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May 1, 2000

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT REGARDING THE UNITED STATES? DECISION TO STOP DEGRADING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM ACCURACY

                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary

          _______________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                        May 1, 2000


                   STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT REGARDING
               THE UNITED STATES? DECISION TO STOP DEGRADING
                    GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM ACCURACY


Today, I am pleased to announce that the United States will stop the
intentional degradation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals
available to the public beginning at midnight tonight.  We call this
degradation feature Selective Availability (SA). This will mean that
civilian users of GPS will be able to pinpoint locations up to ten times
more accurately than they do now.  GPS is a dual-use, satellite-based
system that provides accurate location and timing data to users worldwide.
My March 1996 Presidential Decision Directive included in the goals for GPS
to: ?encourage acceptance and integration of GPS into peaceful civil,
commercial and scientific applications worldwide; and to encourage private
sector investment in and use of U.S. GPS technologies and services.?  To
meet these goals, I committed the U.S. to discontinuing the use of SA by
2006 with an annual assessment of its continued use beginning this year.

The decision to discontinue SA is the latest measure in an on-going effort
to make GPS more responsive to civil and commercial users worldwide.  Last
year, Vice President Gore announced our plans to modernize GPS by adding
two new civilian signals to enhance the civil and commercial service.  This
initiative is on-track and the budget further advances modernization by
incorporating some of the new features on up to 18 additional satellites
that are already awaiting launch or are in production.  We will continue to
provide all of these capabilities to worldwide users free of charge.

My decision to discontinue SA was based upon a recommendation by the
Secretary of Defense in coordination with the Departments of State,
Transportation, Commerce, the Director of Central Intelligence, and other
Executive Branch Departments and Agencies.  They realized that worldwide
transportation safety, scientific, and commercial interests could best be
served by discontinuation of SA.  Along with our commitment to enhance GPS
for peaceful applications, my administration is committed to preserving
fully the military utility of GPS.  The decision to discontinue SA is
coupled with our continuing efforts to upgrade the military utility of our
systems that use GPS, and is supported by threat assessments which conclude
that setting SA to zero at this time would have minimal impact on national
security.  Additionally, we have demonstrated the capability to selectively
deny GPS signals on a regional basis when our national security is
threatened.  This regional approach to denying navigation services is
consistent with the 1996 plan to discontinue the degradation of civil and
commercial GPS service globally through the SA technique.

Originally developed by the Department of Defense as a military system, GPS
has become a global utility.  It benefits users around the world in many
different applications, including air, road, marine, and rail navigation,
telecommunications, emergency response, oil exploration, mining, and many
more.  Civilian users will realize a dramatic improvement in GPS accuracy
with the discontinuation of SA.  For example, emergency teams responding to
a cry for help can now determine what side of the highway they must respond
to, thereby saving precious minutes.  This increase in accuracy will allow
new GPS applications to emerge and continue to enhance the lives of people
around the world.


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