pd05de94 Statement on Action in the House of Representatives on the General...

	Web GovRecords.org

best trained, the best equipped, the best prepared fighting force on 
Earth. I'm happy to be here today with Secretary Perry and with the 
Joint Chiefs to reinforce that commitment and to announce a new 
initiative to ensure military readiness and to give our military and 
their families the support they deserve.
    During our first year in office, we undertook a fundamental review 
from the bottom up of our Nation's defense capacity and our strategy. 
Building on the efforts of the previous administration and bipartisan 
support in the Congress, we continue to restructure our Nation's 
military forces to meet the challenges to American leadership in the 
post-cold-war era. I directed that our Armed Forces be ready to face two 
major regional conflicts occurring almost simultaneously. Since then, I 
have repeatedly resisted calls to cut our forces further, to cut our 
budget below the levels recommended in that bottom-up review, and I have 
drawn the line against further defense cuts.
    During these past 2 years, our military has time and again 
demonstrated its readiness and its war-fighting and peacekeeping 
capabilities. From Korea to Macedonia to Rwanda and Haiti, we have 
placed great burdens on our men and women in uniform, and they have 
responded magnificently. They have demonstrated a truly outstanding 
ability to deploy quickly, provide security, and to help ensure 
stability.
    When our forces deployed with extraordinary speed and efficiency to 
the Persian Gulf in October, Saddam Hussein got the message. We 
decisively deterred the Iraqi threat to the region's security. And when 
our armed services, cooperating in an unprecedented fashion, stood ready 
to back up our diplomatic efforts in Haiti, we helped set the stage for 
restoration of democracy in that nation.
    Whether our forces are engaged in combat, acting as peacekeepers, or 
delivering humanitarian assistance, we must continue to review their 
requirements, provide adequate funding, and keep our military edge. 
Secretary Perry and I have repeatedly stated that our number one 
commitment is to the readiness and well-being of our men and women in 
uniform.
    I'm announcing today a five-part initiative to ensure that our Armed 
Forces receive the resources and the support they need to continue their 
high standard of performance. First, I intend to ask Congress to add an 
additional $25 billion to our planned defense budgets over the next 6 
years. Second, I will seek the full pay raise allowed by law for our 
uniformed military through the turn of the century. Third, I will fully 
support other quality of life initiatives which were outlined by 
Secretary Perry last month. We will spend what is required to ensure 
that our military live in adequate housing and are provided the 
necessary child care and receive the support they and their families 
need to serve our Nation. Fourth, I will ask the Congress to provide for 
real growth in the defense budget during the last 2 years of our next

[[Page 2444]]

6-year plan to help ensure that the American military enters the 21st 
century with the most modern equipment available. And finally, we will 
send to Congress with our budget next year an emergency supplemental 
funding for the current fiscal year to reimburse the military for its 
unanticipated expenditures with the operations in the Gulf, the 
Adriatic, Haiti, and elsewhere and to protect us from dipping into 
important readiness funding. These funds will enable us to maintain the 
readiness and training we will need to accomplish our missions in the 
coming year.
    I urge Congress to quickly approve this supplemental request so that 
we do not face the kind of problems we confronted this fall when 
Congress delayed its approval of the last supplemental funding request.
    These actions I'm announcing today reinforce our administration's 
commitment and my personal commitment to maintaining the highest 
training standards for our military, to preparing them to depart on 
missions around the world at a moment's notice. They will ensure that 
our men and women in uniform can be assured that their families are 
getting the kind of support they need and deserve. We ask much of our 
military, and we owe much to them in return.
    Our Armed Forces are the backbone of our national security strategy. 
They stand behind our efforts to maintain peace and security all around 
the world. I call on the new Congress to give these initiatives their 
full support.
    Thank you very much.

Bosnia

    Q. Mr. President, are you ready to send U.S. ground troops to Bosnia 
to help in any evacuation of U.N. peacekeepers if that is necessary?
    The President. There has been no discussion of that, and the U.N. 
peacekeepers have not decided to leave Bosnia.
    Thank you.

