    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 7, 1993]
    [Pages 1019-1027]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session at Waseda University in Tokyo
    July 7, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much. Mr. President, thank you for
    that introduction, I foolishly came out here without my earphones, so I
    don't know what he said to make you laugh--[laughter]--or what he said
    about Robert Kennedy. So I should give a speech about how we need to
    train more Americans to speak good Japanese. Perhaps someday an American
    President will come here and give a speech to you in your native
    language. Then I will know we are really making progress in reaching
    across the barriers that divide us.
        It is a great pleasure for me and for the First Lady to be here at
    this distinguished university today. Waseda is a center of true academic
    excellence and a training ground for many of Japan's most distinguished
    leaders. I am proud to be the first American President to visit here.
        But as has already been said, 31 years ago another American, whom I
    admired very much, Robert Kennedy, spoke in this hall. It was a very
    different time. The modern economies of Japan and Asia were just
    emerging. It was the middle of the cold war. Fierce arguments raged
    here, as in other nations, about where the future lay, with communism or
    democracy, with socialism or capitalism. On that evening in 1962, those
    arguments spilled onto this stage. When members of the student Communist
    movement heckled Robert Kennedy, he challenged their leader to come up
    and join him. In his characteristic way, Kennedy transformed a diatribe
    into a dialog and close-mindedness into an open debate.
        That is what I hope we will have here today. The exchange that
    followed was heated, but it demonstrated the best of the values of
    freedom and democracy that our two nations share. Three decades later,
    on this day, in this place, the times are very different, but no less
    challenging. The need for vigorous and open dialog

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    remains. The time has come for America to join with Japan and others in
    this region to create a new Pacific community. And this, to be sure,
    will require both of our nations to lead and both of our nations to
    change.
        The new Pacific community will rest on a revived partnership between
    the United States and Japan, on progress toward more open economies and
    greater trade, and on support for democracy. Our community must also
    rest on the firm and continuing commitment of the United States to
    maintain its treaty alliances and its forward military presence in Japan
    and Korea and throughout this region.
        Is it appropriate? I believe it is, to address these issues here in
    Japan. The post-cold-war relationship between our two nations is one of
    the great success stories of the latter half of the 20th century. We
    have built a vital friendship. We continue to anchor this region's
    security and to fuel its development. Japan is an increasingly important
    global partner in peacekeeping, in promoting democracy, in protecting
    the environment, in addressing major challenges in this region and
    throughout the world. Because our relationship has been built on
    enduring common interests and genuine friendship, it has transcended
    particular leaders in each country, and it will continue to do so.
        History has decided the debate that waged here in 1962, a debate
    over whether communism works. It didn't. Its ruins litter the world
    stage. Our two nations have proved that capitalism works, that democracy
    works, that freedom works. Still, no system is perfect. New problems and
    challenges constantly arise. Old problems deeply rooted in cultures and
    prejudices remain. To make the most of this new world, we both must
    change. As Robert Kennedy once noted, ``Progress is a nice word, but its
    motivator is change, and change has its enemies.''
        The cold war passed from the world stage as the global flow of
    information pierced the Iron Curtain with news of other ways of living.
    And the world moved steadily toward a more integrated global economy.
    Money, management, and technology are increasingly mobile today.
    Trillions of dollars in capital traverse the globe every day. In one
    generation international trade has nearly tripled as a percentage of
    global output. In the late 1980's, increased trade accounted for well
    over half of the new jobs in the United States.
        Meanwhile there have been huge changes in the organization and the
    nature of work itself. We are moving away from an economy based on
    standardized mass production to one dominated by an explosion of
    customized production and services. The volume of information is
    increasing at an astonishing rate. Change has become the only constant
    of life. And only firms that are flexible and innovative, with very
    well-trained people, are doing very well.
        The new global economy requires little explanation here in Japan.
    You have pioneered the modernization of Asia. Now from Taipei to Seoul,
    from Bangkok to Shanghai, Asian economies are growing at dramatic rates,
    providing jobs and incomes, providing consumer goods and services to
    people who could not have even dreamed of them just a generation ago.
        To be sure, Asia's progress is uneven. There are still millions in
    abject poverty. Four of the world's last five Communist regimes and
    other repressive regimes continue to defy the clear laws of human nature
    and the future. But the scenes of life in this region paint an
    unmistakable picture of change and vitality and opportunity and growth.
        A generation ago in Singapore, bumboats floated up to the boat quay
    to unload their cargoes of produce and cloth which were sent out into a
    labyrinth of smoky shophouses and small family markets. Today such
    scenes are joined by those of container ships steaming into Singapore's
    modern port, one every 6 minutes, disgorging their goods into mechanized
    warehouses and modern supermarkets. In China's Guangdong Province, young
    entrepreneurs are leaving safe jobs in state-owned enterprises to start
    their own companies. To describe their daring spirit the Chinese have
    coined a phrase that literally means ``to plunge into the sea.'' Such
    images help to explain why Asia likely will remain the world's fastest
    growing region for some time. Its imports will exceed 2 trillion U.S.
    dollars. This growth will help to make a tripolar world driven by the
    Americans, by Europe, and by Asia.
        In years past, frankly, some Americans viewed Asia's vibrancy and
    particularly Japan's success as a threat. I see it very differently. I
    believe the Pacific region can and will be a vast source of jobs, of
    income, of partnerships, of ideas, of growth for our own people in the
    United States, if we have the courage to deal with the problems both of
    our nations have within and

