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From @lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu:jcma@REAGAN.AI.MIT.EDU Tue Jun 22 20:22:40 1993
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1993 18:45-0400
From: The White House <75300.3115@compuserve.com>
To: Clinton-News-Distribution@campaign92.org
Subject: President's Call to the Space Shuttle 6.22.93
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 22, 1993
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN PHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE ASTRONAUTS
ABOARD THE ENDEAVOUR SPACE SHUTTLE
The Oval Office
12:45 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Can you hear me?
MISSION COMMANDER RONALD GRABE: Mr. President, I
believe we hear you, but slightly broken up.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we can hear you, and we are
looking at you. And you all look wonderful.
COMMANDER GRABE: Well, you're loud and clear now, Mr.
President. That's much better.
THE PRESIDENT: We want to congratulate you on a
spectacular launch and on looking so happy. The American people are
very reassured watching you on television now.
COMMANDER GRABE: Well, thank you, sir. It's early in
the mission, but we're very excited about the mission. It's
certainly a multifaceted one and it really does show the versatility
of the space shuttle. We're doing a little bit of everything on this
flight.
THE PRESIDENT: I know. I understand one of the things
you're doing is chasing down the Eureca satellite that was put up by
the shuttle last July. And I'm especially pleased about that because
it shows what we can do in the way of international cooperation as
well as science. And I want to congratulate you on that and wish you
well.
ASTRONAUT VOSS: Thank you very much, Mr. President.
We've been working very hard for about a year training for this
rendezvous and retrieval. And we're had a lot of fantastic support
both in our own country and our own ground support team, and the
international team all over in Europe and we're looking forward to
bringing back great science on Eureca to the Europeans.
THE PRESIDENT: We're looking forward to that, too. I
also understand that David and Jeff will be outside the shuttle
practicing for the repair of the Hubbell Telescope and for the future
assembly of the space station. And I thought that maybe one of them
or both would like to comment on it so people can get a good look at
you now, and when they see you outside in your suits they'll know who
they're seeing.
ASTRONAUT WISOFF: Well, Mr. President, we're looking
very forward to the space walk. We feel proud to be able to
represent America. And we're very happy of your support of the space
station. We think it represents the best of America and their
pioneering spirit and the NASA team has done a really great job of
preparing us for our flight. And I think that both Dave and I just
can't wait to get there.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're excited about it. And while
you're up there, we're going to be down here trying to support the
space program and the space station. As you know, we had a very
distinguished commission looking at the whole space station project.
They recommended some redesign and some management changes at NASA.
But I think this should give us a great deal of credibility.
We've got some important votes coming up in the Congress
in the next two days. While you're up there, we're going to be down
here voting on this project. And I very much hope that we can
prevail, and I think, frankly, your success and your work will help
us to prevail. You're doing as much up there to help us win the
votes down here as anyone, and I thank you for that.
COMMANDER GRABE: Well, Mr. President, we're very
gratified by your support of the space station. We certainly all
consider it to be an immensely important project in continuing our
leadership in science and technology.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Let me just say one last
thing about something that's very important to me. I understand that
later in the mission Janice and Brian are going to be talking with
school children around the world. And you may know that my daughter
is a big fan of the space program. She's off at summer language camp
now. But I want to just tell you how much I appreciate the fact that
you're making an international education project out of this mission.
That's very important to me.
ASTRONAUT DUFFY: Mr. President, we find that using
amateur radio is an excellent way of communicating with children all
around the world, and we're also able to excite them by using space
and science. And letting them see space and science in action, we're
able to excite them and hope they'll study harder.
THE PRESIDENT: You have no idea -- you may be on this
mission creating thousands of scientists for the future just by the
power of your example and by this direct communication. I think
sometimes we underestimate the impact that human contact in an
enormously impressive setting like this can have on children all
across the world -- not only those with whom you'll talk, but
millions of others who will just see it and know that it happened.
