[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 67 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E975-E976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PRESIDENT CLINTON'S REMARKS AT THE SIGNING OF THE NATO ENLARGEMENT 
                         RATIFICATION DOCUMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 22, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, President Clinton signed the 
documents completing United States ratification of the accession 
protocols for Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to become full-
members of the NATO alliance. This is a historic occasion, Mr. Speaker, 
and one that places the United States firmly on the side of fostering 
democracy, security in Central Europe, and the creation of viable civil 
societies.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to President Clinton for playing a 
critical role in negotiating the agreements and winning the support of 
our other NATO allies for the admission of these three new countries to 
the alliance. His strong leadership at the Madrid Summit less than one 
year ago was crucial for this great victory.
  I also want to acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, the leadership of Secretary 
of State Madeleine K. Albright, who was responsible for carefully 
shepherding through the process of negotiating the admission of these 
three countries to NATO. She has also personally taken the lead in 
convincing the American people of the vital interest that the United 
States has in the admission of these countries.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the remarks of President Clinton yesterday at 
the White House ceremony marking United Ratification of the accession 
protocols for Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Repbulic.

      Remarks by the President on Ratification of NATO Enlargement

       The President. Thank you very much. I suppose I should 
     begin with an apology for having to dash off and pick up the 
     paper, but I would hate to lose this document after all the 
     effort we put into getting to this point. (Laughter.)
       Mr. Vice President, thank you for your leadership on this 
     issue. Senator Roth, Senator Biden, Secretary Albright, 
     Secretary Cohen, General Ralston, Mr. Berger, to the 
     ambassadors of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the 
     other members of the diplomatic corps who are here, to 
     Senators Levin and Lieberman and Lugar, Mikulski, and Smith, 
     I thank all of you so much.
       Let me say notwithstanding my good friend Senator Biden's 
     overly generous remarks, we are here today because of the 
     efforts of a lot of people who supported this effort: members 
     of Congress and former members of Congress, present and 
     former national security officials, present and former 
     military leaders, representatives of our veterans, business 
     unions, religious groups, ethnic communities. I especially 
     thank Senators Lott and Daschle, Senators Helms and Biden, 
     and you, Senator Roth, the chairman of our NATO observer 
     group.
       You behaved in the great tradition of Truman and Marshall 
     and Vandenberg, uniting our country across party for common 
     values, common interests, and a common future.
       It's really amazing, isn't it, that Bill Roth and Joe Biden 
     come from Delaware. I want you to know there is no truth to 
     the rumor that I agreed to move the NATO headquarters to 
     Wilmington in return for this vote. (Laughter.) However, it 
     does say a lot for those small states that these two 
     remarkable men have made such an indispensable contribution 
     to this effort. I thank the other senators who are here for 
     their passionate commitments.
       I'd also like to mention one other person, my advisor on 
     NATO enlargement who managed the ratification process for the 
     White House, Jeremy Rosner. Thank you, Jeremy. You did a 
     great job, too, and we thank you. (Applause.)
       I see so many people here that--and I don't want to get 
     into calling names, but I thank Mr. Brzezinski, Ambassador 
     Kirkpatrick, General Joulwan and so many others who are here 
     who have been a part of America's effort over the last 50 
     years to make sure that after World War II freedom triumphs.
       We learned at great cost in this century that if we wanted 
     America to be secure at

[[Page E976]]

