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Texas A & I Commencement Address 5/11/90 [OA 5374] [2]
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Texas A & I Commencement Address 5/11/90 [OA 5374] [2]
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George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Speech File Draft Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993.
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13530
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13530-010
Folder Title:
Texas A & I Commencement Address 5/11/90 [5374] [2]
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1
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 : 6:36PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 1
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
90 MAY 8 P6: 48
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
,
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
Please see comments
5/8/90
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:37PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 2
and McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
[invited]
-17
PH 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
1993 MAY
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
Bentson
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas.
111
And it's always good to see Governor
phil
Clements, Senator Gramm and survey distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
?
President Ibanez
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
undime) light As
A
1
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" 111
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[{hah-vuh-les-NUHS]] - the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] 111
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! 111
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:37PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218 3
visit with friends and 90
hunting
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma state, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:38PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 4
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. one was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:38PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 5
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay." And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:39PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218;# 6
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:39PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 7
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "what did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!") 111
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth." It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time - saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
; 5- 8-90 ; 6:40PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218:# 8
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol --- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter ---- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
SENT BY:The TICKET CENTER
;
5- 8-90 ; 6:40PM ; LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS-
2024566218;# 9
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
90 MAY 9 A8: 19
DATE:
05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
>
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
Nice speech for yets theme
BUT the on
from P. 3 PA
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY - 7 PN 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]] and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT] III
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") 111
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay. And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) 111
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!") III
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth.' It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time -- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
3644
90 MAY 9 A8:37 37
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
>
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
>
PINKERTON
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
May 9, 1990
TO: CHRISS WINSTON
NSC clears the Presidential remarks for the Texas A&I commencement,
Kingsville, Texas.
Brent B Scowcroft
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
CC: James W. Cicconi
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
RECEIVED
90 MAY 8 A10: 07
v8:31
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY - 7 PM 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. 111
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] 111
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
antidote?
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
Of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay. " And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) 111
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!") III
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth. If It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time -- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
A nice line and a
good metaphor. All should know that
if it is to be literally true it WALL
be a 50 year old astronant deing
the walking.
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
2
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
de
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
de
PINKERTON
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
12 : rd 8 NAY 06
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY -7 PH 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] 111
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed.' Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19 18
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
PH.D.
QUADR и PLED
tripled the number of graduating, physical scientists, doubled the
QUADRUPLED
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay." And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" 111
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!") 111
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth. It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time -- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
J
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
PINKERTON
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
90 MAY 8 P4: 22
no
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY 7 PM 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. 111
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] 111
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay.' And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) 111
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!")
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth." It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time -- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
SUBJECT:
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
>
PINKERTON
WINSTON
DEMAREST
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
SEE COMMENTS. THANKS.
HOLLY 5-8-90 WILLIAMSON NW
60 : Id 8 MAY 06
NASA
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY 7 PM 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. 111 And it's always good to see Governor
Secretary Cavazos,
Whose hometown thisis,
Rept.ot
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
Gement
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
will not
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
be there,
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
hogs:
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
per
Chino
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
Chapa (chief
of staff)
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT] 111 forsec.
Cavatos
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! 111
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") 111
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay.' And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
Infact one of the goals the bovernors the United states and I
agreed to in January isato for be first in math +
science by year 2000.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr.ADiaz Chang- helped put America back in space, part
VNASA:
(His name
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year is
Dr,
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
Chang-Diaz,
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!")
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth." It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
continued
NASA:
NASA:
unclear
where
we
they crossed the Mississippi _________________________ in our time --^ saw Americans land
this.
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity --- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
Also - NASA has agreat story about Jefferson
& Lewis I clarle. (If not for this speech,
magbe a laterone) - ie - Jefferson
spending a laye amount of mines -
estimated $2500 actual $ 30,000.
If you want please call me - Hollyw. x6630.
Document No. 138765
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
>
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
A
CICCONI
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
See suggestions on pp. 4-6
Stur Olson for DAB
1:30 on 5/8/90
6E : Id 8 06
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY - 7 PM 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT] III
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
would like
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
to to 1stand , allude
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
we can achieve what we set out to achieve.
dare to reach for them.
science goal.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay.' And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
a
other There
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
anents,
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
too.
help to
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
and mathematics
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has the potential to
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
wouldbe less controversial to
scientists if "science" were
deleted
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space
science.
]
And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!") III
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth." It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
and the sun
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
its occupants
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi -- in our time -- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
-- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And so as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity -- and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
Document No. 138765
DATE:
05/07/90
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 05/08
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A & I COMMENCEMENT, KINGSVILLE, TX
(05/07 draft four)
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
CARD
CICCONI
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
WINSTON
FITZWATER
ANDERSON
GRAY
BROMLEY
ALBRECHT
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 05/08, with a copy to my office.
62:21
Thanks.
RESPONSE:
Chriss/Ed: one minor edit. Good language here.
Overall, I'd wrge that we strengthen the tie between the text
and The themes of democracy and American leadership. The heart
of the speech lays out om space goals guite choose well, to but embark the
sole missing element is why we, a democracy, Assistant James to W. the Cicconi President
on a space program. Purposes, goals are and Deputy to
the Chief of Staff
ramblings space on this are via phone conversation with Ed. Willing to
into is more akin to the setting of the fiontier My other
different them in the age of monarchy -- movement etc. Ext. 2702
arainstorm further if it will help. Thanks MV5-8-90
McNally/Simon
May 7, 1990
1990 MAY - 7 PM 7: 33
Draft Four (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez] and good
morning to you all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home
state of Texas. III And it's always good to see Governor
Clements, Senator Gramm, and so many distinguished members of our
Texas congressional delegation. Congratulations also to the
families and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most
of all -- To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. III
When Manny first contacted us about A & I's graduation, he
called my son, George, Jr., and told him you wanted to hear a
commencement address from a popular but aging Texan who has risen
to the top of his field. And George said: "Does that mean
you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hah-vuh-lee-NUHS]] -- the wild boars. And I'm deeply honored
to be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field
usually reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] III
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! III
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with
rattlesnake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring
over the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South
Texas is a special place for the Bush family. We come down this
2
way nearly every December to hunt quail just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice.
