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

[Page i-ii]
 
Monday, April 12, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 14
Pages 579-622
 
Contents

[[Page i]]

Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents



[[Page ii]]


Addresses and Remarks

    Balkan situation--583, 617
    China, state visit of Premier Zhu
        State dinner--615
        Welcoming ceremony--603
    Equal pay, roundtable discussion--597
    ``Hate Crimes Prevention Act,'' proposed--587
    Pennsylvania, departure for Philadelphia--617
    Philadelphia shipyards, radio remarks--617
    Radio address--579
    U.S. Institute of Peace--591
    White House Easter egg roll--583

Bill Signings

    Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Wild and Scenic River Act, statement--
        618

Communications to Congress

    Angola, letter transmitting report on national emergency--587
    Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), letter 
        reporting on airstrikes against Serbian targets--602
    Macedonia and Albania, letter reporting on decision to send certain 
        U.S. forces--580, 582
    Nuclear Safety Convention, letter reporting--620

Communications to Federal Agencies

    Croatia, memorandum on assistance--616
    Hate crimes in schools and college campuses, memorandum--590

Interviews With the News Media

    Exchange with reporters in the Roosevelt Room--583
    News conference with Premier Zhu of China, April 8 (No. 172)--604

Joint Statements

    Joint U.S.-China Statement: Status of Negotiations on China's 
        Accession to the World Trade Organization--614

Meetings With Foreign Leaders

    China, Premier Zhu--603, 604, 614, 615

Proclamations

    National D.A.R.E. Day--615
    National Equal Pay Day--601
    National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day--620
    Pan American Day and Pan American Week--619

Statements by the President

    See also Bill Signings
    Pan Am Flight 103, delivery of the suspects accused of the 1988 
        bombing--587

Supplementary Materials

    Acts approved by the President--622
    Checklist of White House press releases--621
    Digest of other White House announcements--621
    Nominations submitted to the Senate--621
  

Editor's Note: The President was in Philadelphia, PA, on April 9, the 
closing date of this issue. Releases and announcements issued by the 
Office of the Press Secretary but not received in time for inclusion in 
this issue will be printed next week.





              WEEKLY COMPILATION OF
          ------------------------------
              PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National 
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly 
Compilation of Presidential Documents contains statements, messages, and
other Presidential materials released by the White House during the 
preceding week.

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published pursuant to
the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as 
amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regulations prescribed by the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the 
President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10).

Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of 
Presidential Documents will be furnished by mail to domestic subscribers 
for $80.00 per year ($137.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign
subscribers for $93.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of 
Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The charge 
for a single copy is $3.00 ($3.75 for foreign mailing).

There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in 
the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.






[[Page 579]]




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

[Page 579-580]
 
Monday, April 12, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 14
Pages 579-622
 
Week Ending Friday, April 9, 1999
 
The President's Radio Address


April 3, 1999

    As we gather in our homes during this sacred week to observe Easter 
and Passover, let us take a moment to think about the plight of the 
people in Kosovo, who have been forced from their homes by a campaign of 
violence and destruction, and who look to us for help and hope.
    The tragedy in Kosovo has been mounting for over a year now. Over 
the last 2 weeks, Serbian forces have intensified their attacks against 
innocent civilians there, leaving no doubt about the cold, clear goal of 
their leader, Slobodan Milosevic, to keep Kosovo's land while ridding it 
of its people.
    Nearly one out of every three people in Kosovo has been made 
homeless since the start of this conflict. Even before the recent surge, 
well over a quarter of a million people had been displaced. Every hour 
of every day more arrive at Kosovo's borders, tired, hungry, shaken by 
what they have been through.
    Among them are elderly people, who have lived their whole lives in 
peace with their neighbors, only to be told now to leave everything 
behind in minutes or to be killed on the spot. Among them are small 
children who walked for miles over mountains, sometimes after watching 
their fathers and uncles and brothers taken from them and shot before 
their eyes.
    Some have been shelled by artillery on their long trek to safety. 
Many have had their identity papers and family records stolen and 
destroyed, their history in Kosovo erased, their very existence denied.
    Our Nation cannot do everything. We can't end all suffering. We 
can't stop all violence. But there are times when looking away simply is 
not an option. Right now, in the middle of Europe, at the doorstep of 
NATO, an entire people are being made to abandon their homeland or die, 
not because of anything they've done but simply because of who they are.
    If there's one lesson we've learned in this century, it's that that 
kind of poison will spread if not stopped. If there's one pledge that 
binds the past and future generations, it is that we cannot allow people 
to be destroyed because of their ethnic or racial or religious groups 
when we do have the power to do something about it.
    Our military mission in Kosovo is a difficult and dangerous one, but 
it's necessary and right, and we must stand with all our NATO allies to 
see it through. Our goal is to exact a very high price for Mr. 
Milosevic's policy of repression and to seriously diminish his military 
capacity to maintain that policy.
    We also must open our hearts and our arms to the innocent victims of 
this conflict. This week I authorized the expenditure of $50 million in 
emergency funds to support the relief effort and directed our military 
to do its part to get critical supplies to people in need. We'll work 
with the United Nations and with the many courageous volunteers working 
on the ground with nongovernmental organizations from all around the 
world.
    You can help, too. I urge you to call your local Red Cross or 
church-based charity and ask them how you can get involved. Together, 
we'll provide food, water, and medicine, blankets, clothing, and shelter 
to Kosovar refugees. We'll remind the victims of this conflict that for 
all they have lost, they have not been abandoned or forgotten.
    European countries are helping as well. Kosovo's neighbors, 
Macedonia and Albania, are taking the refugees in, despite the huge 
burden this places on these poor, struggling nations; so are Greece, 
Bosnia, and Bulgaria, showing there's more mercy than madness in the 
Balkans, more compassion than cruelty in this troubled region of the 
world.
     All of us want to provide for the refugees; all of us want to make 
it possible for them

