pd10ap95 Remarks at the United Nations Transition Ceremony in Port-au-Prince...

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Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
 Haiti in Port-au-Prince

March 31, 1995

Assassination in Haiti

    Q. President Aristide, was your Interior Minister involved in the 
Tuesday assassination?
    President Aristide. No.
    Q. Have these allegations cast a damper over the President's visit?
    President Aristide. No.
    Q. Have you asked the FBI to look into the possibility that he might 
have been involved in the Bertin death?
    President Aristide. We welcome help from the international 
community, from the United States in helping us finding proof of this 
violence for months--for days. And together we'll be working.
    Q. Mr. President, are you satisfied the Interior Minister was not 
involved?
    President Clinton. President Aristide asked the FBI to help 
investigate this. They are doing an investigation. I think we should 
applaud this quick and decisive action and let the investigation proceed 
and not presume its results.
    This is a day of celebration, and nothing can cast a cloud on it. 
It's a day of mission accomplished for the United States, a day of 
celebration for Haiti and for the United Nations force, and a day for 
looking ahead for the work still to be done.

President's Visit

    Q. How did you like your reception, Mr. President?

[[Page 523]]

    President Clinton. I liked it a lot. It was very nice. It was great.
    Q. Must be a little bit tired--all the handshaking.
    President Clinton. It was quite wonderful.
    Q. [Inaudible]--was your idea?
    President Clinton. No, but I liked it, though.

Note: The exchange began at 12:05 p.m. at the National Palace. In his 
remarks, President Aristide referred to Interior Minister Brig. Gen. 
Mondesir Beaubrun of Haiti and political opponent to President Aristide, 
Mireille Durocher Bertin who was assassinated on March 28. A tape was 
not available for verification of the content of this exchange. This 
item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.


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[Page 523-524]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
Remarks at the United Nations Transition Ceremony in Port-au-Prince

March 31, 1995

    Mr. Secretary-General, President Aristide, members of the 
multinational force in Haiti, members of the United Nations mission in 
Haiti: We gather to celebrate the triumph of freedom over fear. And we 
are here to look ahead to the next steps that we will take together to 
help the people of Haiti strengthen their hard-won democracy.
    Six months ago, a 30-nation multinational force, led by the United 
States, entered Haiti with a clear mission: To ensure the departure of 
the military regime, to restore the freely elected government of Haiti, 
and to establish a secure and stable environment in which the people of 
Haiti could begin to rebuild their country. Today, that mission has been 
accomplished, on schedule and with remarkable success.
    On behalf of the United States, I thank all the members of the 
multinational force for their outstanding work, and pledge our support 
for the United Nations mission in Haiti.
    Over the past 6 months, the multinational force has proved that a 
shared burden makes for a lighter load. Working together, 30 nations 
from around the world--from the Caribbean to Australia, from Bangladesh 
to Jordan--demonstrated the effectiveness and the benefits of 
international peacekeeping. And they helped give the people of Haiti a 
second chance at democracy.
    The multinational force ensured the peaceful transition from the 
military regime to President Aristide. It removed more than 30,000 
weapons and explosive devices from the streets. Through the 
international police monitors, led by Commissioner Ray Kelly, it trained 
and monitored an interim police force and worked side by side with them 
throughout Haiti. And it helped to prepare a permanent civilian police 
force that will maintain security and respect for human rights in the 
months and years ahead.
    Let me say to the members of the new, permanent police force who are 
with us here today, you are the guardians of Haiti's new democracy. Its 
future rests on your shoulders. Uphold the constitution. Respect 
democracy and human rights. Defend them. That is your sacred mission and 
your solemn obligation.
    Now it is the United Nations mission's task to secure and stabilize 
the environment in Haiti and to help the government prepare for free and 
fair elections. The mission, with participants from 33 countries, has 
the tools it needs to succeed: a 6,000-strong military force under the 
command of United States Army General Joseph Kinzer; a 900-member 
international police force, led by Chief Superintendent Neil Pouliot of 
Canada; and dozens of well-trained economic, political, and legal 
advisers.
    The United Nations mission will end its work here in February 1996, 
after the election and inauguration of a new President. To all of you 
taking part in the U.N. mission, I know many challenges lie between here 
and there. Your work will be demanding and difficult. But the 
multinational force has set a strong foundation of success upon which to 
build.
    Most important of all, the people of Haiti, have shown a powerful 
commitment to peace and to reconciliation. Working with them, you can 
help make real Haiti's reborn promise of democracy. I know you will do 
that.
    Good luck, and Godspeed.

[[Page 524]]

Note: The President spoke at 2:16 p.m. in the National Palace. In his 
remarks, he referred to United Nations Secretary-General Boutros 
Boutros-Ghali. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.


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[Page 524-525]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
The President's Radio Address