And this bright Texas morning also provides a special
opportunity to reflect on American leadership in a year of
remarkable democratic change.
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. Century by century, the
story of America has unfolded, and the world has looked to our
shores for leadership and hope.
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like the state it calls home, Texas A & I is also a place of
3
pioneers. The first four-year college in South Texas. A leader
in bi-lingual education, with the first such doctoral program in
the U.S. Home to research and innovations from natural gas
engineering to snake venom to the Rio Red grapefruit we've
enjoyed at the White House. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
Of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
proved we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world, lifting the spirits of a generation, and raising forever
the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
4
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $19
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
tripled the number of graduating physical scientists, doubled the
mathematicians, and more than doubled the engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time ---
back to stay.' And third, a manned expedition to Mars.
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will rekindle public interest in
science, and revitalize an area of our educational system that
has become disturbingly weak. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway.
5
The Space Shuttle program is back and ushering in a new era
in space science. And it's led by a new generation of skilled
professionals. Scientists like A & I Professor John Linder, who
is working here to improve Shuttle communications. Shuttle
engineers like Ruben Zavala, A & I Class of 1977, and avionics
experts like Primitivo Perez, 1971. And new American heroes like
Franklin Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Diaz helped put America back in space, part
of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-year
journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex robotic
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space science.
And there's no better example of this than the miracle now
orbiting 300 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will see to the furthest reaches of the universe,
to the very edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even
enable astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back
to when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
the vast reaches of space -- another array of new satellites will
be looking back at Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most
6
important planet in the universe. (Do you remember a couple
years back when Time magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year?"
Comedian Jay Leno said: "What did you expect? All the judges
came from Earth!")
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth.' " It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide effort studying the complex interactions between the
land, the sea, the ice, and the air -- as well as between the
Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers, founded on the
spirit of exploration. In fact, Monday marks the day in 1804
when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Lewis and Clark Expedition
to map much of what was to become the great American West.
Despite Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him
sending a robot out alone to California to describe the wonders
of Yosemite. In the American adventure, there will always be a
place for brave men and women.
Lewis and Clark were the first pioneers of American
government-financed exploration. The journey which began when
they crossed the Mississippi
in our time
-- saw Americans land
on the Moon. But today, we're no longer just asking for the
and
placement
7
Moon. We've been there. We're looking further, to carry the
American adventure beyond Earth, to wherever opportunity,
curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American story is told in stone, a tableau of U.S.
history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins with
Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the first
flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American story -- but the beginning of a new
chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy where
no dream is too large, where anything is possible.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for America, then only beginning to assume its place on the world
stage. That hope has been fulfilled -- and surpassed -- beyond
the wildest dreams of our founders. And the promise of America
--- the promise of free choices, free chances, and free ideas --
is beginning to be tasted by more people in more places than ever
before. It is their inspiration. And it is our strength. Our
heritage. And our future.
8
And SO as this century closes, it is in our hands to
determine the kind of nation, the kind of people, we will become
in the next.
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars.
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It offers exactly the
kind of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the
cream of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars --
to eternity and to the future of themselves and this great
Nation.
America is proud of you and the families you represent.
Congratulations. Thank you. And God bless the United States.
#
#
#
McNally/Simon
May 10, 1990
Draft Seven (TX-A&I)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, Bill. President Ibanez [ee-BAHN-yez]. Governor
Clements, Senators Gramm and Bentsen, Congressmen Ortiz and de la
Garza. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home state of
Texas -- and in the hometown of three outstanding members of my
team: Education Secretary Lauro Cavazos. My photographer David
Valdez. And Texas A & I's own Tony Armendariz. III
Congratulations also to the families, friends and faculty of
these students, and most of all -- the Texas A & I Class of 1990.
ee- - BAHN - Yez
When President Ibanez first contacted us about A & I's
graduation, he called my son, George, Jr., up at Texas Rangers
Stadium, and said that you wanted to hear a speech from a popular
but aging Texan who has risen to the top of his field. George
said: "Does that mean you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hav-uh-LEE-nuhs]] -- the wild hogs. And I'm deeply honored to
be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field usually
reserved for "Porky." III
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! 111
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with rattle-
snake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring over
the palms and red-tile roofs of Texas A & I. And South Texas is
2
a special place for the Bush family. We come down nearly every
December to visit friends and hunt just outside Beeville --
Berclair, to be exact. When I was an 18-year-old Naval Aviation
cadet way back in 1943, I flew all over this country, and I loved
it.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice. III
But democracy isn't just the wave of the present -- it's the
wave of the future. And as your generation assumes a leadership
role in a free world that's growing bigger all the time -- others
will continue to look to our shores for leadership and direction.
I have proposed that one of those directions be space. 111
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. 111
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
3
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like Texas itself, A & I is also a place of pioneers. The
first four-year college in South Texas. A leader in bilingual
education, with the first such doctoral program in the U.S. Home
to research and innovations from natural gas engineering to snake
venom to the Rio Star grapefruit. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
In America's unique democratic heritage, our pioneers were
not appointed by kings. Our pioneers appointed themselves -- and
took off! We are a searching people, future-oriented, impelled
to push on. After graduating college I took my family west,
looking for a country to test ourselves and our dreams. We found
it in Texas, with enough opportunities to last many lifetimes.
Of course, Texas has always had its share of pioneers and
visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty plains
and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where others saw
obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
III
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
4
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
showed we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world -- proof that democracy could triumph as decisively in
peace as it had in war. It lifted the spirits of a generation,
and raised forever the horizons of the human race.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay." And third, a manned expedition to Mars. III
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will help rekindle public interest in
science and mathematics, and revitalize an area of our
educational system that has become disturbingly weak. In fact,
one of the education goals we announced in January is to make the
United States first in math and science by the year 2000. But
our space program will do more. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
5
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway. III
The Space Shuttle is back and ushering in a new era in
space. And it's led by a talented new generation. Scientists
like A & I Professor John Linder, who is working here to improve
Shuttle communications. Shuttle engineers like Ruben Zavala, A &
I Class of 1977, and avionics experts like Primitivo [prim-a-TEE-
vo] Perez, Class of 1971. And new American heroes like Franklin
Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space. And
there's no better example of this than the miracle now orbiting
380 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space Telescope. It
will see to the furthest reaches of the universe, to the very
edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even enable
astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back to
when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!" III
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
space -- another array of new satellites will be looking back at
Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most important planet in the
universe. (You may remember a couple years back when Time
magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year." Comedian Jay Leno
said: "What did you expect? All the judges came from Earth!")