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    beyond our borders.
        Already over 40 percent of American trade is with this region. Last
    year, over 2.3 million American jobs were related to the $120 billion we
    exported to Asia. Millions of Asian-Americans in the United States today
    embody our Nation's devotion to family values, to hard work, to
    education. In so doing, they have helped to strengthen our cultural ties
    and our economic ties to this region.
        Today, our Nation is ready to be a full partner in Asian growth.
    After years of difficult transition, our private sector is embracing the
    opportunities and meeting the challenges of the global economy.
    Productivity is on the rise. Attempts to pierce overseas markets are
    more intense than ever. Many of our manufacturing service and financial
    firms are now the high-quality, low-cost producers in their fields.
        At last, our governmental sector in the United States is also moving
    in the right direction. After years of being urged by Japan and by other
    nations to do something about the massive American budget deficit, we
    are on the brink of doing something about it. After years of being urged
    to do something about improving our education system and making our
    manufacturing and other sectors more productive and more competitive, we
    are doing something about it.
        We are nearing the adoption of a bold plan to reduce our public
    deficit by $500 billion over the next 5 years and to increase our
    investments in education, in technology, and in new jobs for the
    American people. We are moving to reform our health care system, the
    world's most expensive, to control costs and provide quality care to all
    of our people. We are moving to give incentives to the millions of
    Americans who live in poverty so they will move from poverty into middle
    class working lives. We too are moving to reform our political system,
    to reduce the cost of our political campaigns and the influence of
    lobbyists on our lawmakers. We are moving to face one of our most
    painful social problems, high rates of crime and violence, with new
    initiatives to put more police officers on our streets, give better
    futures to our young people in depressed areas, and keep guns out of the
    hand of dangerous criminals.
        But it is not enough for the United States to change within. To
    increase the jobs, raise the incomes, and improve the quality of life of
    the American people, we must also change our relationships with our
    partners and ask them to do the same.
        Our first international economic priority must be to create a new
    and stronger partnership between the United States and Japan. Our
    relationship with Japan is the centerpiece of our policy toward the
    Pacific community. Our two nations account for nearly 40 percent of the
    world's output. Neither of us could thrive without the other. Producers
    in each of our countries are consumers for firms in the other.
        We are also joined in our efforts to address global economic
    problems. We work closely in an effort to move toward a new trade
    agreement. And I hope Japan will join in the initiative I proposed just
    2 days ago in San Francisco: a meeting of the senior G-7 economics and
    labor and education advisers to look into a new problem with the global
    economy, stubbornly persistent unemployment in the richest nations of
    the world, even where there is economic growth, rooted in the inability
    of so many of these nations to create new jobs.
        The economic relationship we have has always benefited both our
    nations. Americans buy huge volumes of Japanese products. American
    companies in Japan employ thousands of your citizens. Joint ventures
    between Japanese and American enterprises advance the economic and other
    interests of people in both nations. Japanese companies have opened many
    manufacturing firms, sales offices, and other facilities in the United
    States. In the 1980's when my country went on a huge debt binge,
    massively increasing public and private debt, Japanese purchases of much
    of that debt helped to keep our economy going and helped to prevent our
    interest rates from exploding.
        Still, our economic relationship is not in balance. Unlike our
    relations with all other wealthy nations, we have a huge and persistent
    trade deficit with Japan. It usually exceeds $40 billion, with a deficit
    in manufacturing products in excess of $60 billion in spite of the fact
    that in recent years our manufacturing productivity has increased very
    greatly.
        It is impossible to attribute this trade imbalance solely to unfair
    Japanese barriers, from governmental policies to a unique distribution
    system. Indeed, it is in part simply a tribute to Japanese abilities to
    produce high-quality, competitively priced goods and to the skill of
    Japanese businesses in piercing so many overseas markets, including our
    own. Yet, it is clear that our markets are more open to your products

