NASA Administrator
Daniel S. Goldin
Minority Business & Advocates Awards Ceremony
September 30, 1997


I'd like to begin today by  talking about Rip Van 
Winkle.

I know it's dangerous to start a speech by talking 
about someone who's best known for sleeping.  
Especially so soon after lunch. 

But I'm feeling bold.

We all know that Rip Van Winkle slept for 20 years.

But, in light of the awards we celebrate today, I'd 
like to recall what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
used to say about that story.  After all, I can't 
think of anyone who knew more about our need to 
come together.  I can't think of anyone who 
understood more the value that each and every 
individual adds to this society . . . no matter 
what they look like or where they come from.  And I 
can't think of anyone who spoke with more 
conviction or more eloquence than Dr. King did 
about our nation's incredible --  I mean, 
incredible -- potential . . . how we could, in a 
way, discover new worlds if we just break down old 
barriers.

Dr. King reminded us that when Rip Van Winkle went 
up into the woods for his little nap, he passed a 
sign with a picture of George III, King Of England.

When he finally woke up, came down from the woods, 
the sign had changed -- instead of George III, it 
was a picture of George Washington, President of 
the United States.

Dr. King liked to point out that Rip did not just 
sleep for 20 years.  He slept through an entire 
revolution.

Well, we're going through a revolution, too.

We're going through a revolution throughout the 
world in technological and scientific advancement.

And we're going through a revolution right here at 
NASA -- where, to keep up. . . . but more often to 
set the pace . . . we must do everything "faster, 
better, cheaper."

It is a revolution about, perhaps more than 
anything else, excellence.

And the fact is -- if your goal is excellence -- 
and ours is . . . you must bring in the most 
talented, the most innovative, the most dedicated 
companies and employees.

That's how you move forward.  That's how you grow.

Now, you can measure growth several ways.

People can look at our budget . . . or at our 
personnel numbers . . . it sure as heck doesn't 
look like growth.

But I'm proud -- because at NASA we do more with 
less.  We're a better space program than we used to 
be. 

We've grown . . . and that growth has as much to do 
with increased utilization of small, minority and 
women-owned businesses as it does with anything 
else.

The work we do carries with it extreme risk.  The 
spacecraft we build are complex, sophisticated 
systems.  The lives of our astronauts depend on 
excellence . . . of NASA personnel and our 
contractors.

So it would be dangerous -- in fact, irresponsible 
-- for us to limit the drawing of that talent from 
businesses owned by one kind of race.  One gender.  
When it comes to space exploration, one size 
doesn't always fit all.

I can't think of a better example than the recent 
Mars Pathfinder mission.

It was the first soft-landing mission to Mars since 
1976, when NASA landed two Viking spacecraft on the 
planet.  That Viking mission cost us $ 3 billion in 
today's dollars.

The Mars Pathfinder?  Completed for $150 million.  
Just a three year turnaround from approval to 
launch.

What a success!

And here's why -- the talent pool we drew from.

A small African-American owned company -- Falcon 
Design Services -- designed mechanical and 
electrical components for the six-wheeled robotic 
rover . . . named "Sojourner."

The same business along with another small 
business, also helped design the Attitude and 
Information Management (AIM) subsystem.  That's the 
avionics, or the "brains" of the Pathfinder.

A non-minority woman-owned business -- Mid-Com 
Corporation -- helped develop flight software.

A small Asian owned firm -- Pioneer Circuits -- 
provided the flex cables for Sojourner and 
delivered their products on time . . . even though 
the procurement was identified late and contained 
specification error.

A small Hispanic owned business -- BST Systems -- 
designed and manufactured batteries for the power 
subsystem that allowed the rover to move into 
action.  The batteries were produced for a system 
that had to withstand extreme temperatures . . . 
and the batteries were still working well after the 
date that the contract called for.

I'm extremely proud to report that all of the 
spacecraft subsystems included products made by 
small disadvantaged businesses . . . and all of 
them . . . all of them . . . were delivered on 
time and within budget.

And the academic community helped, too.  
Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
(HBCU's) and other minority educational 
institutions, like Central State University in Ohio 
. . . University of Southern Colorado . . . and the 
University of Hawaii . . . all provided the 
education and outreach portion of the Pathfinder 
mission.

I singled out the Mars Pathfinder mission . . . but 
the fact is, SDB's have performed just as well in 
our other programs. 

Each year we give out what we call the "George M. 
Low Awards."

The awards -- named after a former administrator -- 
are presented to current NASA contractors, 
subcontractors and suppliers who demonstrate 
sustained excellence and outstanding achievements 
in quality and productivity.