Defense Readiness

    Q. Mr. President, some critics might argue that your action today is 
a passive admission that defense has been cut too much.
    The President. That's not right. What we have done--I'll remind you, 
we started out, when I became President--when I became President I said, 
we have a commitment to maintain readiness and the quality of life for 
our troops; we have a commitment to be able to meet our strategic 
mission, which is principally to be able to conduct two regional 
conflicts nearly simultaneously. We have reviewed that; we have managed 
that. In the last 2 years, we have also had significant costs for other 
things, as you know. And our military has performed very well in Haiti, 
in the Gulf, in dealing with the migration problems in Cuba, in Haiti, 
and in many, many other areas. We've also stepped up a lot of our 
operations in the Adriatic and in the area around Bosnia.
    So we have had a lot of unanticipated costs. And what we've tried to 
do is to look at this and then decide what it would take to maintain our 
readiness in the short term and in the long run. The short-term problems 
can be readily remedied by the emergency supplemental that I've asked 
for and by the budgetary changes that I am making. The long-term 
problems will require the adoption of this five-point plan.
    We are moving into the future with a very aggressive strategy. It is 
consistent with the commitments I made when I came here. And we have 
seen the military, frankly, have to deal with an amazing number and 
variety of unanticipated challenges. They have done so with great skill, 
but now they need the support that I think we ought to give them.
    And in this era when we are definitely going to continue to reduce 
the size of the budget, we are going to continue to cut Government, we 
are going to give the American people a leaner Government, I still 
believe the people of this country expect us to do right by our men and 
women in uniform and to maintain our readiness and preparedness and to 
plan for the future. And that's what this budget does. That's my job; 
that's the Secretary of Defense's job; that's the Joint Chiefs' job, and 
we're here doing it today.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:54 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.

[[Page 2445]]


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 2445-2446]
 
Monday, December 5, 1994
 
Volume 30--Number 48
Pages 2435-2457
 
Week Ending Friday, December 2, 1994
 
Executive Order 12941--Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or 
Leased Buildings

December 1, 1994

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, and in furtherance of the 
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended by Public Law 101-
614, which requires the President to adopt ``standards for assessing and 
enhancing the seismic safety of existing buildings constructed for or 
leased by the Federal Government which were designed and constructed 
without adequate seismic design and construction standards'' (42 U.S.C. 
7705b(a)), it is hereby ordered as follows:
    Section 1. Adoption of Minimum Standards. The Standards of Seismic 
Safety for Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings (Standards), 
developed, issued, and maintained by the Interagency Committee on 
Seismic Safety in Construction (ICSSC), are hereby adopted as the 
minimum level acceptable for use by Federal departments and agencies in 
assessing the seismic safety of their owned and leased buildings and in 
mitigating unacceptable seismic risks in those buildings. The Standards 
shall be applied, at a minimum, to those buildings identified in the 
Standards as requiring evaluation and, if necessary, mitigation. 
Evaluations and mitigations that were completed prior to the date of 
this order under agency programs that were based on standards deemed 
adequate and appropriate by the individual agency need not be 
reconsidered unless otherwise stipulated by the Standards.
    For the purposes of this order, buildings are defined as any 
structure, fully or partially enclosed, located within the United States 
as defined in the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977, as amended, 
(42 U.S.C. 7703(5)), used or intended for sheltering persons or 
property, except for the exclusions specified in the Standards.
    Sec. 2. Estimating Costs of Mitigation. Each agency that owns or 
leases buildings for Federal use shall, within 4 years of the issuance 
of this order, develop an inventory of their owned and leased buildings 
and shall estimate the costs of mitigating unacceptable seismic risks in 
those buildings. The cost estimate shall be based on the exemptions and 
evaluation and mitigation requirements in the Standards. Guidance for 
the development of the inventory and cost estimates will be issued by 
the ICSSC no later than 1 year after the signing of this order. Cost 
estimates with supporting documentation shall be submitted to the 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) no later than 
4 years after the signing of this order.
    Sec. 3. Implementation Responsibilities. (a) The Federal Emergency 
Management Agency is responsible for (1) notifying all Federal 
departments and agencies of the existence and content of this order; (2) 
preparing for the Congress, in consultation with the ICSSC, no later 
than 6 years after the issuance of this order, a comprehensive report on 
how to achieve an adequate level of seismic safety in federally owned 
and leased buildings in an economically feasible manner; and (3) 
preparing for the Congress on a biennial basis, a report on the 
execution of this order.
    (b) The National Institute of Standards and Technology is 
responsible for providing technical assistance to the Federal 
departments and agencies in the implementation of this order.
    (c) Federal departments and agencies may request an exemption from 
this order from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
    Sec. 4. Updating Programs. The ICSSC shall update the Standards at 
least every 5 years. It shall also update the Standards within 2 years 
of the publication of the first edition of FEMA's Guidelines for Seismic 
Rehabilitation of Buildings and Commentary.
    Sec. 5. Judicial Review. Nothing in this order is intended to create 
any right to administrative or judicial review, or any other right, 
benefit, or trust responsibility, substantive or procedural, enforceable 
at law by any party against the United States, its agencies or 
instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any person.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
December 1, 1994.