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth. It's an
6
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide study of the complex interactions between land, sea,
ice and air -- as well as between the Earth and the Sun. It's an
effort of global interest, in which we're inviting other nations
to join. As Chairman of the National Space Council, the Vice
President has just returned from Europe, where our allies
expressed serious interest in both Mission to Planet Earth and in
our continuing exploration of the Solar System.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers. It is part of
our national character -- part of our democratic heritage. In
fact, Monday marks the day in 1804 when Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark set out across the Mississippi to map much of what
was to become the great American West. Despite Thomas
Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine his sending
a robot out alone to describe the wonders of the American Rockies
and the Pacific coast. In the American experiment -- in the
experiment called democracy -- there will always be a place for
individual men and women with imagination and daring.
Our nation's quest for the unknown took American pioneers
from the bluffs of the Mississippi to the mountains of the Moon.
But today, we're no longer just asking for the Moon. We've been
7
there. We're looking further, to carry the American adventure to
wherever opportunity, curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond. Each time we go to the frontier and beyond, we bring
back more than we hoped for. This time we have the chance to
bring back more than we can imagine.
Our 1991 budget is proof positive of America's commitment to
an active, exciting and continuing presence in space -- to
America's leadership in space. Our budget proposes $15.2 billion
for NASA, an increase of 24 percent -- almost $3 billion -- which
is the largest increase for any major agency of the government.
But leadership in space takes more than just dollars. It
also takes a decision. And I'm announcing one today.
We stand at a halfway point in our exploration of the
immediate solar system -- the planet Earth, its Moon, and the
terrestrial neighborhood. 30 years ago, NASA was founded and the
space race began. And 30 years from now -- I believe Man will
stand on another planet. And so I am pleased to return to Texas
today to announce a new Age of Exploration, with not only a goal
but also a timetable: I believe that before Apollo celebrates
the 50th anniversary of its landing on the moon -- the American
flag should be planted on Mars.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
8
weeks -- the American adventure is told in stone, a tableau of
U.S. history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins
with Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the
first flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American adventure -- but the beginning of a
new chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy
where anything is possible, and where no dream is too large.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for the idea we call democracy, then only beginning to assume an
important place on the world stage. That hope has been fulfilled
-- and surpassed -- beyond the wildest dreams of our founders.
And the promise of democracy is beginning to be tasted by more
people in more places than ever before. It is their inspiration.
And it is our strength. Our heritage. And our future. III
And so as this century closes, it is in America's hands to
help determine the kind of people, the kind of planet, we will
become in the next. We will leave the Solar System and travel to
the stars. Not only because it is democracy's dream. But
because it is democracy's destiny. III
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
9
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars. 111
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It is exactly the kind
of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the cream
of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars -- to
eternity -- and to their own future, the future of this great
Nation, and the future of free people everywhere.
III
America is proud of you and your families. Congratulations.
Thank you. And God bless the United States of America.
#
#
#
TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
THANK YOU, SECRETARY CAVAZOS. PRESIDENT IBANEZ
[EE-BAHN-YEZ]. GOVERNOR CLEMENTS, SENATORS GRAMM AND
BENTSEN, CONGRESSMEN ORTIZ AND DE LA GARZA. MY FRIEND
BILL MACKENZIE. IT'S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO BE BACK IN
MY HOME STATE OF TEXAS.
CONGRATULATIONS ALSO TO THE FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND
FACULTY OF THESE STUDENTS, AND MOST OF ALL -- THE TEXAS
A & I CLASS OF 1990.
WHEN PRESIDENT IBANEZ [EE-BAHN-YEZ] FIRST
CONTACTED US ABOUT A & I'S GRADUATION, HE CALLED MY
SON, GEORGE, JR., UP AT TEXAS RANGERS STADIUM, AND SAID
THAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR A SPEECH FROM A POPULAR BUT
AGING TEXAN WHO HAS RISEN TO THE TOP OF HIS FIELD.
GEORGE SAID: "DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE INVITING NOLAN
RYAN?" 111
- 2 -
BUT I'M HONORED TO BE IN THE HOME OF THE LEGENDARY
JAVELINAS [[HAV-UH-LEE-NUHS]] -- THE WILD HOGS. AND
I'M DEEPLY HONORED TO BE SPEAKING FROM THE HALLOWED
SPACE ON THE PLAYING FIELD USUALLY RESERVED FOR
"PORKY." III
BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN YOUR MASCOT TODAY. GUESS HE
HEARD WE KEEP AIR FORCE ONE STOCKED WITH BARBECUED
PORK-RINDS! III
JAVELINAS AREN'T THE ONLY WILDLIFE NATIVE TO THESE
PARTS. THE MESQUITE OUTSIDE KINGSVILLE IS ALSO SHOT
THROUGH WITH RATTLE-SNAKE AND DEER. DOVES RISE ON THE
WARM GULF WINDS, SOARING OVER THE PALMS AND RED-TILE
ROOFS OF TEXAS A & I. AND SOUTH TEXAS IS A SPECIAL
PLACE FOR THE BUSH FAMILY. WE COME DOWN NEARLY EVERY
DECEMBER TO VISIT FRIENDS AND HUNT JUST OUTSIDE
BEEVILLE -- BERCLAIR, TO BE EXACT. WHEN I WAS AN 18-
YEAR-OLD NAVAL AVIATION CADET WAY BACK IN 1943, I FLEW
ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY, AND I LOVED IT.
