[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[June 16, 1993]
[Pages 860-863]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 860]]


Remarks Following Discussions With President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and 
an Exchange With Reporters
June 16, 1993

    President Clinton. Good morning. Today I am delighted to welcome 
President Sam Nujoma of Namibia to the White House. Here in this city 
named after George Washington it is indeed an honor to welcome a person 
who is known as the George Washington of his country. Three years ago, 
the world rejoiced at the birth of a new democracy on the African 
continent. Millions of Americans of all ethnic backgrounds celebrated 
Namibia's independence as a moment of great joy and real progress. Since 
that moment, President Nujoma has led his country through one of the 
most successful political transitions in recent times. I'm particularly 
pleased to have the President here as the first African head of state 
received by my administration. It underscores my admiration for what 
Namibia has accomplished and my commitment to democracy in Africa and 
elsewhere. Namibia's President and her people clearly share that 
commitment. Their example inspires the cause of democracy and human 
rights throughout the continent.
    Our meeting today coincides with UNICEF's annual Day of the African 
Child. A brighter future for those children is a goal we both share. In 
that regard, I commend the President for his concern for the future of 
Angola's people as well and particularly her children who have long 
suffered from that country's civil war. President Nujoma's efforts to 
bring an end to this conflict have made an important contribution to the 
cause of peace.
    Our meeting today also comes at a time of great promise and 
challenge for another of Namibia's neighbors, South Africa. I know that 
I join President Nujoma in hoping that the transition to a nonracial 
democracy in South Africa can not only come soon but can be as peaceful 
and successful as the birth of Namibia's own democracy a short while 
ago. South Africa has seen far too much tragedy and despair for too 
long. The day is overdue when it would be a welcome time of renewal, of 
prosperity and hope and peace. With its exemplary experience in recent 
years, Namibia is truly in a unique position to further the entire 
region's efforts toward democratization, market economies, conflict 
resolution, and political stability. Namibia's successful transition to 
a stable, multiparty, multiracial, multiethnic democracy offers hope and 
optimism for other nations in the region, throughout the continent, and 
around the world.
    I also want to say a special word of appreciation for the work that 
the President and Namibia have done in promoting their new system of 
government, promoting education among their people. He has just given me 
a gift of two games that a young Namibian citizen has developed for the 
children there, board games on the government and Constitution of 
Namibia and on the governments of the African continent. And I might 
point out that Namibia's Constitution also has in it a commitment to 
preserve the precious ecosystem of that country, a real ground-breaking 
statement of environmental commitment that I, again, believe will be 
honored by people throughout the continent and throughout the world.
    Again, Mr. President, I'm delighted to have this opportunity to 
welcome you, a genuine hero of the world's movement toward democracy, 
and I look forward to working with you on the issues we have discussed 
and the issues we're about to discuss. The microphone is yours.
    President Nujoma. Thank you, Mr. President Clinton. I am 
particularly grateful that you have extended an invitation to me, and 
through me to my people, to come and pay an official visit to your great 
country.
    I'm grateful that your Government and your people have decided when 
the people of Somalia were faced with the tragedy of starvation and 
death, it was during the Bush administration when President Bush decided 
to send U.S. troops, before U.N. troops went, to put an end to the civil 
war and starvation of the people of Somalia. And later on, the U.N. sent 
its own forces which are still there.
    Our continent is faced with turmoils. We have a civil war in 
Liberia, in Angola, in Somalia, and elsewhere. And I'm appealing to you, 
Mr. President, and to the people of the United States not to be 
discouraged but to continue to support the efforts of the United Nations 
in assisting those who are in need and particu-


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larly in preventing further bloodshed and loss of lives and destruction 
to property in areas such as Angola, Liberia, and others.
    Mr. President, after a long bloody struggle for independence, during 
which there was massive abuse of human rights, Namibia has joined the 
ranks of free and democratic nations in which the right and dignity of 
human beings are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of 
Namibia and protected as a matter of policy practiced by my government. 
Over the last 3 years of its existence as a sovereign state, Namibia has 
scrupulously observed and upheld political pluralism which--
[inaudible]--multipartisan. There are seven political parties 
represented in our Parliament. All these parties are quite vocal in 
their criticism of my government. But there has not been a single 
incident of harassment or intimidation of any one of these parties by my 
government. Tolerance and accommodation are our guiding principles in 
this regard.
    We are committed to the rule of law, so much so that not a single 
one of the inhuman apartheid laws, rules, and the regulation has been 
replaced with undemocratic issues. Our Parliament remains the only legal 
institution that has the power to repeal, amend, or pass laws to 
regulate the political and other activities of our society. The 
separation of powers is the other central principle of our democracy. As 
such, there has been no interference by the executive branch of the 
government in the affairs of the judiciary. The judiciary acted 
independently. Although there were the draconian laws used by the 
colonial regime to suppress freedom of the press, there is today in 
Namibia no single law that puts restrictions on that important freedom 
of the press. Namibia has, therefore, one of the most active and 
critical press towards the government.
    The government of Namibia is committed to a market-oriented economy. 
As such, there has been no interference by the government in the 
activities of private sector. Instead, my government is actively 
creating infrastructures on the joint venture basis, and we intend to 
leave those infrastructures to the private sector. This is one way we 
think we can develop our country.
    The government is committed to transference in governance. In this 
regard, there are regular consultations between the government, the 
private sector, and the civil organizations on issues of national 
concern. We intend to uphold all these democratic principles because we 
are convinced that they are essential for the maintenance of peace and 
stability in our country, as well as for the social economic development 
of Namibia.
    Mr. President, in order to strengthen democracy in Namibia, there is 
an imperative and urgent need for my government to produce tangible 
economic results by encouraging private sector investment in the 
country. Without such a result we cannot say that the future of our 
democracy is secure. In this connection, my government has just passed 
incentives which aim at promoting foreign investment. We give a 
guarantee of repatriation for their dividends and profit. And I hope the 
U.S. business community members will use the opportunity of coming into 
Namibia and join us, either on a joint venture basis or just purely 
direct investment, and make a profit and meanwhile assisting us to 
develop our country.
    I thank you.
    President Clinton. Thank you.