    [[Page 1022]]

    and your investments than yours are to ours. And it is clear that
    governmental policies consistently promoting production over
    consumption, exports over domestic sales, and protections of the home
    market contribute to this problem. The trade deficit is on the rise this
    year even with the market rise of the yen against the dollar. Though
    American purchases of Japanese products have remained fairly constant,
    Japanese purchases of American products have dropped markedly as a
    consequence of slow growth here in your economy with no offsetting
    government policies to stimulate demand.
        This problem has, as all of you know, fueled resentment in our
    country both from workers and from businesses who have worked hard to
    streamline their operations, reduce labor costs, and increase
    productivity and now want the benefits that can only come from being
    able to compete and win in a global economy. Our people understand when
    our Nation has a huge trade deficit with an emerging economy like China.
    The same was true just a few years ago with Korea and Taiwan. But both
    those nations have moved closer to trade balance with the U.S. as they
    have become more prosperous. The same has not happened with Japan.
        This persistent trade imbalance has not just hurt American workers
    and businesses, it has hurt the Japanese people. It has deprived you as
    consumers of the full benefit of your hard and productive work. For
    example, partly because of restrictive economic policies, the average
    Japanese family pays more than twice as much of your income for food as
    the average American family. And many other consumer products are far,
    far more expensive here than elsewhere, with these differentials going
    far beyond what can be accounted for by the transportation costs of
    bringing products to this market.
        Our relationships with Japan have been durable not only because of
    our security alliance and our political partnership but because our
    economic relationship has actually served our interests and yours. I
    believe we must change this economic interest to improve the lives not
    just of the American people but of the Japanese people as well. It would
    be wrong for me to come here as President to ask you to embrace changes
    that would only benefit the people who live in my country. I believe
    that the changes I advocate will benefit both of us, or I would not be
    here pushing them.
        During my April meeting with Prime Minister Miyazawa, we agreed to
    build a new framework for trade on macroeconomic, sectoral, and
    structural issues. Now, I don't know how that translates into Japanese,
    but the average American has no idea what that means. [Laughter] What it
    means is that we are going to try to deal honestly with the differences
    we have over our nations' economic policies. We want to talk about the
    specific sectors of the economy where we believe that more trade is
    warranted. We want to talk about structural differences between our two
    countries that operate as effective barriers to finding greater balance
    and greater volume of trade. Our governments have made progress in these
    last few days in crafting the basic principles of this new framework.
    And we will persist until we can produce a sound agreement that is in
    the interests of people in both countries.
        What the United States seeks, let me make clear, is not managed
    trade or so-called trade by the numbers but better results from better
    rules of trade. Openness like this cannot simply come from pressure from
    the United States. That is one reason I wanted so much to be here with
    you today. A new openness can only come ultimately when Japanese leaders
    and Japanese citizens recognize that it is in your interests to pursue
    this course.
        So today I would send this message to all of you and to the people
    beyond the walls here in this hall: You have a common cause with the
    people of America, a common cause against outdated practices that
    undermine our relationship and diminish the quality of your lives. The
    ideas I propose are beneficial to both of us because they will increase
    the number and lower the costs of the products you are able to buy, the
    services you are able to access, and they will thereby reward the work,
    the education, and the skills that you bring to daily life here in
    Japan. You are entitled to no less, and it will be a part of your role
    as a great nation for the foreseeable future to have that sort of open
    relationship. We should take these steps together for ourselves and for
    future generations. I am optimistic that the people of Japan and the
    people of the United States can hear the same message and move toward
    the same goal.
        Japan has, after all, a proud heritage of embracing bold change when
    the times call for it. Much of the success you have enjoyed in recent
    years comes from a phenomenal ability

