Home > 1999 Presidential Documents > pd17my99 Remarks on Departure for Fort McNair, Maryland, and an Exchange With...pd17my99 Remarks on Departure for Fort McNair, Maryland, and an Exchange With...
<DOC> [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents] [frwais.access.gpo.gov] [Page i-iii] Monday, May 17, 1999 Volume 35-Number 19 Pages 833-893 Contents [[Page i]] Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents [[Page ii]] Addresses and Remarks See also Appointments and Nominations; Meetings With Foreign Leaders; Resignations and Retirements Camp Hope, Albania, telephone conversation with Americans--889 Chinese Embassy, bombing in Belgrade--854, 856 ``Conyers for Congress'' dinner--886 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee dinner--876 Georgia, roundtable discussion on new markets in Atlanta--861 Germany Community at Spangdahlem Air Base--833 Dinner with the troops at Ramstein Air Base--836 Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award dinner--867 Kosovo, situation in--837 Maryland Departure for Fort McNair--878 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States at Fort McNair-- 879 New markets initiative--860 Oklahoma Departure from Tinker Air Force Base--854 Walking tour of tornado damage in Del City--852 Addresses and Remarks--Continued Radio address--851 Senate action on gun control legislation--878 Texas Arrival at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin--845 Democratic National Committee Dinner in Austin--846 Luncheon in Houston--839 Treasury Secretary transition--873 ``21st Century Law Enforcement and Public Safety Act,'' proposed-- 871 Washington, departure for Seattle--888 White House Strategy Meeting on Children, Violence, and Responsibility--856, 857 Appointments and Nominations Treasury Department Deputy Secretary, remarks--873 Secretary, remarks--873 Communications to Congress Bosnia and Herzegovina, message transmitting report on continued operations of U.S. forces--875 China, certification of satellite fuels and separation systems exports, message--860 National Institute of Building Sciences, message transmitting report--886 (Continued on the inside of the back cover.) Editor's Note: The President was in Seattle, WA, on May 14, 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 iii]] Contents--Continued Communications to Federal Agencies Burma, memorandum regarding conditions in and U.S. policy toward-- 875 Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area, memorandum-- 878 Interviews With the News Media Exchanges with reporters Bonn, Germany--837 Rose Garden--857 South Lawn--878 Tinker Air Force Base, OK--854 Meetings With Foreign Leaders Germany, Chancellor Schroeder--837 Proclamations Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week--859 Resignations and Retirements Treasury Department, Secretary, remarks--873 Statements by the President Death of Meg Greenfield--886 ``Foster Care Independence Act,'' proposed--886 Senate action on gun control legislation--890 Supplementary Materials Acts approved by the President--892 Checklist of White House press releases--892 Digest of other White House announcements--890 Nominations submitted to the Senate--892 [[Page 833]] <DOC> [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents] [frwais.access.gpo.gov] [Page 833-836] Monday, May 17, 1999 Volume 35-Number 19 Pages 833-893 Week Ending Friday, May 14, 1999 Remarks to the Community at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany May 5, 1999 Thank you very much. Secretary Cohen, thank you for your remarks and your remarkable leadership. We're glad that you and Janet are here with us today and there for the men and women of America's military services every day. Secretary Albright, thank you for being able to redeem the lessons of your life story by standing up for the freedom of the people in the Balkans. To the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton--I was looking at General Shelton standing up here--you know, he's about a head taller than I am. And I thought to myself, he not only is good; he looks good. He looks like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But what I want you to know is, however good he looks, he's better than that in the job that he does. I thank General Clark for his leadership. Ambassador Kornblum, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Our USAID Director, Brian Atwood, is doing so much for the humanitarian relief. Brigadier Scott Van Cleef, thank you. Chief Master Sergeant Daniel Keane, thank you for making all of us feel so welcome here today. I'd like to thank the distinguished German public officials and citizens who are here. And I'd like to thank the Spangdahlem oom-pah band and the gospel choir. Thank you. I thank all the men and women of Team Eifel and all your family members who are here. I am delighted to see so many children here today. And I hope this will be a day they will long remember. The 52d Air Expedition Wing is crucial to our mission in Europe. There are so many to thank: the Stingers and Hawks, the Panthers, your guests here, the crews of the Flying Knights, all the hundreds of base operations and support personnel here, working day after day and now night after night. We ask so much of you, and you never let us down. Ever since the end of the cold war, this base has been busy with the challenges of a new era, training new allies, planning new missions, helping people in need like the earthquake victims in Turkey whom the 52d Civil Engineer Squadron assisted last summer. A few years ago, you helped to end the cruel war in Bosnia. And I'm sorry you have to do it all over again, but I'm proud of the job you're doing today in Kosovo. Earlier this year, some of you in the 22d Fighter Squadron flew support for Operation Northern Watch. Since this conflict in Kosovo began, we have been depending on you more than ever. It's meant more hardship and more hard work for you. Many of your loved ones are right now flying out of Italy, and of course, these F-117 stealth fighters and their crew are here from Holliman Air Force Base in New Mexico. And they're a long way from their families. Night after night--to Serbia, punching through enemy defenses; putting ordinance on target; returning home to debrief, rest, and then do it all over again: That takes courage and skill and a lot of support that we must never take for granted--refueling in midair; evading antiaircraft fire; pinpointing targets; seeking, often at great personal risk, to avoid civilian casualties; coordinating with crews from other nations; rescuing a downed pilot, as one of your squadrons did just a few days ago; and for the base personnel and the loved ones, always the anxious waiting for the aircraft to return. One thing I have tried to make sure the American people understand in the years that I have been President is that your jobs have inherent dangers, even when not directly engaged in conflict. As many of you now know, just yesterday we lost two brave Americans in a helicopter training accident [[Page 834]] in Albania. And today we grieve with their families and pray for them. I came here more than anything else to say on behalf of your fellow Americans: We thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Though you're far from our shores, you are close to our hearts every day. I also would like to thank the people of Germany, who are our allies in this cause and who do so very much to make all of you feel at home here in this wonderful country. I just came from an operations briefing and a tour of the aircraft you fly from this base. I want to talk just a little bit about why you're flying. And I want all of you, particularly who have children here, who think about the world they will live in the 21st century, to think about why you're flying. Our mission in Kosovo has nothing to do with trying to acquire territory or dominate others. It is about something far more important, creating the kind of world where an innocent people are not singled out for repression, for expulsion, for destruction just because of their religious and ethnic heritage. You look around today at the people we have in uniform here. We have people from all different racial and ethnic backgrounds. We have people from all different religious heritages. And I think America's military is stronger because we try to get everybody's talents and put everybody's talents to the best possible use--not weaker. And I can tell you for sure that our country is stronger when we reach across all the lines that divide us and celebrate our differences but say that what unites us is more important. All the differences that exist among people in the world, especially differences of religion, make life more interesting and more enlightening when they are limited by an understanding of our common humanity. But when people throw away that understanding of our common humanity and make differences the only thing that matter and make them Other Popular 1999 Presidential Documents Documents:
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