Text Of A Letter From The President To The Secretary Of Defense
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Seattle, Washington)


For Immediate Release December 1, 1999

 

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
 

November 29, 1999



Dear Mr. Secretary:

     Thank you for conducting and reporting on your thorough and in-depth review of the U.S. space launch failures that occurred in 1998 and 1999.  I am pleased to know that you have identified the root causes behind each of the recent launch failures and that you have worked with NASA, the Intelligence Community, and industry to take corrective actions to prevent recurrences.  I also appreciate your efforts, and the efforts of industry, in uncovering and addressing the broader systemic concerns that may have contributed to this series of failures.

     I have asked Dr. Neal Lane, my Assistant for Science and Technology, and Mr. Sandy Berger, my Assistant for National Security Affairs, to review your report.  Now and in the next century, our national security, civil, and commercial space sectors will continue to depend on reliable access to space to achieve our broader national goals.  Your report correctly points out the importance of successfully flying the remaining current fleet of expendable launch vehicles already on contract, with missions valued at more than $20 billion, while assuring mission success during the transition from these current systems to the modernized Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles.

 Thank you again for the hard work and dedication of the government-industry team in uncovering the technical and management problems associated with these launch failures.  Please implement appropriate actions to correct the causes of the failures and ensure our nation's ability to reliably access space in the future.
 
 

      WILLIAM J. CLINTON


Office of Science and Technology Policy
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W
Washington, DC 20502
202.395.7347
Information@ostp.eop.gov



OSTP 1998-1999 Papers, Reports & Publications

WTEC Panel Report on Nanostructure Science and Technology

FY2000 R&D Budget Rollout

Remarks Urging the Ratification of the Comrehensive Test Ban Treaty

Reasearch Misconduct - A New Definition and New Procedures for Federal Reasearch Agencies - Oct. 14, 1999

Powerful Partnership Page

Executive Order on Bio-based Products and Bioenergy

Research Involving Human Biological Materials

Dedication of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

National Bioethics Advisory Commission Membership

Sustaining and Renewing the Federal Research Partnership With Universities

Presidential Review Directive 5

Synchrotron Radiation for Macromolecular Crystallography Report

FY 2001 Interagency Research and Development Priorities

Text Of A Letter From The President To The Secretary Of Defense

Remarks By The President On Economic Growth

Statement & Fact Sheet on the GOP R&D Budget Cuts

The President’s Council on Food Safety/ National Academy of Sciences Report

Improving Federal Laboratories to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century

NSTC 1998 Annual Report


President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement

Help

Site Map

Graphic Version

T H E   W H I T E   H O U S E