[[Page 2446]]

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:26 a.m., December 2, 
1994]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
December 5.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 2446]
 
Monday, December 5, 1994
 
Volume 30--Number 48
Pages 2435-2457
 
Week Ending Friday, December 2, 1994
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders on Seismic Safety of Existing Federally 
Owned or Leased Buildings

December 1, 1994

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)

    Under Public Law 101-614 the President is to adopt, no later than 
December 1, 1994, ``standards for assessing and enhancing the seismic 
safety of existing buildings constructed for or leased by the Federal 
Government which were designed and constructed without adequate seismic 
design and construction standards.'' The statute gave the task of 
developing the standards to the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety 
in Construction (ICSSC), which is chaired by the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology.
    The ICSSC developed a set of ``Standards of Seismic Safety for 
Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings and Commentary'' 
(Standards), and recommends that Federal departments and agencies adopt 
these Standards.
    The intent of the Standards is to identify common minimum evaluation 
and mitigation measures for all Federal departments and agencies, and to 
allow all Federal entities to have an agency-conceived and controlled 
seismic safety program for their existing owned or leased buildings. I 
have signed an Executive order adopting these Standards. A copy of that 
order is attached.
    The Executive order adopts the Standards as the minimum level of 
seismic safety for federally owned and leased buildings. It requires 
seismic evaluation and, if necessary, rehabilitation under certain 
conditions identified in the Standards. The order directs all Federal 
departments and agencies to develop an inventory of their owned and 
leased buildings within 4 years of signing, and to estimate the cost of 
mitigating unacceptable seismic risks in their buildings.
    Adoption of these Standards provides the critical first step for 
determining how these Standards can be applied to buildings that receive 
Federal financial assistance or are regulated by a Federal agency.
    Sincerely,
                                            William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate.


<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]


[Page 2446-2450]
 
Monday, December 5, 1994
 
Volume 30--Number 48
Pages 2435-2457
 
Week Ending Friday, December 2, 1994
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
(Serbia and Montenegro)

December 1, 1994

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)

    On May 30, 1992, in Executive Order No. 12808, the President 
declared a national emergency to deal with the threat to the national 
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States arising from 
actions and policies of the Governments of Serbia and Montenegro, acting 
under the name of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in their involvement in and support for 
groups attempting to seize territory in Croatia and the Republic of 

Other Popular 1994 Presidential Documents Documents:

Other Documents:

1994 Presidential Documents Records and Documents