pd09no98 Statement on Signing the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998...

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to food assistance and improve the programs' operation, management, 
integrity, and safety. I am pleased that this Act includes many 
provisions that my Administration proposed.
    The Act will help to improve the nutritional and health status of 
America's most needy children. In particular, H.R. 3874 permits schools 
and other nonprofit institutions providing after-school care to older, 
``at-risk'' youth to receive meal supplements at no charge. In addition, 
it continues to allow children in the Even Start Family Literacy Program 
to be eligible for free school meals.
    The Act makes a number of changes to improve the administration, 
efficiency, and integrity of the child nutrition programs while 
protecting health and safety standards. It removes barriers to the 
participation of private, nonprofit organizations in the Summer Food 
Service Program, especially in rural areas, and streamlines many 
National School Lunch Program procedures. In addition, it revises 
program licensing requirements to allow more child care providers to 
provide Federally funded snacks to needy children. Furthermore, it 
ensures health and safety inspections of school food service operations 
where they are currently not required.
    The Act is tough on fraud and abuse. It allows the Department of 
Agriculture to permanently disqualify from the WIC program vendors 
convicted of trafficking food instruments--such as WIC vouchers or 
electronic benefit transfer cards--or selling firearms, ammunition, 
explosives, or controlled substances in exchange for them. In addition,

[[Page 2209]]

it requires WIC applicants to appear in person to apply for benefits and 
document their income as a condition of receiving benefits.
    It is well known that a strong relationship exists between 
children's nutritional status and their ability to learn, and I remain 
vitally concerned that all school children have what they need to 
succeed in school. In joining together to support H.R. 3874, my 
Administration and the Congress have forged a bipartisan opportunity to 
improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of our Nation's children. 
I am pleased to sign this legislation into law.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 31, 1998.

Note: H.R. 3874, approved October 31, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
336.


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[Page 2209-2210]
 
Monday, November 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 45
Pages 2197-2274
 
Week Ending Friday, November 6, 1998
 
Statement on Signing the Haskell Indian Nations University and 
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Administrative Systems Act of 
1998

October 31, 1998

    Today I am signing into law H.R. 4259, the ``Haskell Indian Nations 
University and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Administrative 
Systems Act of 1998.'' Haskell Indian Nations University (Haskell) and 
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) are the only Federally 
owned and operated schools in the United States dedicated to higher 
education for American Indians. Together they have provided thousands of 
American Indians valuable educational opportunities. This Act will 
broaden and increase those opportunities by assisting both institutions 
in their ongoing efforts to attract and retain highly qualified 
administrators, faculty, and staff.
    The Act authorizes Haskell and SIPI each to conduct a 5-year 
demonstration project to test the feasibility and desirability of 
alternative personnel management systems designed to meet the special 
staffing circumstances in a college and university setting. Currently, 
Haskell and SIPI operate under the same civil service personnel system 
as most other Federal agencies. The demonstration projects authorized by 
H.R. 4259 will provide these schools flexibility to test personnel 
reforms in areas such as recruitment, hiring, compensation, training, 
discipline, promotion, and benefits. At the same time, the Act maintains 
continued adherence to applicable laws and regulations on matters such 
as equal employment opportunity, Indian preference, and veterans' 
preference. My expectation is that, at the conclusion of these 
demonstration projects, these schools will have tested alternative 
personnel systems that maintain important employee benefits and 
protections while promoting the flexibility necessary in a college and 
university setting.
    In signing H.R. 4259, I recognize that the legislation raises 
several concerns. It allows Haskell and SIPI to conduct demonstration 
projects involving leave and other employee benefits, such as 
retirement, health benefits, and life insurance--something no other 
Federal agency has been permitted to do. We must be mindful that 
altering employees' benefits for even a brief portion of their careers 
can have a serious long-term effect. Should such modifications be 
applied to a large number of Federal employees through other 
demonstration projects they could have a damaging effect on the Federal 
retirement and insurance trust funds, which depend on spreading risk of 
loss over the largest possible group of individuals. These concerns are 
compounded by the fact that H.R. 4259 does not provide for the level of 
oversight by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that is typically 
required for personnel-related demonstration projects.
    Because of these concerns, I am directing the Secretary of the 
Interior and the presidents of Haskell and SIPI to involve the OPM fully 
in the development and evaluation of the schools' demonstration 
projects. This involvement is only appropriate given the OPM's important 
role in managing and safeguarding Federal employee benefits programs and 
overseeing demonstration

[[Page 2210]]

projects. Further, I strongly urge the Congress to await the outcome of 
the OPM's ongoing comprehensive review of the Government-wide benefits 
package for Federal employees before authorizing other demonstration 
projects outside the OPM's current statutory authority.
    With these caveats, I trust that H.R. 4259 will prove helpful to 
Haskell and SIPI in attracting and retaining highly qualified employees, 
thereby enabling them to continue to fulfill their important mission of 
providing quality higher education opportunities to American Indians.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 31, 1998.

Note: H.R. 4259, approved October 31, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
337.