- 3 -
(BUT THE REPUTATION OF THE AREA IS CHANGING. WHEN
I TOLD BARBARA I WAS FLYING DOWN TO SOUTH TEXAS TO TALK
WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS AND SEE THE WILDLIFE, SHE SAID:
"AREN'T YOU GETTING A BIT OLD TO BE GOING TO SOUTH
PADRE FOR SPRING BREAK?") III
LIKE SPRINGTIME ITSELF, COLLEGE COMMENCEMENTS
SIGNAL A TIME OF CHANGE. LAST WEEK, AT OKLAHOMA STATE,
I SPOKE ABOUT AMERICA'S NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE IN THE
ATLANTIC ALLIANCE. TOMORROW MORNING, AT SOUTH
CAROLINA, WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT CHANGE AMONG THE
PEOPLE OF EASTERN EUROPE -- PEOPLE YEARNING TO EMULATE
NOT ONLY OUR STANDARD OF LIVING -- BUT ALSO OUR
STANDARD OF JUSTICE. III
BUT DEMOCRACY ISN'T JUST THE WAVE OF THE PRESENT
-- IT'S THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE. AND AS YOUR GENERATION
ASSUMES A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN A FREE WORLD THAT'S
GROWING BIGGER ALL THE TIME -- OTHERS WILL CONTINUE TO
LOOK TO OUR SHORES FOR LEADERSHIP AND DIRECTION. I
HAVE PROPOSED THAT ONE OF THOSE DIRECTIONS BE SPACE.
III
- 4 -
THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE HAS ALWAYS HAD THE CAPACITY
TO INSPIRE OTHERS - AND TO ASTONISH THE WORLD. THE
VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE TAMING OF A CONTINENT. THE INVENTION OF FLIGHT.
III
AMERICA'S DEMOCRACY IS THE WORLD'S GREATEST
EXPERIMENT IN FREEDOM AND DIVERSITY, AN ONGOING
EXPERIMENT THAT CONTINUES TO UNLEASH THE CREATIVE
ENERGIES OF THE WORLD'S MOST DIVERSE POPULATION. IT IS
WHAT TOOK AMERICAN PIONEERS TO THE MOON AND BACK. IT
IS WHAT WILL TAKE YOU AS FAR AS YOUR DREAMS CAN SOAR.
LIKE TEXAS ITSELF, A & I IS ALSO A PLACE OF
PIONEERS. THE FIRST FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE IN SOUTH TEXAS.
A LEADER IN BILINGUAL EDUCATION, WITH THE FIRST SUCH
DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN THE U.S. HOME TO RESEARCH AND
INNOVATIONS FROM NATURAL GAS ENGINEERING TO SNAKE VENOM
TO THE RIO STAR GRAPEFRUIT. AND MANY OF YOU ARE
YOURSELVES PIONEERS THE FIRST IN YOUR FAMILIES EVER
TO ATTEND COLLEGE.
- 5 -
IN AMERICA'S UNIQUE DEMOCRATIC HERITAGE, OUR
PIONEERS WERE NO COMMISSIONED BY KINGS. OUR PIONEERS
COMMISSIONED THEMSELVES -- AND TOOK OFF! WE ARE A
SEARCHING PEOPLE, FUTURE-ORIENTED, IMPELLED TO PUSH ON.
AFTER GRADUATING COLLEGE I TOOK MY FAMILY WEST, LOOKING
FOR A COUNTRY TO TEST OURSELVES AND OUR DREAMS. WE
FOUND IT IN TEXAS, WITH ENOUGH OPPORTUNITIES TO LAST
MANY LIFETIMES.
OF COURSE, TEXAS HAS ALWAYS HAD ITS SHARE OF
PIONEERS AND VISIONARIES. ONE WAS SAM HOUSTON. WHERE
OTHERS SAW EMPTY PLAINS AND DUST, HE SAW FARMS, AND
RANCHES, AND TOWNS. WHERE OTHERS SAW OBSTACLES, HE SAW
OPPORTUNITY.
BUT HOUSTON COULD SCARCELY HAVE IMAGINED THAT,
LITTLE MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, THE
ENTIRE PLANET WOULD HOLD ITS BREATH AS HIS NAME BECAME
THE FIRST WORD EVER UTTERED ON THE PLAINS AND DUST OF
ANOTHER WORLD. III
- 6 -
IT WAS JULY 20, 1969. AND ALTHOUGH APOLLO 11 HAD
JUST SURVIVED ONE OF THE MOST HARROWING LANDINGS IN THE
HISTORY OF SPACE, THE VOICE OF NEIL ARMSTRONG WAS
CONFIDENT, STRONG, AMERICAN. HE SAID: "HOUSTON:
TRANQUILITY BASE HERE. THE EAGLE HAS LANDED." EIGHT
WORDS. AND THE WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER.
WHEN AMERICA ACCEPTED THE APOLLO CHALLENGE, WE
ROLLED UP OUR SLEEVES AND TOOK ON A DAUNTING AND
DANGEROUS JOB. APOLLO 11 SHOWED WE COULD MEET OUR
COMMITMENTS TO OURSELVES AND TO THE WORLD -- PROOF THAT
DEMOCRACY COULD TRIUMPH AS DECISIVELY IN PEACE AS IT
HAD IN WAR. IT LIFTED THE SPIRITS OF A GENERATION, AND
RAISED FOREVER THE HORIZONS OF THE HUMAN RACE.
LAST SUMMER, IN A SPEECH COMMEMORATING THE 20TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO MOON LANDING, I ANNOUNCED
THREE MAJOR SPACE POLICY OBJECTIVES: FIRST, TO HAVE
SPACE STATION FREEDOM UP BEFORE THE CENTURY IS OUT.