April 1, 1995

    The President. Good morning. I'm speaking to you this morning from 
the Gibbs Magnet School for International Studies in Little Rock, 
Arkansas. I'm happy to be joined by the Principal, Dr. Marjorie Bassa, 
members of her staff, and 30 wonderful elementary students, their 
parents, and other interested citizens here.
    Good morning, class.
    Students. Good morning, Mr. President.
    The President. What you just heard was the sound of America's 
future. This school and these people are living proof that the education 
reforms that were started when I was Governor of Arkansas, and that are 
continuing now under the leadership of Governor Tucker, are paying off.
    The young people who attend this public school are getting a head 
start on the 21st century. Beginning in kindergarten, they learn about 
other cultures. They receive foreign language training. They're already 
acquiring the skills that will allow them one day to compete and win in 
the new global economy. They come from many different racial and 
cultural backgrounds, but they all have a shot at the American dream.
    I want to spend a few moments telling you why I think education and 
training for all of our people is the most important thing we can do to 
keep the American dream alive in the 21st century.
    You know Washington's in the midst of a great debate today about the 
proper role of our National Government. On one side is the old view that 
big, one-size-fits-all Government can provide the answers to all of our 
big problems. On the other side is the view that Government is the 
source of all of our problems. In the real world, that's a false choice.
    Let's look at what started this debate. As we move toward the 21st 
century and the information age, jobs and incomes will depend more and 
more on what we know and what we can learn. That means that today, at 
the end of the cold war, we're able to create jobs, new businesses, new 
millionaires at a rapid rate, more than ever before. But at the same 
time, about two-thirds of our people are working hard for the same or 
lower wages, and are quite insecure about their future. And we know we 
still have too many social problems we're not making enough headway on, 
crime and drugs, violence and family breakdown.
    In the real world, we have to face the fact that we have to create 
opportunity but deal with these problems of economic stagnation and 
social disintegration. And we are stuck with a Government that's too 
organized to meet the problems of yesterday and not enough able to meet 
the problems of today and tomorrow.
    I believe we have to chart a new course between the old way of big 
Government and the new rage of no Government, because I believe we need 
a Government that does four things: first, that creates economic 
opportunity, grow the middle class and shrink the under class; second, 
that enhances the security of the American people, here at home, on our 
streets, in our schools, and abroad; and third, that reforms the 
National Government to make it smaller, less bureaucratic, to serve the 
interests of ordinary Americans, not special interests, to serve the 
future, not the past, and to demand more personal responsibility of our 
citizens. Fourth, and most important, we need a Government that helps 
our people raise their education and skill levels so they can make the 
most of their own lives. That's what I call the New Covenant, a 
partnership between Americans and their Government that offers more 
opportunity in return for more responsibility.
    Earlier this week, I convened a regional economic conference at 
Emory University in Atlanta with a group of economists, business and 
Government leaders. And working Americans discussed ways to strengthen 
our economy and to ensure a better future for our children. They were 
Republicans, Democrats, and independents. But the one thing we all 
agreed on was that the countries that will do the best job of developing 
the full capacities of all of their children and all of

[[Page 525]]

their adults will be the most successful in the 21st century. We all 
agree that higher education levels are essential if we're going to raise 
the incomes of working Americans, if we're going to grow the middle 
class and shrink the under class.
    That's why I and my administration have worked so hard to expand 
Head Start, to set world class standards for our schools, to give 
parents and teachers more resources to meet those standards but also to 
give them more authority at the school level to decide how best to 
achieve excellence. We've worked to establish apprenticeship programs to 
prepare young people who don't go on to college to get higher paying 
jobs. And we've worked hard to make college loans more affordable for 
more students, millions of them throughout the country.
    By eliminating the middlemen in the college loan system, lowering 
the cost, and offering better repayment terms, our direct student loan 
program is giving more young people a chance to go to college while 
saving tax dollars at the same time. And we're demanding more 
responsibility in return. More students get loans at lower cost, but now 
they have to pay them back. Stricter enforcement of the student loan 
program has cut the cost of delinquent loans to taxpayers from $2.8 
billion in 1991 to a billion dollars today. That's opportunity and 
responsibility.
    Because we've focused on education, for the last 2 years we've been 
able to cut Government spending, cut the deficit, cut hundreds of 
programs and over 100,000 bureaucrats from the Federal budget, and still 
increase our investment in education.
    Now, many in Congress think there's no difference in education and 
other spending. For example, there are proposals to reduce funding for 
Head Start; for public school efforts to meet the national education 
goals; for our national service program, Ameri- Corps, which provides 
scholarship money for young people who will work at minimum wage jobs in 
local community service projects; even proposals to reduce school lunch 
funding. There are proposals to eliminate our efforts for safe and drug-
free schools altogether and, unbelievably, to cut the college loan 
programs.
    These are not wise proposals. Here at Gibbs, where students are 
preparing for the 21st century, close to 50 percent of the students 
depend upon the school lunch program for a nutritious meal. And all 
these young people, not just those who have the money to afford it, 
should be able to go as far as their talents will carry them. And if 
that means they need scholarships, student loans, and the opportunity to 
do community service, we ought to give it to them.
    Some in Congress want to cut education to pay for tax cuts for the 
wealthy. I want instead a middle class tax cut that helps families pay 
for education and training, a tax deduction for education costs after 
high school.
    Now in the past, education and training have enjoyed broad, 
bipartisan support. Last year, with strong support from Republicans and 
Democrats, Congress enacted my proposals to help students and schools 
meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Educational experts said we 
did more for education by expanding Head Start, expanding 
apprenticeships, expanding college loans than any session of Congress in 
30 years.
    Now in this new Congress, some want to cut education, and that's 
wrong. Gibbs Magnet School is a reflection of what we ought to be doing 
more of in America. I don't know what political party these children 
belong to, but I do know we need them all and they deserve our best 
efforts to give them a shot at the American dream. We must begin when 
they're young, training our people to succeed, preparing them for a 
lifetime of learning. The fight for education is the fight for the 
American dream.
    Thanks again to all those people who are here with me today, 
especially our children. And thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 9:06 a.m. from the Gibbs Magnet School for 
International Studies in Little Rock, AR.


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[Page 525-526]
 
Monday, April 10, 1995
 
Volume 31--Number 14
Pages 521-576
 
Week Ending Friday, April 7, 1995
 
Interview With Chris Fowler, Digger Phelps, and Dick Vitale of ESPN

April 1, 1995

NCAA Basketball Championship

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