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for 28 years and learned new skills for a new career as a biomedical
technician.
Our economic plan is based on this simple but powerful truth: When
you give ordinary people new opportunities, they'll do extraordinary
things. The only way we can offer those new opportunities for education
and training for new jobs and better jobs is to do the same things with
the Federal budget that you do with your family budget, make tough
choices, provide for the future, and make distinctions between luxuries
and necessities.
In the weeks ahead, you'll hear the voices of those with a vested
interest in the programs and policies of the past. I ask you to join me
in fighting for the future. Together we've created almost 2 million jobs
in just 12 months. We can create 2 million more in 1994, and we can
prepare our working people and our young people for the jobs of the
future. Together we can finish the job we began just one year ago if we
keep working at it.
Thanks for listening.
Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
White House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
this address.
<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 219]
Monday, February 14, 1994
Volume 30--Number 6
Pages 217-282
Week Ending Friday, February 11, 1994
Statement on the Attack on Sarajevo
February 5, 1994
I am outraged by this deliberate attack on the people of Sarajevo.
There can be no possible military justification for an attack against a
marketplace where women, men, and children of the city were pursuing
their everyday lives. The United Nations should urgently investigate
this incident and clearly identify those who are guilty.
I have directed that Secretary Christopher engage our allies in
Europe and the United Nations on the situation and on appropriate next
steps. As he and Secretary of Defense Perry have stated, we rule nothing
out.
I have also directed the Department of Defense to offer its
assistance in evacuating, hospitalizing, and treating those injured in
this savage attack.
I know I speak for all Americans in expressing our revulsion and
anger at this cowardly act.
<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 219-220]
Monday, February 14, 1994
Volume 30--Number 6
Pages 217-282
Week Ending Friday, February 11, 1994
Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Houston,
Texas
February 6, 1994
Bosnia
The President. I have just completed a meeting with advisers
discussing the terrible and outrageous incident in Sarajevo yesterday.
I'm glad to report that the United States has been able to evacuate
several of the wounded and their family members and they're on their way
to a hospital in Germany. We'll be continuing to work on that.
I have asked Ambassador Albright to urge the United Nations to
accelerate the efforts to try to confirm responsibility for the strike
in the market yesterday. And I have approved having the Secretary of
State and Ambassador Albright continue their consultations with our
allies about what next steps should be taken in response to this
particular incident and to make an effort to try to reach a settlement,
hoping that the shock of this incident will perhaps make all parties
more willing to bring this matter to a close.
The ultimate answer to all this killing is for the three parties to
reach an agreement that they can live with and honor. There have been
several times over the last couple of months when it didn't seem that
they were all that far apart, and I hope that the shock of these deaths
will reinforce to them, as it does to the entire world, that they ought
to go on and reach a settlement. And we will do what we can to push
that.
Q. Have you decided against air strikes, Mr. President?
The President. No, but it's not a decision--first of all, I want to
give the U.N. a chance to confirm responsibility for this. Obviously, it
seems highly likely that the Serbs are responsible, but there ought to
be some effort to confirm it since their leader has denied it. And also,
as you know, the authority under which air strikes can proceed, NATO
acting out of area pursuant to U.N. authority, requires the common
agreement of our
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NATO allies. So I cautioned them on this at our NATO meeting. Many of
them remain concerned that because they have soldiers on the ground--
something we don't have--that their soldiers will be retaliated against
if we take action from the air. That's not to say that there won't be
retaliation, because we certainly discussed it in considerable length
today, and I discussed it yesterday. But I just want to try to explain
why there's more reluctance on the part of some of the Europeans than
there is on the part of the United States, because they do have troops
on the ground, and they are worried about some retaliation coming to
those troops.
Q. What are your thoughts now on lifting the arms embargo?
The President. I've always been for it. I haven't changed my
position on that. I do believe, however, that the appropriate thing to
do now is to see if this horrible incident can be the spur to a vigorous
effort to achieve a peace agreement. And that's what we ought to focus
on now. If we continue to fail in the face of these kinds of incidents,
I think that the United States position on the arms embargo is only
reinforced by the kind of thing that happened yesterday. But I want to
try to work with our allies now to take a shot at hoping we can bring
this matter to a conclusion.
Q. Yesterday you said in your statement that you called the massacre
a cowardly act. But some Members of Congress are saying that the U.S. is
acting cowardly by repeatedly saying that they will consider air strikes
without making good on those threats.
The President. Well, the United States, I will say again, under
international law, in the absence of an attack on our people, does not
have the authority to unilaterally undertake air strikes. And every time
we discuss it, the other countries who have troops on the ground--and we
don't. It's very well for these Members of Congress to say that; they
don't have any constituents on the ground there. And the people who have
constituents on the ground say, ``Well, we have to think about whether
our soldiers are going to be killed in large numbers in retaliation for
this if you do it.''
Now, as you know, I have long believed that we should have standby
air strike authority and that there are circumstances under which we
should use it. In this case, again I want to say, the United Nations has
not finished their confirmation process. And until they do, I think it
would be inappropriate for me to make a final decision. But I do think
you have to give some credence to the position of our European allies.