Economic Program

    Q. [Inaudible]--about whispers that the economic plan will not hit 
the $500 billion target in the Senate Finance Committee. Despite 
repeated suggestions by you and your administration and your 
spokespeople that one of your principles was $500 billion, you didn't 
seem to clearly rule out taking anything less than $500 billion. Can you 
rule that out?
    President Clinton. No, no. What I mean--let me make it clear. The 
actual plan I believe the House passed was $496 billion. If it were 497, 
498, 495, something in that range, that's not--but if it's considerably 
below that, I think that would be a mistake. But I have no reason to 
believe the Senate is going well below that, and I certainly have no 
reason to believe that the conference report, that is, the final bill in 
the economic plan, would go well below it. That's the only point I was 
trying to make.

Foreign Assistance

    Q. On a foreign aid question, international aid, some Members of 
Congress are now saying that because of domestic cutbacks, they may have 
difficulty in supporting foreign aid. And the question arises, is your 
Russian aid package in trouble on the Hill?
    President Clinton. Well, I would hope not. The United States has 
some very direct interests

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in foreign aid. We have shown some real restraint in many of our foreign 
operations. Yesterday I announced, for example, the reorganization of 
our broadcasting operations. Even though we want an Asian democracy 
network along with Radio Free Europe and Radio and TV Marti and our 
other broadcasting efforts, we're going to reorganize and save some 
money there. And there are some other cutbacks in our foreign 
operations. But the United States still needs an aggressive program.
    And I would remind you what I have said before about Russia. That is 
a good investment for America. We're going to make a lot of money out of 
that over the long run because we'll be able to do joint ventures, 
because American companies will be able to more securely invest there. 
Just since we've been working, I can see the obstacles clearing for more 
investments by American companies there in ways that will benefit 
Americans. We will see a continued effort to denuclearize the Russian 
nuclear force which will enable us to continue to do the same thing. So 
it's a very good investment for the United States. And if democracy were 
reversed, that would be a bad thing for the United States. So I hope it 
will pass, and I think it will.

Major General Harold N. Campbell

    Q. Mr. President, there is a long tradition of Commanders in Chief, 
Presidents, firing general officers for gross insubordination. Now that 
the Air Force has apparently confirmed General Campbell's remarks--I 
know you told us yesterday you didn't take personal offense. I'd like to 
know why you don't feel as Commander in Chief you need to take strong 
action at this time.
    President Clinton. Well, what I feel I need to do, sir, is to get a 
report from General McPeak first. And until I do that, I don't think I 
should say any more. This thing has proceeded in a very orderly fashion. 
And I was assured by the Secretary of Defense and by General McPeak that 
I would get a prompt and timely report, and when I do, then we'll decide 
what the appropriate thing to do is.

Somalia

    Q. Can you clarify for us and maybe for the public what you see as 
the ultimate goal of the U.S.-led U.N. operation in Somalia? Is it to 
topple General Aideed? Is it to eliminate all his firepower, to bring 
him back to talks? What is it that we're doing?
    President Clinton. The ultimate goal is to restore the conditions of 
peace which existed before the Pakistanis were murdered. The ultimate 
goal is to make sure that the United Nations can fulfill its mission 
there and continue to work with the Somalis toward nation building and 
to achieve the objectives that President Nujoma spoke so eloquently 
about in the Oval Office just a moment ago, to make sure that the human 
needs of the people can be met and that we can continue to make progress 
there.
    Q. [Inaudible]--by his ability to turn this into something of a 
public relations disaster for the United States?
    President Clinton. Well, I don't know that it is that. It may be--
the issue is whether the Pakistani soldiers erred, and that's for the 
United Nations to resolve. And I'm sure that it will. But you can't have 
these kinds of conflicts and expect them to be brutal and illegal on one 
side and then have a response and expect that there will be nothing 
controversial about it. That is not to exonerate or to condemn. The 
United Nations is looking into the Pakistani conduct. There are, I must 
tell you, conflicting allegations about what occurred and who was 
actually responsible for the deaths of all the civilians there, and we 
need to get to the bottom of it. And if procedures need to be changed, 
if training needs to be tightened, if discipline needs to be imposed, 
then I think that can be done. But the fundamental mission of the United 
Nations in Somalia has not changed. And I still believe it's a very 
important one.

Congressional Black Caucus

    Q. Mr. President, in view of the talks that you had with members of 
the Congressional Black Caucus, is it still necessary for you to meet 
with the caucus before your plan goes to the House for a vote?
    President Clinton. I honestly don't know. I think I've now talked to 
probably 15 of them in the last several days. I think that depends, in 
part, on what the Senate does with the economic plan and what the 
understandings are about what's going to come out of the conference. So 
I think we'll have to wait and see what the Senate Committee does and 
then what the Senate actually adopts on the floor, and then we'll make a 
decision at that time. And of course, anytime they want to see me they

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know that there's an open door. But whether a meeting is necessary will 
depend in large measure, I think, on what the Senate does.
    Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Nujoma.

Note: The President spoke at 9:10 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.