President Clinton Addresses MIT

President Clinton spoke at the MIT Commencement on June 5. The majority of his speech was devoted to the “challenges of the Information Age.” (Note that a Presidential Advisory Committee will release a report on this subject in early July.) During his speech, the President cited the recent neutrino announcement, the cancellation of the SSC, Fermilab, an S&T FY 2000 budget priority, and his administration’s support for science. His remarks on these topics follow:

“First, we must help you to ensure that America continues to lead the revolution in science and technology. Growth is a prerequisite for opportunity, and scientific research is a basic prerequisite for growth. Just yesterday in Japan, physicists announced a discovery that tiny neutrinos have mass. Now, that may not mean much to most Americans, but it may change our most fundamental theories -- from the nature of the smallest subatomic particles to how the universe itself works, and indeed how it expands.

“This discovery was made, in Japan, yes, but it had the support of the investment of the U.S. Department of Energy. This discovery calls into question the decision made in Washington a couple of years ago to disband the super-conducting supercollider, and it reaffirms the importance of the work now being done at the Fermi National Acceleration Facility in Illinois.

“The larger issue is that these kinds of findings have implications that are not limited to the laboratory. They affect the whole of society -- not only our economy, but our very view of life, our understanding of our relations with others, and our place in time.

“In just the past four years, information technology has been responsible for more than a third of our economic expansion. Without government-funded research, computers, the Internet, communications satellites wouldn’t have gotten started. When I became President, the Internet was the province of physicists, funded by a government research project. There were only 50 sites in the world. Now, as all of you know, we are adding pages to the Worldwide Web at the rate of over 100,000 an hour, and 100 million new users will come on this year. It all started with research, and we must do more.

“In the budget I submit to Congress for the year 2000 I will call for significant increases in computing and communications research. I have directed Dr. Neal Lane, my new Advisor for Science and Technology, to work with our nation’s research community to prepare a detailed plan for my review.

“Over the past 50 years our commitment to science has strengthen this country in countless ways. Scientific research has created vast new industries, millions of jobs, allowed America to produce the world’s most bountiful food supplies and remarkable tools for fighting disease. Think of what today’s investments will yield. Dr. [David] Ho will unravel the agonizing riddles of AIDS. There will be a cure for cancer; a flourishing economy that will produce much less pollution and move back from the brink of potentially devastating global warming. High-speed wireless networks that bring distance learning, tele-medicine and economic opportunity to every rural community in America.

“That is why, even as we balanced our budget for the first time in 29 years, we have increased our investments in science. This year I asked Congress for the largest increase in research funding in history -- not just for a year, but sustained over five years. It is a core commitment that must be part of how every American, regardless of political party or personal endeavor, thinks about our nation and its mission.”