, but to reward ourselves when we fairly compete and win," Clinton told workers inside a 97-acre production facility.
He asked Boeing workers and managers alike to support his economic plan, and aides said his high-tech initiative would help the depressed aircraft industry. Part of the plan is aimed at retraining defense workers laid off because of Pentagon budget cuts and the end of the Cold War.
Following a meeting with aircraft industry executives in Everett, Clinton said he planned to ask Congress to create a 15-member national commission to "revitalize the industry."
But he chose the cheerier setting of a Silicon Valley graphics plant outside San Jose to announce the details of his technology boosting plan. In a classroom-like encounter, he and Gore told workers there they have no reason to fear change.
A centerpiece of the initiative is a permanent tax credit for research and experimentation, which would permit companies to deduct heavily for increased spending in those categories.
Another feature in the plan is development of a "clean car" that would reduce environmental hazards. In the campaign, Republicans ridiculed the project, a favorite of Gore's.