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    to adapt to the changing contours of the global economy. And over 120
    years ago, the leaders of the Meiji Restoration embarked on a series of
    rapid and successful initiatives that transformed a feudal Japan into a
    modern society, making it more open to the West and the broader world,
    without sacrificing the uniqueness of the Japanese culture.
        On this campus today, there is a statue honoring one of the great
    statesmen of that period, this school's founder, Count Okuma. In his
    exhaustive narrative of the Meiji Restoration, Okuma attributes the
    period's reforms, and I quote, to ``thoughtful and farsighted Japanese
    leaders.'' And he concludes, ``Even as the spirit of liberality has
    animated the Japanese race during the past half-century of its
    remarkable progress, so it will ever impel its march along the paths of
    civilization and humanity.'' To keep the country's doors wide open is a
    national principle to which Japan has attached the greatest importance
    from its earliest days. I believe and hope that spirit still prevails
    and that a stronger Japan-U.S. economic relationship, driven by mutual
    wisdom, can power our new Pacific community well into the next century.
        The second building block of that community must be a more open
    regional and global economy. That means that together we must resist the
    pressures that are now apparent in all wealthy countries to put up walls
    and to protect specific markets and constituencies in times of slow
    growth. We must resist them because the only way wealthy countries can
    grow richer is if there is global economic growth and we can increase
    trade with people who themselves are growing more prosperous. An
    essential starting point is the successful completion of the Uruguay
    round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. I am committed to
    doing that by the end of this year, and I hope that your government is
    also. I believe we should also work to reduce regional trade barriers.
    That is what we in the United States are attempting to do in negotiating
    an agreement with Mexico and Canada not to close North America to the
    rest of the world but to open it up. And perhaps we should consider
    Asian-Pacific trading areas as well.
        The most promising economic forum we have for debating a lot of
    these issues in the new Pacific community is the Organization for Asian-
    Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC. The 15 members of APEC account for
    nearly half of the world's output and most of the fastest growing
    economies. This fall, we will host the APEC ministerial meeting in
    Seattle. I will speak at that meeting to signal America's engagement in
    the region. But I hope we can go beyond it. I am consulting with the
    leaders of APEC at this moment on a proposal that they join me in
    Seattle in an informal leadership conference to discuss what we can do
    to continue to bring down the barriers that divide us and to create more
    opportunities for all of our people. In addressing common economic
    challenges we can begin to chart a course toward prosperity and
    opportunity for the entire region.
        Of course, the purpose of meetings like this is not simply more
    meetings and communiques, it is to improve our people's lives, not just
    the lives of those who dash around financial districts in Tokyo or New
    York with cellular telephones in their pockets but the millions of
    people in my country and the billions of people on the Earth who work
    hard every day in factories and on farms simply to feed their families
    and to give their children a better life than they have enjoyed. It will
    make a world of difference to them if our leaders can set pro-grow
    policies, dismantle trade barriers, and get government out of the way.
    Expanded trade and more open economies will not only enrich people, they
    also empower them. Trade is a revolutionary force that wears down the
    foundations of despotic rule. The experiences of the Philippines,
    Taiwan, Korea, and others prove that the move toward more open economies
    also feeds people's hunger for democracy and freedom and more open
    political systems.
        This then should be our third priority in building a new Pacific
    community: to support the wave of democratic reform sweeping across this
    region. Economic growth, of course, can occur in closed societies, even
    in repressive ones. But in an information age, it cannot ultimately be
    maintained. People with prosperity simply crave more freedom. Open
    societies are better able to address the frictions that economic growth
    creates and to assure the continuance of prosperity. A free press roots
    out corruption, even though it sometimes aggravates political leaders.
    The rule of law encourages and protects investments.
        This spread of democracy is one of the best guarantees of regional
    peace and prosperity and stability that we could ever have in this
    region. Democracies make better neighbors. They don't

