Serge Morel        P.O. Box 17222     Sarasota, FL   34276-0222                 Fax:   (941) 378- 8008     e-mail:   serg@gte.net 9/20/2000 Page 204 of 579 Key to the renewed U.S. commitment to GPS is a recent Air Force statement of support for the President s policy on GPS.  According to Dr. Sheila E. Widnall, Secretary of the Air Force, The Air Force recognizes the tremendous civil and military aspects of GPS, and fully intends to maintain a 24-satellite constellation for the duration of the program.     The GPS policy review was conducted jointly by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council and issued as a directive of the National Science and Technology Council.   A fact sheet describing the new policy is available from the Office of Science and Technology Policy; please fax your request to 202/456-6019.     To automatically receive science and technology news announcements from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, email <listserv@ostp.eop.gov>.  In the body of the message, type <subscribe news your name>.  For more information about the White House Science News service, email <rborchelt@ostp.eop.gov>. #   #   # From the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (Mar 29, 1996 12:21 p.m. EST) -- The Clinton administration announced today it will loosen military security restrictions and allow greater commercial use of a global navigation  system. In a move that Vice President Al Gore said could turn a $1 billion  industry into an $8 billion industry  in four years and create 100,000 jobs -- mostly in California -- the  administration said it can protect  military security while expanding access to the system. "We are harnessing power in the sky to chart a prosperous new course  on the ground," Gore said at  a White House news conference. Under a newly approved White House policy, the Pentagon will end in four to 10 years its practice of degrading the quality of the Global Positioning System signal available for commercial use. That practice had been designed to ensure a technological edge for U.S.  military forces. But technologies  being developed will be able to secure the military GPS system. As a result, a far more accurate GPS system will be available for cars, airplanes, trains, trucks, ambulances, oil tankers, even hikers. Using small, portable receivers to pick up satellite signals, GPS users can pinpoint their locations  anywhere in the world, even at sea, under any weather conditions. "Before long it's going to be very difficult to get lost," said  Charles R. Trimble, president of Trimble  Navigation Ltd. of Sunnyvale, Calif. Trimble's company is one of several high-tech firms in California that stands to benefit from the new policy. Trimble, whose company built the equipment used last year to recover downed fighter pilot  Scott O'Grady in Bosnia, said the White House move would open up  overseas markets to  manufacturers of GPS equipment. And Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said that while the policy change won’t take place immediately, the announcement gives the private sector a clear statement of where administration policy is going and clears the way for development of new commercial GPS systems. An official at Rockwell International Corp., which manufactures GPS receivers, said Thursday his company could do more business with airlines interested in using it as a landing aid and in planning flight routes. It also is used in car navigation.