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[Page 2210-2211]
 
Monday, November 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 45
Pages 2197-2274
 
Week Ending Friday, November 6, 1998
 
Statement on Signing the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998

October 31, 1998

    Today I am signing into law H.R. 4655, the ``Iraq Liberation Act of 
1998.'' This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that 
the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition 
that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality 
of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime 
in Baghdad now offers.
    Let me be clear on what the U.S. objectives are:
    The United States wants Iraq to rejoin the family of nations as a 
freedom-loving and law-abiding member. This is in our interest and that 
of our allies within the region.
    The United States favors an Iraq that offers its people freedom at 
home. I categorically reject arguments that this is unattainable due to 
Iraq's history or its ethnic or sectarian make-up. Iraqis deserve and 
desire freedom like everyone else.
    The United States looks forward to a democratically supported regime 
that would permit us to enter into a dialogue leading to the 
reintegration of Iraq into normal international life.
    My Administration has pursued, and will continue to pursue, these 
objectives through active application of all relevant United Nations 
Security Council resolutions. The evidence is overwhelming that such 
changes will not happen under the current Iraq leadership.
    In the meantime, while the United States continues to look to the 
Security Council's efforts to keep the current regime's behavior in 
check, we look forward to new leadership in Iraq that has the support of 
the Iraqi people. The United States is providing support to opposition 
groups from all sectors of the Iraqi community that could lead to a 
popularly supported government.
    On October 21, 1998, I signed into law the Omnibus Consolidated and 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, which made $8 million 
available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition. This 
assistance is intended to help the democratic opposition unify, work 
together more effectively, and articulate the aspirations of the Iraqi 
people for a pluralistic, participatory political system that will 
include all of Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious groups. As required 
by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY 1998 (Public Law 
105-174), the Department of State submitted a report to the Congress on 
plans to establish a program to support the democratic opposition. My 
Administration, as required by that statute, has also begun to implement 
a program to compile information regarding allegations of genocide, 
crimes against humanity, and war crimes by Iraq's current leaders as a 
step towards bringing to justice those directly responsible for such 
acts.
    The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 provides additional, discretionary 
authorities under which my Administration can act to further the 
objectives I outlined above. There are, of course, other important 
elements of U.S. policy. These include the maintenance of U.N. Security 
Council support efforts to eliminate Iraq's prohibited weapons and 
missile programs and economic sanctions that continue to deny the regime 
the means to reconstitute those threats to international peace and 
security. United States support for the Iraqi opposition will be carried 
out consistent with those policy objectives as well.

[[Page 2211]]

Similarly, U.S. support must be attuned to what the opposition can 
effectively make use of as it develops over time. With those 
observations, I sign H.R. 4655 into law.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 31, 1998.

Note: H.R. 4655, approved October 31, was assigned Public Law No. 105-
338. H.R. 4328, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Act, 1999, was assigned Public Law No. 105-277.


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[Page 2211]
 
Monday, November 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 45
Pages 2197-2274
 
Week Ending Friday, November 6, 1998
 
Statement on Signing the Women's Health Research and Prevention 
Amendments of 1998

October 31, 1998

    Today I am pleased to sign into law S. 1722, the ``Women's Health 
Research and Prevention Amendments of 1998,'' which will significantly 
advance women's health by strengthening national efforts to improve 
research and screening on diseases with particular impact on women, 
including osteoporosis, breast and ovarian cancer, and cardiovascular 
diseases.
    This bill will authorize several women's health and research 
screening activities at the National Institutes of Health and the 
Centers for Disease Control for the next 5 years. It will expand 
coordinated Federal research into heart disease, strokes, and other 
cardiovascular diseases among women. In addition, life-saving screening 
for breast and cervical cancer will continue to be made available to 
thousands of low-income women.
    I commend the sponsors of this bipartisan legislation, including 
Senator Bill Frist and cosponsors Senators Barbara Boxer, Barbara 
Mikulski, and Patty Murray, for their contributions that will help 
protect women from these deadly diseases and advance our scientific 
knowledge.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 31, 1998.

Note: S. 1722, approved October 31, was assigned Public Law No. 105-340.


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[Page 2211-2212]
 
Monday, November 9, 1998
 
Volume 34--Number 45
Pages 2197-2274
 
Week Ending Friday, November 6, 1998
 
Statement on Signing the Women's Progress Commemoration Act

October 31, 1998

    Today I am pleased to sign into law S. 2285, the ``Women's Progress 
Commemoration Act.'' This legislation establishes a 15-member 
Commission, appointed by the President and the Congress to help 
commemorate, celebrate, and preserve women's history in America.
    It is appropriate that we establish this Commission on the 150th 
anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first national 
congregation on the conditions and rights of women in the United States. 
It was there, at a time when women were denied many of the rights of 
citizenship, that 100 brave women and men proclaimed in their 
``Declaration of Sentiments'' that ``all men and women are created 
equal.''
    At Seneca Falls and throughout our history, women have braved 
enormous challenges and helped to build our Nation--from women patriots 
hiding General Washington's soldiers from the British, to Sojourner 
Truth and others leading slaves out of bondage, to suffragists risking 
imprisonment to secure for women the most basic rights of democracy. The 
Women's Progress Commemoration Commission will seek out the historical 
sites of such great moments in our Nation's history, and recommend the 
best way to preserve them for generations to come. The President's 
Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History, that I 
created by executive order in June of this year looks forward to working 
with the Commission created by S. 2285.
    As we approach a new century and a new millennium, it is more 
important than ever that we honor these monuments to our enduring 
ideals. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I sign this 

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