SECOND, FOR THE NEW CENTURY, A PERMANENT LUNAR BASE:
"BACK TO THE MOON, BACK TO THE FUTURE -- AND THIS TIME
-- BACK TO STAY." AND THIRD, A MANNED EXPEDITION TO
MARS. 111
- 7 -
TOGETHER, THESE OBJECTIVES FORM THE CORNERSTONE OF
MY ADMINISTRATION'S FAR-REACHING PLAN FOR INVESTING IN
AMERICA'S FUTURE. OUR SPACE PROGRAM WILL HELP REKINDLE
PUBLIC INTEREST IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS, AND
REVITALIZE AN AREA OF OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT HAS
BECOME DISTURBINGLY WEAK. IN FACT, ONE OF THE
EDUCATION GOALS WE ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY IS TO MAKE THE
UNITED STATES FIRST IN MATH AND SCIENCE BY THE YEAR
2000. BUT OUR SPACE PROGRAM WILL DO MORE. IT WILL
REVOLUTIONIZE EVERYTHING FROM COMPUTERS TO
COMMUNICATIONS, FROM MEDICINE TO METALS, REGAINING AND
RETAINING AMERICA'S HIGH-TECH COMPETITIVE EDGE. IT
WILL CREATE NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW INDUSTRIES, AND NEW
JOBS.
IT'S AN ADVENTURE I HOPE MANY OF YOU WILL BE PART
OF. AND IT'S AN ADVENTURE THAT'S ALREADY
UNDERWAY. III
- 8 -
THE SPACE SHUTTLE IS BACK AND USHERING IN A NEW
ERA IN SPACE. AND IT'S LED BY A TALENTED NEW
GENERATION. SCIENTISTS LIKE A & I PROFESSOR JOHN
LINDER, WHO IS WORKING HERE TO IMPROVE SHUTTLE
COMMUNICATIONS. SHUTTLE ENGINEERS LIKE RUBEN ZAVALA,
A & I CLASS OF 1977, AND AVIONICS EXPERTS LIKE
PRIMITIVO [PRIM-A-TEE-VO] PEREZ, CLASS OF 1971. AND
NEW AMERICAN HEROES LIKE FRANKLIN CHANG-DIAZ, NASA'S
FIRST HISPANIC ASTRONAUT.
YOU ARE COMING OF AGE DURING A GOLDEN AGE OF
SPACE. AND THERE'S NO BETTER EXAMPLE OF THIS THAN THE
MIRACLE NOW ORBITING 380 MILES ABOVE KINGSVILLE -- THE
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. IT WILL SEE TO THE FURTHEST
REACHES OF THE UNIVERSE, TO THE VERY EDGES OF TIME.
(IT WILL, QUITE LITERALLY, EVEN ENABLE ASTRONOMERS TO
SEE BACK IN TIME -- PERHAPS FAR ENOUGH BACK TO WHEN THE
DALLAS COWBOYS LAST HAD A WINNING SEASON!) III
AND IT'S HOPED THAT THE TELESCOPE WILL SEE OBJECTS
so CLEARLY THAT, IN THEORY, IT COULD PICK OUT THE
WRITING ON A DIME -- 100 MILES AWAY. 11 TALK ABOUT
THE "VISION THING!" III
- 9 -
AND EVEN WHILE GALILEO AND HUBBLE BEGIN LOOKING
OUT ACROSS SPACE -- ANOTHER ARRAY OF NEW SATELLITES
WILL BE LOOKING BACK AT EARTH -- AND TAKING THE PULSE
OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PLANET IN THE UNIVERSE. (YOU MAY
REMEMBER A COUPLE YEARS BACK WHEN TIME MAGAZINE NAMED
EARTH "PLANET OF THE YEAR." COMEDIAN JAY LENO SAID:
"WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? ALL THE JUDGES CAME FROM
EARTH!")
WE CALL THIS INITIATIVE "MISSION TO PLANET EARTH."
IT'S AN EFFORT OF SUCH MAGNITUDE, IT DWARFS EVERYTHING
IN THE PAST -- A WORLDWIDE STUDY OF THE COMPLEX
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LAND, SEA, ICE AND AIR -- AS WELL
AS BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE SUN. IT'S AN EFFORT OF
GLOBAL INTEREST, IN WHICH WE'RE INVITING OTHER NATIONS
TO JOIN. AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL,
THE VICE PRESIDENT HAS JUST RETURNED FROM EUROPE, WHERE
OUR ALLIES EXPRESSED SERIOUS INTEREST IN BOTH MISSION
TO PLANET EARTH AND IN OUR CONTINUING EXPLORATION OF
THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
- 10 -
INITIATIVES LIKE THESE MARK A CRITICAL INVESTMENT
IN AMERICA'S FUTURE. THEY WILL HELP PROTECT THE
ENVIRONMENT, FUEL AN EDUCATIONAL RENAISSANCE, AND HONE
AMERICA'S COMPETITIVE EDGE.
BUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SPACE PROGRAM --
ESPECIALLY THE MANNED SPACE PROGRAM -- GOES DEEPER THAN
THAT. THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY, AMERICA HAS BEEN A
NATION OF DISCOVERERS. IT IS PART OF OUR NATIONAL
CHARACTER -- PART OF OUR DEMOCRATIC HERITAGE. IN FACT,
MONDAY MARKS THE DAY IN 1804 WHEN MERIWETHER LEWIS AND
WILLIAM CLARK SET OUT ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI TO MAP
MUCH OF WHAT WAS TO BECOME THE GREAT AMERICAN WEST.
DESPITE THOMAS JEFFERSON'S LOVE OF MACHINES -- IT'S
HARD TO IMAGINE HIS SENDING A ROBOT OUT ALONE TO
DESCRIBE THE WONDERS OF THE AMERICAN ROCKIES AND THE
PACIFIC COAST. IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT -- IN THE
EXPERIMENT CALLED DEMOCRACY -- THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A
PLACE FOR INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN WITH IMAGINATION AND
DARING.
- 11 -
OUR NATION'S QUEST FOR THE UNKNOWN TOOK AMERICAN
PIONEERS FROM THE BLUFFS OF THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON. BUT TODAY, WE'RE NO LONGER JUST
ASKING FOR THE MOON. WE'VE BEEN THERE. WE'RE LOOKING
FURTHER, TO CARRY THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE TO WHEREVER
OPPORTUNITY, CURIOSITY, AND NEED WILL TAKE US.