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    wage war on each other, engage in terrorism, or generate refugees.
    Democracy makes it possible for allies to continue their close relations
    despite changes in leadership. Democracy's virtues are at the core of
    why we have worked so hard to support the reforms and the reformers in
    Russia, which is now on a path toward becoming one of the Pacific's
    great democratic powers.
        The movement toward democracy is the best guarantor of human rights.
    Some have argued that democracy is somehow unsuited for Asia, or at
    least for some nations in Asia, that human rights are relative and that
    they simply mask Western cultural imperialism. I believe those voices
    are wrong. It is not Western urging or Western imperialism but the
    aspiration of Asian peoples themselves that explain the growing number
    of democracies and democratic movements in this region. And it is an
    insult to the spirit and hopes and dreams of the people who live here to
    assert that anything else is true.
        Each of our Pacific nations must pursue progress while maintaining
    the best of their unique cultures. But there is no cultural
    justification for torture or tyranny. We refuse to let repression cloak
    itself in moral relativism, for democracy and human rights are not
    occidental yearnings, they are universal yearnings.
        These, then, are the economic essentials for this new Pacific
    community, one in which most of you, being so much younger than I am,
    will spend far more of your lives in than will I. A better U.S.-Japan
    relationship, more open economies and trade, more democratic
    governments, these things will make your lives better. I will pursue
    these goals vigorously. You will see that commitment reflected in what
    our administration does. Together we can make this decade and the coming
    century a time of greater security, democracy, prosperity, and personal,
    family, community, and national empowerment.
        So today, on this holiday of Tanabata, a holiday of joining together
    and hopeful wishes, let us wish for a new Pacific community, built on
    shared effort, shared benefit, and a shared destiny. Let us write out
    our brightest dreams for our children on pieces of paper as bright and
    differently colored and numberless as are the peoples of the Asian-
    Pacific region. In the spirit of this holiday, let us fly those dreams
    from bamboo poles that are as high as our hopes for the era, and then,
    together, let us dedicate ourselves to the hard work of making those
    dreams come true. Senator Kennedy was right when he said that change has
    its enemies. But my friends, we can make change our friend.
        Thank you very much.
        Now, I'm going to take some questions, and I think I'm supposed to
    go down here. So I will try to go down there without breaking my leg,
    and then we'll take some questions.

    Japanese Imperial Family

        Q. Thank you for giving me a chance to ask you a question today. The
    wedding ceremony of the Crowned Prince and the Princess Masako Owada was
    held recently. What did you think of the ceremony? And also, what do you
    think of the Imperial Family, which you don't have in the United States?
        The President. Well, the Imperial Family is an important part of
    your culture. We do not have one in the United States, as you know.
    That's because when we broke off from England, they had a king, and so
    we thought we had to behave differently. So we elected our Presidents,
    and then over 100 years later we decided they could only stay for 8
    years. And then when times got tough, most of them found it was
    difficult even to stay 8 years. [Laughter]
        But let me say, I'm very interested in the Imperial Family. We
    followed the marriage with great interest, my wife and I, and discussed
    the marriage and how impressed we were with the Princess and with the
    devotion of the Prince who pursued her. I have invited the Emperor and
    the Empress to visit the United States next year, and we are hopeful
    that they will come sometime in the late spring or the early summer and
    that they will have a very good trip. We are eager to receive them.
        Q. Thank you very much.