I want to thank all of you for the wonderful job you've
done. We're very proud of you and we're very proud of all the NASA
folks down here who are supporting you. I want to encourage you and
say again that I'm behind you, this administration is behind you and
I think the American people are behind you.
ASTRONAUT LOW: Mr. President, once again, we thank you
very much for your support. It's a real pleasure to be up here at
your service.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Let's hear from the last
astronaut there.
ASTRONAUT SHERLOCK: I just wanted to add my thanks for
your support. We all feel that the space program has done a
tremendous amount for this country, both in promoting inside the
country science education, and also with the international partners.
And it means a lot to us to know that that support still is around
and that we're going to have a strong space program in the future.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm committed to that. The American
people, in watching you today, can see one area of human endeavour in
which we are indisputably continuing to lead the world, and bringing
other countries into partnership in both leadership and technology
and science, and partnership with other countries. Those are the
keys to our future as a people -- to our standard of living, to our
quality of life, as well as to our ability to continue the American
tradition of exploring frontiers.
And I'm very proud of you, and I wish you well. And we
can't wait until you get home safe and sound. But have a great time
up there, and learn a lot, and we'll all learn from you.
Good luck and God bless you all.
* * * * *
Q Mr. President, there's apparently a memo
circulating over at the Pentagon suggesting that gays should be
allowed to serve in the military if they simply don't advertise their
status. Is that what you're likely to recommend?
THE PRESIDENT: I think I should wait until I get the
report from the Pentagon. I have not received the report. I talked
to Secretary Aspin very briefly just a couple of days ago and asked
him to proceed with this and let me know as soon as possible. I
think the American people in the military are certainly ready for a
resolution. But I can't comment on the specifics until I see it.
Q Does that sound like a good solution to you?
THE PRESIDENT: I want to see what the details are.
There's a lot of -- there's been a lot of very helpful comment I
think on this whole issue, finally, in the last few weeks. Senator
Dole was very helpful in what he said. I thought some of the people
who testified, interestingly enough, on both sides of the issue in
the last set of hearings really tried to shed more light than heat,
tried to bring down the emotionalism in the debate and get people to
look at the facts. So I think we're ready to resolve this and get it
behind us. And I hope that it will happen soon. But I don't want to
comment specifically until I get a specific recommendation.
Q But you haven't changed your mind, have you?
THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely not. I think -- and I don't
see this as a liberal-conservative issue. I mean, you've got a core
who was in the Reagan administration supporting the idea that there
has to be some provisions for people who don't do anything wrong, but
who are homosexuals serving in the service. You've got Barry
Goldwater, you've got a lot of people who served with great
distinction in the military who are now in the Congress taking the
same position. So I think we're coming toward agreement on it, and
I'm hopeful. But I'd like to see it resolved soon.
Q Sir, have you spoken to this fellow who claims to
be your brother -- half-brother?
THE PRESIDENT: No. I placed a -- I left word on his
answering service in California yesterday. I didn't know he was in
the air. And I also left word in New York. And I'd like to talk to
him and then I will -- I'll have a brief statement about it. But I
think I should -- I'd like to try one more day to talk to him.
Q I think he's afraid to call you.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I hope not. I mean, we left word
that it would be fine for him to call.
Q He's showed some reticence.
THE PRESIDENT: He's been, I think, very appealing and
humble the way he's handled this whole thing. I've been impressed.
Q Any thoughts on the death of Pat Nixon?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm very sad, and I intend to try
to speak with President Nixon today. I talked with him a couple of
times in the last month when -- once when he was at the hospital and
once when he had just come from the hospital in the last month or so
to ask his advice about various things. And I know that this is --
you know, they had a very long and very close marriage. And this
must be a very difficult time for him.
I think the American people really appreciate the
dignity with which she served as First Lady. And I hope and believe
that the Nixon family has the thoughts and prayers of all the
American people today.
Q Thank you.
Q Is Panetta going to tell us anything we don't know?
(Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's not so much a condemnation
of me as a compliment to you. You know everything already.
(Laughter.)
END12:57 P.M. EDT