IT'S TIME TO OPEN UP THE FINAL FRONTIER. THERE
CAN BE NO TURNING BACK. AMERICA'S SPACE PROGRAM IS
WHAT CIVILIZATION NEEDS TO BEGIN THIS JOURNEY, AND TO
PERFECT THE COMMITMENT TO GO BEYOND. EACH TIME WE GO
TO THE FRONTIER AND BEYOND, WE BRING BACK MORE THAN WE
HOPED FOR. THIS TIME WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO BRING BACK
MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
OUR 1991 BUDGET IS PROOF POSITIVE OF AMERICA'S
COMMITMENT TO AN ACTIVE, EXCITING AND CONTINUING
PRESENCE IN SPACE -- TO AMERICA'S LEADERSHIP IN SPACE.
OUR BUDGET PROPOSES $15.2 BILLION FOR NASA, AN INCREASE
OF 24 PERCENT -- ALMOST $3 BILLION -- WHICH IS THE
LARGEST INCREASE FOR ANY MAJOR AGENCY OF THE
GOVERNMENT.
- 12 -
BUT LEADERSHIP IN SPACE TAKES MORE THAN JUST
DOLLARS. IT ALSO TAKES A DECISION. AND I'M ANNOUNCING
ONE TODAY.
WE STAND AT A HALFWAY POINT IN OUR EXPLORATION OF
THE IMMEDIATE SOLAR SYSTEM -- THE PLANET EARTH, ITS
MOON, AND THE TERRESTRIAL NEIGHBORHOOD. 30 YEARS AGO,
NASA WAS FOUNDED AND THE SPACE RACE BEGAN. AND 30
YEARS FROM NOW -- I BELIEVE MAN WILL STAND ON ANOTHER
PLANET. AND so I AM PLEASED TO RETURN TO TEXAS TODAY
TO ANNOUNCE A NEW AGE OF EXPLORATION, WITH NOT ONLY A
GOAL BUT ALSO A TIMETABLE: I BELIEVE THAT BEFORE
APOLLO CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS LANDING
ON THE MOON -- THE AMERICAN FLAG SHOULD BE PLANTED ON
MARS. IIII
UP BENEATH THE DOME OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL
-- WHERE DECISIONS ABOUT OUR SPACE PROGRAM WILL BE MADE
IN THE COMING WEEKS -- THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE IS TOLD
IN STONE, A TABLEAU OF U.S. HISTORY CARVED AROUND THE
RIM OF THE DOME ITSELF. IT BEGINS WITH COLUMBUS'
ARRIVAL IN THE NEW WORLD -- AND ENDS WITH THE FIRST
FLIGHT OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS' PLANE.
- 13 -
BUT THEY GOT IT WRONG. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FLIGHT
DOESN'T MARK THE END OF THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE -- BUT
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER -- A NEVERENDING STORY
-- A STORY ABOUT A DEMOCRACY WHERE ANYTHING IS
POSSIBLE, AND WHERE NO DREAM IS TOO LARGE.
WE LIVE IN A CENTURY THAT BEGAN WITH GREAT PROMISE
AND HOPE FOR THE IDEA WE CALL DEMOCRACY, THEN ONLY
BEGINNING TO ASSUME AN IMPORTANT PLACE ON THE WORLD
STAGE. THAT HOPE HAS BEEN FULFILLED -- AND SURPASSED
-- BEYOND THE WILDEST DREAMS OF OUR FOUNDERS. AND THE
PROMISE OF DEMOCRACY IS BEGINNING TO BE TASTED BY MORE
PEOPLE IN MORE PLACES THAN EVER BEFORE. IT IS THEIR
INSPIRATION. AND IT IS OUR STRENGTH. OUR HERITAGE.
AND OUR FUTURE. III
AND so AS THIS CENTURY CLOSES, IT IS IN AMERICA'S
HANDS TO HELP DETERMINE THE KIND OF PEOPLE, THE KIND OF
PLANET, WE WILL BECOME IN THE NEXT. WE WILL LEAVE THE
SOLAR SYSTEM AND TRAVEL TO THE STARS. NOT ONLY BECAUSE
IT IS DEMOCRACY'S DREAM. BUT BECAUSE IT IS DEMOCRACY'S
DESTINY. III
- 14 -
AROUND CAMPFIRES, BY MOONLIGHT AND STARLIGHT
ACROSS THE AGES, MEN AND WOMEN HAVE TURNED THEIR GAZE
SKYWARD AND DREAMED AN ANCIENT DREAM. AND SOMEWHERE IN
AMERICA TODAY, MAYBE HERE IN THIS STADIUM, THERE IS A
YOUNG MAN OR WOMAN WHO, LIKE NEIL ARMSTRONG, WILL SEIZE
THIS DREAM AND CHANGE THE WORLD FOR ALL TIME. I
BELIEVE, I TRULY BELIEVE, THAT THE CLASS OF '90 WILL
LEAVE FOOTPRINTS NOT ONLY IN THE SANDS OF TEXAS -- BUT
ALSO IN THE SANDS OF TIME -- AND ULTIMATELY ON THE
PLAINS OF MARS. III
YOU WHO HAVE LIVED THESE PAST FOUR YEARS IN
KINGSVILLE KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE SKY. THE PLAINS OF
SOUTH TEXAS ARE AS FLAT AS THE SEA -- A LAND WITHOUT
HILLS OR IMPEDIMENTS, A LAND OF LIMITLESS HORIZONS AND
DREAMS TO MATCH. IT IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF NIGHT-TIME
SKY WHERE THE CREAM OF AMERICA'S YOUTH -- THE CREAM OF
TEXAS A AND I -- CAN POINT CONFIDENTLY TO THE STARS --
TO ETERNITY -- AND TO THEIR OWN FUTURE, THE FUTURE OF
THIS GREAT NATION, AND THE FUTURE OF FREE PEOPLE
EVERYWHERE. III
- 15 - -
AMERICA IS PROUD OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES.
CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU. AND GOD BLESS THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 9, 1990
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
cu
THROUGH:
CHRISS WINSTON
FROM:
EDWARD E. McNALLY and
SUBJECT:
DRAFT REMARKS: TEXAS A&I COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
I.
SUMMARY
Attached are draft remarks for Friday morning's
commencement at Texas A&I -- intended as a major address on the
space program and your space station-Moon-Mars initiative.