They do have soldiers on the ground there who can be shot at and shelled
long after our planes are gone, that is what is animating their
position. That does not mean it won't happen this time. I have discussed
it yesterday; I discussed it today. We are discussing it with our
allies. But they are in a fundamentally different position, and they
have been as long as they have had troops there.
Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 3:37 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
remarks.
<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 220-223]
Monday, February 14, 1994
Volume 30--Number 6
Pages 217-282
Week Ending Friday, February 11, 1994
Remarks at the American Cancer Society's Cattlebarons Children's Party
in Houston, Texas
February 6, 1994
The President. Well, hello, everybody.
Audience members. Hello.
The President. Have you had a good time at the party?
Audience members. Yes.
The President. Did you play some games?
Audience members. Yes.
The President. Some of you win?
Audience members. Yes.
The President. Well, that's good. I'm so glad to see all of you. I
just came in from Washington on an airplane, and it was raining at the
airport. And I'm glad to be here where it's dry. And I came in with your
Mayor, Mayor Lanier, and Congressman Green. Who else is here? Is
Congressman Washington here? Is anybody else here? Well, we're glad to
see you, and I'm glad to be in Houston for a little while.
Audience members. That's all right.
The President. Yes, that's all right, isn't it?
You know, I--what's this? Is it for me? What's on that ring? What do
you think?
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Do you all want to ask me any questions? You do? What's your
question?
The Presidency
Q. What's it like being President?
The President. What's it like being President? Well, depending on
what humor they're in, it can be a lot of fun. [Laughter] Listen, you
want to know what's fun about it, what's good about it? What's good
about it is I get to go all over America and meet all different kinds of
people and know that I have to work for all of them, people of all ages
and all races.
It's good because I get to do things that help people and help solve
problems. One of the things that we are doing more of this year is
putting more money into medical research, something that you support,
right? [Applause] And another thing that I'm trying to do is to figure
out how to put more money into medical research and, at the same time,
make sure that health care is available to every child in this country,
every child, including a lot of people who don't have it today.
So I get to see all different kinds of people and work on different
problems and try to make life better. It's a wonderful job. Sometimes
it's hard, but it's always a good job.
Q. [Inaudible]
The President. Well, you really get right to it, don't you?
[Laughter] His question was--where are they? Here's the head of my
detail. Do I like having Secret Service agents around me all the time?
The answer to that is, the true answer is, yes and no. Yes, I like it
because their job is to protect me and my family, and they do a
wonderful job of it. And no I don't, sometimes I just like to be an
ordinary citizen. I just wish that I could take my wife and daughter and
walk down the street and go to the movie or go to a restaurant or go in
a shop and go shopping and just be alone. But it's not going to happen
for a few years.
Who else had their hand up over here? Yes, ma'am, what's your
question? Your name is Danielle? You've got a great nose, Danielle.
[Laughter] What's your question?
Q. How does it feel to live in----
The President. In the White House?
Q. Yes.
The President. How does it feel to live in the White House? Well,
it's a great honor. Do you know, every President since 1800 has lived in
the White House. Every President except for George Washington has lived
there. So it's wonderful to live there, because I carry all this history
around. I go in rooms all the time, and I know every other President's
been there.
Q. [Inaudible]
The President. How old am I? [Laughter] I am very old. How old do
you think I am?
Q. How old are you?
The President. How old do you think I am?
Q. Forty.
The President. Forty--oh, bless you. [Laughter] Bless you. Hey, hold
on. Forty-six? Close.
Q. Forty-eight.
The President. I'm 47, 47.
Q. A hundred.
The President. One hundred--no. [Laughter] Listen, one at a time.
What's your question? Stand up--what's your question? I've got you--yes,
hold on. What's your question?
Q. [Inaudible]
The President. What do I do? I've been asking myself that lately.
[Laughter] Well, first of all, I try to pass laws in the Congress that
take care of the needs of the American people. I speak for the United
States in the rest of the world. And I command the Armed Forces of the
United States. Those are some of the things I do.
What?
Q. How do you like being President?
The President. I like it a lot. You'd like it, too, I think.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
The President. You mean for your future or for mine? For my future?
You mean, what am I going to do when I grow up? [Laughter]
Q. When you're older.
The President. When I'm older.
Q. Yes.
The President. I'm just going to keep--I'm going to be the very best
President I can be, and I'm not going to think about the future until
I'm not President anymore.
Do you want to get down? Here, hold on, I've got your hand. Do you
want to get down,
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or do you want to stick with me? Nice boots. Hey, look at these boots.
Let's give him a hand on these boots. I love them. [Applause] Better
than mine. Do you like them better than mine?
Do you want to get down? You want to go down? Okay, I've got you.
Do you want to get up? Okay, you get up. You're next.
Okay, who's got another--go ahead, in the back.
Sh-h-h, I can't hear. Please be quiet so I can hear a question. Go
ahead.
Q. [Inaudible]
The President. Yes, sometimes it's hard having a lot of
responsibilities. Most of the time I like it, actually. I like being
responsible for people and for their interests. But sometimes it's hard.
Sometimes you just want to get up and not go to work and not have those
responsibilities. But most days I really like it. It's a great honor to
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