[[Page 580]]

to return home. Let us do our part for all the innocent people whose 
lives have been shattered by this conflict. And let us give our thanks 
to our men and women in uniform who are risking their lives today for 
our ideals, our interests, and their lives.
    Let us keep in our prayers the three brave American servicemen now 
being held without justification in Belgrade that they may return to us 
soon. Let us do what we can, and what we must, for peace to prevail. And 
let us stay the course until it does.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 5:05 p.m. on April 2 in the Oval 
Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 3. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 5 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to President Slobodan Milosevic of the 
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and the three 
U.S. Army infantrymen in custody in Serbia: Staff Sgt. Andrew A. 
Ramirez, Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Stone, and Specialist Steven M. 
Gonzales.


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

[Page 580-581]
 
Monday, April 12, 1999
 
Volume 35--Number 14
Pages 579-622
 
Week Ending Friday, April 9, 1999
 
Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Decision To Send 
Certain United States Forces to Macedonia and Albania

April 3, 1999

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

    Since I reported to the Congress on March 25, 1999, under section 
8115 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 
105-262), there have been dramatic and very serious developments in 
Kosovo and the region, particularly Macedonia and Albania. Belgrade's 
sustained and accelerating repression and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo has 
created a humanitarian crisis of staggering dimensions. Estimates are 
that more than 800,000 Kosovars have been displaced from their homes and 
villages, with large concentrations in Albania, Macedonia, and 
Montenegro, and with the numbers rising dramatically every day. 
Throughout Kosovo, Serb forces have burned villages. Homes throughout 
the region have been looted and are smoldering. In Pristina, Kosovars 
are being forced into rail cars and shipped to the Macedonian border.
    As the refugee flow out of Kosovo has surged, the limited ability of 
Albania and Macedonia to deal with the situation has been overwhelmed. 
The international organizations engaged in refugee assistance do not 
currently have in the region the ability and resources to deal with a 
refugee crisis of this magnitude. Unless adequate care can be provided 
for these refugees, a humanitarian disaster of immense proportions will 
result. In addition to the human suffering involved, such a disaster 
carries with it the very real possibility of destabilizing the 
governments and societies of Albania and Macedonia. This disaster could 
have the effect of spreading violence in the region that NATO is 
determined to prevent.
    In the light of these disturbing events, I have directed that 
additional U.S. forces be deployed to Albania and Macedonia in order to 
support disaster relief by, among other activities, delivering food and 
essentials, constructing shelter, providing coordination and assisting 
in onward movement, and when necessary, providing protection for relief 
supplies and refugees. In regard to the elements of section 815(a)(1)-
(8), I am providing the following information.
    1 & 2. National Security Interests. I hereby certify that the 
deployment of additional forces to Albania and Macedonia as described 
above is necessary in the national security interests of the United 
States. These actions will provide additional forces to aid in the 
relief efforts supporting Kosovar refugees. They also will contribute to 
the overall effort to stabilize this region that has historically been a 
tinderbox, thereby helping to preserve peace and security in the region.

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