II. DISCUSSION
On Friday, May 11, at 11:00 a.m., you will participate
in the commencement ceremony at Texas A&I University. The
ceremony will be in their football stadium.
The audience of approximately 12,000 will consist of
students, their families, and other Kingsville area residents.
(About 55% of the student body is of Hispanic heritage.) There
is a considerable amount of excitement about your visit since it
marks the first time you've made an official trip to Kingsville
as President or Vice President.
The speech (18 minutes, on TelePrompTer) is intended as
a major address on your Administration's leadership in space. It
follows last summer's Mars announcement by announcing a national
goal of a manned mission to Mars by the 50th anniversary of the
Apollo landing. In keeping with your commencement theme of
reflection on democratic change, the speech also describes
America's unique heritage -- and unique destiny -- as a
pioneering and democratic nation.
McNally/Simon
May 9, 1990
Draft Six (TX-#2)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: TEXAS A. & I. COMMENCEMENT
KINGSVILLE, TEXAS
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1990, 11:00 A.M.
Thank you, Bill [MACKENZIE, Board of Regents Chairman],
President Manuel Ibanez [[ee-BAHN-yez]], and good morning to you
all. It's always a pleasure to be back in my home state of Texas
-- and in the hometown of our outstanding Education Secretary
Lauro Cavazos. It's always good to see Governor Clements,
Senators Phil Gramm and Lloyd Bentsen, Congressman Ortiz and
Congressman de la Garza. Congratulations also to the families
and friends and faculty of these students -- and, most of all --
To the Texas A & I Class of 1990. 111
When President Ibanez first contacted us about A & I's
graduation, he called my son, George, Jr., and said that you
wanted to hear a commencement address from a popular but aging
Texan who has risen to the top of his field. And George said:
"Does that mean you're inviting Nolan Ryan?" III
But I'm honored to be in the home of the legendary Javelinas
[[hav-uh-LEE-nuhs]] -- the wild hogs. And I'm deeply honored to
be speaking from the hallowed space on the playing field usually
reserved for "Porky." [[A & I's JAVELINA MASCOT]] III
But I haven't seen your mascot today. Guess he heard we
keep Air Force One stocked with barbecued pork-rinds! 111
Javelinas aren't the only wildlife native to these parts.
The mesquite outside Kingsville is also shot through with rattle-
snake and deer. Doves rise on the warm gulf winds, soaring over
2
the palms and red-tiled roofs of Texas A & I. And South Texas is
a special place for the Bush family. We come down nearly every
December to visit friends and hunt just outside Beeville.
(But the reputation of the area is changing. When I told
Barbara I was flying down to South Texas to talk with college
students and see the wildlife, she said: "Aren't you getting a
bit old to be going to South Padre for Spring Break?") III
Like springtime itself, college commencements signal a time
of change. Last week, at Oklahoma State, I spoke about America's
new leadership role in the Atlantic Alliance. Tomorrow morning,
at South Carolina, we'll be talking about change among the people
of Eastern Europe -- people yearning to emulate not only our
standard of living -- but also our standard of justice. III
But democracy isn't just the wave of the present -- it's the
wave of the future. And as your generation assumes a leadership
role in a free world that's growing bigger all the time -- others
will continue to look to our shores for leadership and direction.
I have proposed that one of those directions be space. 111
The American adventure has always had the capacity to
inspire others -- and to astonish the world. The voyages of
Columbus. The Declaration of Independence. The taming of a
continent. The invention of flight. III
America's democracy is the world's greatest experiment in
freedom and diversity, an ongoing experiment that continues to
unleash the creative energies of the world's most diverse
population. It is what took American pioneers to the Moon and
3
back. It is what will take you as far as your dreams can soar.
Like Texas itself, A & I is also a place of pioneers. The
first four-year college in South Texas. A leader in bilingual
education, with the first such doctoral program in the U.S. Home
to research and innovations from natural gas engineering to snake
venom to the Rio Star grapefruit. And many of you are yourselves
pioneers -- the first in your families ever to attend college.
In America's unique democratic heritage, our pioneers were
not appointed by kings. Our pioneers appointed themselves -- and
took off! We are a searching people, future-oriented, impelled
to push on. After graduating college I took my family west,
looking for a country to test ourselves and our dreams. We found
it in Texas, with enough opportunities to last many lifetimes.
of course, Texas has always produced its share of pioneers
and visionaries. One was Sam Houston. Where others saw empty
plains and dust, he saw farms, and ranches, and towns. Where
others saw obstacles, he saw opportunity.
But Houston could scarcely have imagined that, little more
than a hundred years after his death, the entire planet would
hold its breath as his name became the first word ever uttered on
the plains and dust of another world.
III
It was July 20, 1969. And although Apollo 11 had just
survived one of the most harrowing landings in the history of
space, the voice of Neil Armstrong was confident, strong,
American. He said: "Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle
has landed." Eight words. And the world was changed forever.
4
When America accepted the Apollo challenge, we rolled up our
sleeves and took on a daunting and dangerous job. Apollo 11
showed we could meet our commitments to ourselves and to the
world -- proof that democracy could triumph as decisively in
peace as it had in war. It lifted the spirits of a generation,
and raised forever the horizons of the human race.
Today, America is still enjoying the dividends that flowed
from Apollo's outpouring of new science and technology. That
far-sighted investment is one reason America's aerospace industry
remains first in the world -- and last year produced a $18
billion tide of black ink in our balance of trade.
Project Apollo also spurred a burst in technological
education throughout the country. During that short decade, we
doubled the number of graduating Ph.D. physical scientists, and
quadrupled the Ph.D. mathematicians and engineers. The lesson
history teaches us is that the benefits are there for those who
dare to reach for them.
Last summer, in a speech commemorating the 20th anniversary
of the Apollo Moon landing, I announced three major space policy
objectives: First, to have Space Station Freedom up before the
century is out. Second, for the new century, a permanent lunar
base: "Back to the Moon, back to the future -- and this time --
back to stay." And third, a manned expedition to Mars. 111
Together, these objectives form the cornerstone of my
Administration's far-reaching plan for investing in America's
future. Our space program will help rekindle public interest in
5
science and mathematics, and revitalize an area of our
educational system that has become disturbingly weak. In fact,
one of the education goals we announced in January is to make the
United States first in math and science by the year 2000. But
our space program will do more. It will revolutionize everything
from computers to communications, from medicine to metals,
regaining and retaining America's high-tech competitive edge. It
will create new technologies, new industries, and new jobs.