    Iraq and Bosnia

        Q. With regard, Mr. President, to the Iraq retaliatory attack. Of
    course, this took place, and there was no military mobilization that
    took place on the part of Iraq. However, this attack did take place. And
    I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on this situation.
        The President. You mean the attack that I ordered on Iraq?
        Q. With regard to this attack, of course, there are criticisms that
    are launched by the Middle Eastern countries that perhaps this might be
    a discriminatory measure that was taken by the United States society
    which still has as the ma-

    [[Page 1025]]

    jority the white people. And in the United States, of course, despite
    that fact, it's an ethnically mixed group of people who live there, and
    you have your own special situation. However, there is this criticism
    that has been launched by the Middle Eastern countries that this is, in
    fact, nationalism where, perhaps, discrimination on the part of the
    United States against Iraq. And then, of course, there is also the issue
    of the ethnic cleansing that is taking place in Bosnia that I would also
    like to have you address.
        The President. First, let me talk about Iraq, and then I will
    discuss the other issues. There was no discrimination involved. Our
    intelligence and law enforcement agencies conducted an investigation on
    the people who were arrested in Kuwait and charged with bringing in a
    very dangerous bomb for the purpose of assassinating former President
    Bush because of actions he took as President in the Gulf war. I was
    advised that they believe that that in fact occurred, that a plan
    devised by the Iraqi Government was attempted to be carried out in
    Kuwait to kill former President Bush with a bomb that had a lethal
    radius of about 400 yards. That is, it could have killed people within
    400 yards around where it exploded. So I took what I thought was
    appropriate and perfectly legal retaliatory action, basically as a
    deterrent to further behavior of that kind. It had nothing to do with
    any racial or religious distinction. And indeed, Iraq's closest
    neighbors, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, applauded the action that was taken.
        Secondly, with regard to Bosnia, the United States has spent
    hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid. It is prepared to
    do more and advocated, along with the nonaligned nations and most of the
    Muslim nations of the world, lifting the arms embargo on the Bosnian
    Government and giving the Bosnian Government time to implement the arms
    embargo with standby air power. That position did not prevail in the
    United Nations because others were against it. That's what I thought the
    right thing to do was.
        The United States also was involved in helping people in Somalia. We
    were actively involved in the agreement announced just last weekend to
    restore Father Aristide to Haiti within 4 months.
        There was no racial or religious or ethnic discrimination involved
    in the Iraqi action. It was, I believe, clearly the right thing to do.
    But we are reaching out to Muslim peoples all across the world with our
    friendship with Turkey, our friendship with many of the newly
    independent states of the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere, people who
    share our values. We respect their religious and their cultural
    traditions. We want stronger ties. And I very much hope that the
    multiethnic government in Bosnia can survive.
        Q. Thank you.

    Korean Reunification

        Q. I am a student, Mr. President, from South Korea, and I would like
    to ask you a question about the Korean Peninsula. As you are aware, sir,
    South Korea and the DPRK are, in fact, not reintegrated. We are the last
    two states in the nation that need to be reintegrated. And I'm wondering
    if you have any prospects, if you have any thoughts on when the
    reintegration of South Korea and North Korea might take place.
        The President. Well, I think that that is a matter for the Korean
    people themselves to decide. And we will obviously support the decision
    that they make. I have to tell you that my hopes for an early
    reintegration have been dampened somewhat by the recent controversy over
    whether North Korea would withdraw from the NPT regime, not allow the
    international inspectors to continue to inspect the sites to ensure that
    North Korea does not become a nuclear power. That would be a very grave
    development, not just for South Korea but for Japan as well and for all
    of Asia.
        I think the most important thing I can do as President to speed the
    day of reunification on terms that are humane and decent and honorable
    is to maintain a strong presence in the area, to honor our security
    commitments, and to do everything I can to deter the development of
    nuclear potential in North Korea. These two nations should unite again
    based on shared culture and family ties and common economic interests
    and a common interest in a peaceful future, not trying to be a nuclear
    power at a time when Russia and the United States, for example, are
    trying to reduce their nuclear arsenals. We need fewer nuclear weapons,
    not more. That's one reason I announced that we would not resume nuclear
    testing a few days ago, in the hopes that we could, together with the
    other nuclear powers, continue to discourage the de-

    [[Page 1026]]

    velopment of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
        Q. Thank you.