     home we had to stand up for our interests, our ideals, and 
     four friends around the world. Because of the alliances we've 
     built and the work that our people have been able to do here, 
     we near the end of this great century at a remarkable 
     pinnacle of peace, with prosperity and declining social 
     problems at home, and for the very first time ever a majority 
     of the world's people living under governments of their own 
     choosing.
       Since World War II, no alliance for freedom has been more 
     important or enduring than NATO. And as we look ahead to the 
     next 50 years, we have to imagine what the world will be like 
     and what it is we expect to do and, in particular in this 
     case, what about NATO. Today we welcome Hungary, Poland, the 
     Czech Republic, finally erasing the boundary line the Cold 
     War artificially imposed on the continent of Europe, 
     strengthening an alliance that now, clearly, is better 
     preserved to keep the peace and preserve our security into 
     the 21st century.
       For the 16 of us already in NATO, enlarging our alliance 
     will create three new allies ready to contribute troops and 
     technology and ingenuity to protecting our territory, 
     defending our security and pursuing our vital interest. The 
     60 million people who live in Hungary, Poland, and the Czech 
     Republic, they now know that what they build in peace they 
     will be able to keep in security. And America now knows that 
     we have new allies to help us meet the new security 
     challenges of the 21st century--something that our 
     partnership in Bosnia so clearly demonstrates.
       I would say also to the nations who have joined with us in 
     the Partnership for Peace, and others who have considered 
     doing so, and those who hope still someday to become NATO 
     members, we are in the process of adapting this organization 
     to the security challenges of the 21st century, and those who 
     are with us in the Partnership for Peace, those who have been 
     part of our endeavors in Bosnia, we appreciate you as well. 
     We respect your aspirations for security; we share your 
     devotion to your freedom; and we hope this is a day which 
     you can celebrate as well.
       We come to this day, thanks to many acts of courage--
     courage that toppled the Berlin Wall, ended the Cold War; the 
     sacrifices by those who raised freedom's banner in Budapest 
     in 1956, in Prague in 1968, in Gdansk in 1980; people like 
     Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel, Arpad Goncz, so many others. The 
     selfless investment of blood and treasure the American people 
     made in freedom in the 20th century is also something we 
     ought to stop and remember here today. There are so many 
     people whose families gave so much in two world wars and the 
     Cold War who should feel a personal sense of satisfaction and 
     triumph because of this day. And I hope they do.
       As we look ahead to the 21st century, again I say, we have 
     to see what we're doing in NATO in the larger context of 
     preparing for a different era. Our goal is to help to build a 
     Europe that is undivided, free, democratic, at peace, and 
     secure; a Europe in which Russia, Ukraine, and other states 
     of the former Soviet Union join with us to make common cause; 
     a dynamic new Europe with partnership for commerce and 
     cooperation.
       Therefore, we have supported the expansion of NATO and the 
     Partnership for Peace. We have also supported all efforts at 
     European integration and the expansion of European 
     institutions to welcome new democracies. And we will continue 
     to do so.
       We want to imagine a future in which our children will be 
     much less likely to cross the Atlantic to fight and die in a 
     war, but much more likely to find partners in security, in 
     cultural and commercial and educational endeavors. The 
     expansion of NATO and the Partnership for Peace make the 
     positive outcome much more probable.
       This is a day for celebration, but also a day for looking 
     ahead. Our work to adapt all our institutions to the 
     challenges of the new century is far from done. On Monday I 
     had the opportunity to go to Geneva to lay out a seven-point 
     plan for the changes I believe the world trading system must 
     embrace in order to fully and faithfully serve free people in 
     the 21st century.
       And just very briefly before I close, let me mention the 
     things that I believe we still have to do with NATO. We have 
     to build closer ties with the Partnership for Peace members. 
     We have to reinforce the practical cooperation between NATO 
     and Russia, and NATO and Ukraine. We have to see through our 
     efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Balkans, and we 
     cannot walk away until the job is done. (Applause.) We must 
     achieve deeper reductions in our nuclear forces and lower the 
     limits on conventional arms across the European continent.
       Yes, we have more work to do, but for today, we remind the 
     people of Europe that in the efforts that lie ahead, they can 
     continue to count on the United States. And we remind the 
     world that tomorrow, as yesterday, America will defend its 
     values, protect its interests, and stand by its friends. So 
     that years from now another generation may gather in this 
     place and bask in the warm glow of liberty's light, because 
     in our time we fulfilled America's eternal mission: to deepen 
     the meaning of freedom, to widen the circle of opportunity, 
     to strengthen the bonds of our union among ourselves and with 
     others who believe in the primary importance of liberty and 
     human dignity.
       Thank you and God bless you all.

       

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