It's an adventure I hope many of you will be part of. And
it's an adventure that's already underway. III
The Space Shuttle is back and ushering in a new era in
space. And it's led by a talented new generation. Scientists
like A & I Professor John Linder, who is working here to improve
Shuttle communications. Shuttle engineers like Ruben Zavala, A &
I Class of 1977, and avionics experts like Primitivo [prim-a-TEE-
vo] Perez, Class of 1971. And new American heroes like Franklin
Chang-Diaz, NASA's first Hispanic astronaut.
Last fall, Dr. Chang-Diaz helped put America back in space,
part of the team that deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its 6-
year journey to Jupiter. Galileo is the most complex explorer
spacecraft ever built, and sails in the vanguard of a flotilla of
exotic new craft now readying an assault on the ancient mysteries
of the stars, the solar system, and our own planet Earth.
You are coming of age during a Golden Age of space. And
there's no better example of this than the miracle now orbiting
380 miles above Kingsville -- the Hubble Space Telescope. It
6
will see to the furthest reaches of the universe, to the very
edges of time. (It will, quite literally, even enable
astronomers to see back in time -- perhaps far enough back to
when the Dallas Cowboys last had a winning season!) III
And it's hoped that the telescope will see objects so
clearly that, in theory, it could pick out the writing on a dime
-- 100 miles away. 11 Talk about the "Vision Thing!"
And even while Galileo and Hubble begin looking out across
space -- another array of new satellites will be looking back at
Earth -- and taking the pulse of the most important planet in the
universe. (You may remember a couple years back when Time
magazine named Earth "Planet of the Year." Comedian Jay Leno
said: "What did you expect? All the judges came from Earth!")
We call this initiative "Mission to Planet Earth.' It's an
effort of such magnitude, it dwarfs everything in the past -- a
worldwide study of the complex interactions between land, sea,
ice and air -- as well as between the Earth and the Sun.
Initiatives like these mark a critical investment in
America's future. They will help protect the environment, fuel
an educational renaissance, and hone America's competitive edge.
But the importance of the space program -- especially the
manned space program -- goes deeper than that. Throughout our
history, America has been a nation of discoverers. It is part of
our national character -- part of our democratic heritage. In
fact, Monday marks the day in 1804 when Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark set out across the Mississippi to map much of what
7
was to become the great American West. Despite Thomas
Jefferson's love of machines -- it's hard to imagine him sending
a robot out alone to describe the wonders of the American Rockies
and the Pacific coast. In the American experiment -- in the
experiment called democracy -- there will always be a place for
individual men and women with imagination and daring.
Our nation's quest for the unknown took American pioneers
from the bluffs of the Mississippi to the mountains of the Moon.
But today, we're no longer just asking for the Moon. We've been
there. We're looking further, to carry the American adventure to
wherever opportunity, curiosity, and need will take us.
It's time to open up the final frontier. There can be no
turning back. America's space program is what civilization needs
to begin this journey, and to perfect the commitment to go
beyond. Each time we go to the frontier and beyond, we bring
back more than we hoped for. This time we have the chance to
bring back more than we can imagine.
Our 1991 budget is proof positive of America's commitment to
an active, exciting and continuing presence in space -- to
America's leadership in space. Our budget proposes $15.2 billion
for NASA, an increase of 24 percent -- almost $3 billion -- which
is the largest increase for any major agency of the government.
But leadership in space takes more than just dollars. It
also takes a decision. And I'm announcing one today.
We stand at a halfway point in our exploration of the
immediate solar system -- the planet Earth, its Moon, and the
8
terrestrial neighborhood. 30 years ago, NASA was founded and the
space race began. And 30 years from now -- I believe Man will
stand on another planet. And so I am pleased to return to Texas
today to announce a new Age of Exploration, with not only a goal
but also a timetable: I believe that before Apollo celebrates
the 50th anniversary of its landing on the moon -- the American
flag should be planted on Mars.
Up beneath the dome of the United States Capitol -- where
decisions about our space program will be made in the coming
weeks -- the American adventure is told in stone, a tableau of
U.S. history carved around the rim of the dome itself. It begins
with Columbus' arrival in the New World -- and ends with the
first flight of the Wright brothers' plane.
But they got it wrong. The Wright brothers flight doesn't
mark the end of the American adventure -- but the beginning of a
new chapter -- a neverending story -- a story about a democracy
where anything is possible, and where no dream is too large.
We live in a century that began with great promise and hope
for the idea we call democracy, then only beginning to assume an
important place on the world stage. That hope has been fulfilled
-- and surpassed -- beyond the wildest dreams of our founders.
And the promise of democracy is beginning to be tasted by more
people in more places than ever before. It is their inspiration.
And it is our strength. Our heritage. And our future. III
And so as this century closes, it is in America's hands to
help determine the kind of people, the kind of planet, we will
9
become in the next. We will leave the Solar System and travel to
the stars. Not only because it is democracy's dream. But
because it is democracy's destiny. III
Around campfires, by moonlight and starlight across the
ages, men and women have turned their gaze skyward and dreamed an
ancient dream. And somewhere in America today, maybe here in
this stadium, there is a young man or woman who, like Neil
Armstrong, will seize this dream and change the world for all
time. I believe, I truly believe, that the Class of '90 will
leave footprints not only in the sands of Texas -- but also in
the sands of time -- and ultimately on the plains of Mars. III
You who have lived these past four years in Kingsville know
a lot about the sky. The plains of South Texas are as flat as
the sea -- a land without hills or impediments, a land of
limitless horizons and dreams to match. It is exactly the kind
of night-time sky where the cream of America's youth -- the cream
of Texas A and I -- can point confidently to the stars -- to
eternity -- and to their own future, the future of this great
Nation, and the future of free people everywhere. 111
America is proud of you and your families. Congratulations.
Thank you. And God bless the United States of America.
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