    Human Rights

        Q. Mr. President, you mentioned the importance of human rights, and
    I understand that recently you've submitted some international
    conventions to the Senate for consideration, including the convention on
    torture. Does this indicate a change in policy from previous
    administrations concerning human rights, and do you have any plans to
    submit any other human rights conventions to the Senate?
        The President. Well first of all, I want to see how we do with the
    ones we submitted. I think they will be ratified. I wouldn't rule out
    the submission of others. It does recommend a change in policy. Our
    administration has been very forceful in its advocacy of human rights.
    The Secretary of State gave a very eloquent speech in Vienna recently
    advocating the universality of human rights and rejecting the idea that
    there were some cultural relativism involved. And I think you can look
    forward to the United States standing up for human rights on every
    continent, in every way that we possibly can. I will say that it is very
    rare for me to have a discussion with any leader from any other country
    in which I do not bring the subject up. And we work at it steadily every
    day.
        Q. Thank you.
        Q. We will end this program because of your schedule.
        The President. I would stay all day if I could. I like this.

    Hillary Clinton and the Role of Women

        Q. In Japan there are many people who think that women should not
    work, have a job, especially after marriage. But in the United States, I
    heard that feminism is more accepted in people, and there is less
    discrimination. Actually, there are many working women like Mrs. Hillary
    Clinton. And then I want to ask you two questions. How do the American
    people think about Mrs. Hillary Clinton acting or making political
    speeches in official situations? And second, what do you yourself think
    of her as your political partner?
        The President. Well, first of all, most American women, even with
    young children, are in the work force now. More than half of them, even
    with children under 6, are in the work force. That presents us with a
    great source of wealth and talent to strengthen America. It also
    presents us with challenges, providing adequate care for the children,
    trying to provide adequate time for the parents to be with the children.
    After all, raising children is still the most important work of any
    society, and it should not be minimized. But I strongly believe that
    women should have equal opportunities with men in all areas. We have
    many women in the United States Senate, we have many women Governors of
    States, and someday before long I think we'll have a woman President.
        As you noted, my wife is a lawyer. We're both lawyers, and most
    people who know us think that she is the real lawyer in our family. So I
    like it when she gives political speeches, when she works as she is now
    as the head of our task force to reform our health care system. I asked
    her to do it because I thought she had more ability than anyone else I
    knew to do that job. And if we get that done for the American people,
    that will be perhaps the most important social reform in America in a
    generation. And so I think I would be irresponsible as the President of
    the United States not to use the talents of someone I know can serve the
    American people. It's very simple to me; it's a straightforward thing.
        Now, having said that, this issue is still--it's not as
    controversial perhaps as in Japan, but it's still a controversial issue
    at home. There are still people who have some reservations about the
    role of women in various areas of our life. There are still people who
    have certain reservations about whether a spouse of a political leader
    should make speeches, have opinions that are expressed, and do this kind
    of work. I might say that most of the people who say that my wife
    shouldn't be doing this really disagree with our position. They're
    saying she shouldn't be doing this, but most of them just don't agree
    with what we're trying to do. So there is some controversy in the United
    States about it, but I think most people, and I know most women, respect
    the fact that the First Lady is functioning as a full citizen and as a
    partner, as a part of this administration. I am ultimately responsible
    for the decisions that the President must make. There are all kinds of
    things that we never even talk about. But to ask her to do something she
    is clearly competent and able to do seems to me is the right thing to do
    for America.

    [[Page 1027]]

        If you look at the population trends in Japan, your rather low
    birthrate but your phenomenally high life expectancy, so that most
    Japanese couples will have literally decades after their children have
    left the home, it seems to me that your country will have to take
    advantage of the brains and the education and the skills and the
    capacities of women in order to be what you ought to be and do what you
    have to do. I think you will have to do that.
        Do I have to leave, Mr. President?
        Q. Thank you very much.
        The President. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:29 a.m. in Okuma Hall.