In 1997,  3 of the 4 were presented to small 
businesses -- one to a small minority-owned firm, 
Scientific Commercial Systems Corporation.  Another 
to a woman-owned business, Hummer Associates.

And on the International Space Station . . . in 
1992, one percent of space station dollars were 
contracted out to SDB.  In 1996 that number jumped 
to 12 percent . . . totaling more than $200 million 
for that year alone.

We're not where we ought to be, but we're not where 
we used to be either.  And we're better for it.  
We're better for it because we're not just doing it 
for the sake of saying we did it.

Governments . . . universities . . . businesses . . 
. they should look like America for one reason and 
one reason only . . . it makes America better.  The 
wider you cast the net, the more historically 
underutilized talent you're going to bring in.

Just look at NASA.  

We're trying to develop the minds of our 
infrastructure -- so we don't sleep through the 
revolution.  We've offered an all day course  -- at 
8 centers already -- so agency personnel learn the 
value added benefits of using SDB's absent laws and 
regulations.

Through our mentor-protg program, only two years 
old, we've awarded nearly $50 million in 
subcontracts, including options, to SDB's.  And I'm 
talking about the most high-tech contracts there 
are.

Through our Quarterly Aeronautics SDB forum, we've 
awarded more than $70 million to SDB's in contracts 
and subcontracts.  This program has been so 
successful, we're expanding it to our science-
oriented centers and all small businesses.

Our SDB training program has now trained over 600 
SDB owners and executives.  We're going to expand 
that also , to include all small businesses.

We  have tripled the contract and subcontract 
dollars going to small women-owned businesses in 
the last five years -- going from $150 million in 
fy 1991 to almost $450 million in fy 1996.

We subcontract a higher percentage of our total 
contract dollars to small women-owned firms than 
any other federal agency.

All told, we've awarded 13.1 percent of our 
contract dollars to SDB's in 1996 . . . more than 
one and a half billion dollars .  We've awarded 
more contract and subcontract dollars to SDB's than 
any other civilian agency.

That's how we're growing.  That's how we're 
committed to excellence.  That's why we're a better 
space program than we used to be.

But the battle is not over.  Not in America.  Not 
at NASA.

Acquisition reform, consolidated contracts, mergers 
of large contractors and legal attacks are all 
challenges that will make the job ahead of us much 
harder in the coming years.  

And we are dealing with all of those challenges; as 
contracts are consolidated, and SDB's lose 
opportunities to perform prime contracts with NASA, 
we increase the SDB subcontracting goals. 

Many times this ends up providing more dollars for 
SDB's than they had when the contracts were broken 
up.  

I'll give you some examples:  in our space flight 
operations contract consolidation at the Johnson 
Space Center, we have bundled dozens of
contracts into one, giving it an annual contract 
value of $7.2 billion over the next six years.  

We have an 18 percent subcontracting goal for small 
businesses under that contract -- of which 8 
percent is for SDB's and women. 

This will amount to more than twice the dollars 
they were getting under space shuttle-related 
contracts when they were broken up.
  
Now although the goals will vary according to the 
work effort and the types of subcontracting 
opportunities available, this is basically the 
strategy that we will use in all of our 
consolidated contract efforts.  

Now, that's  not to say that SDB's can no longer 
win prime contracts at NASA.  Far from it.  

In fact, SDB prime contracts have continued to rise 
each year since fy 1992 -- even in the midst of an 
increase in consolidations. 

And whenever it's the right thing to do . . . we 
will even prime some of our consolidated contracts 
to SDB's. 

As for the court cases, the SBA regulation changes 
and the Department of Justice proposals, we are 
dealing with all of those issues as they arise.
We have initiatives in place to make sure that we 
are maximizing SDB utilization, while at the same 
time following the rules, whatever they may
be at any given moment . 
 
But, take heart, because even as things get harder, 
we intend to continue to do better.  

Our mission and our vision depend on it.

Our primary motive in maximizing our use of small, 
minority and women contractors is not to meet a 
goal, or to redress past and present social 
inequities or even to satisfy certain federal 
statutes.

Our space program is so challenging, so demanding 
and at times, so risky  . . . that we are going to 
need all of the productive capacity and productive 
potential that this nation has to offer. 

The only discriminating factors are excellence and 
inclusion.  Because if you want to discover new 
worlds . . . you have to break down old barriers.  

 That is a fact that I don't think any law can 
touch; it is a goal that no court decision can 
impact on -- that no public opinion can dare 
challenge.  

As long as you continue to perform, we will 
continue putting together the best minds we have to 
develop innovative ways to include you in our 
programs and missions.

We won't sleep through the revolution.  We'll keep 
growing.  We'll always be committed to excellence.

It won't be just for your businesses futures, 
though; it will be for the future of NASA and of 
America.

Thank you very much.