    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 11, 1993]
    [Pages 1952-1953]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Veterans Day Breakfast
    November 11, 1993

        Good morning. Please be seated.
        Hillary and I and Secretary Aspin, Secretary Brown are delighted to
    have you here. We wanted to begin this Veterans Day with the leaders of
    our veterans organizations, with the officials of the Veterans
    Administration, with many of our men and women in uniform today,
    especially those who distinguished themselves in the very difficult
    firefight in Somalia on October 3d. Some of those brave soldiers are
    here with us today, and I know you've met them, but I'd like to begin by
    just asking them to stand and be recognized and asking all of us to
    thank them. [Applause] Thank you very much. Our Nation is very proud of
    them and their comrades for the bravery they showed on that day and for
    the work they continue to do.
        This is an important Veterans Day. This is the 75th anniversary of
    the end of World War I, a defining war for our Nation, when our
    forebears decided that we could no longer be a totally isolated or
    isolationist country.
        Later this morning, during ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery, I will
    present a commemorative medal to Mr. Stanley Coolbaugh, a veteran of the
    First World War who will accept it on behalf of the 30,000 living
    veterans of World War I. He was born in another century in a relatively
    young nation protected by vast oceans. He was forced as a young man,
    along with our Nation, to answer a profound question which we still have
    to ask and answer today: To what extent must America engage with the
    rest of the world; to what extent can we just stay home and mind our own
    business? Sometimes that answer is easy, as it was when we were attacked

    [[Page 1953]]

    at Pearl Harbor and entered the Second World War and as it became clear
    at the end of the Second World War when we had to try to contain the
    expansion of communism and engage in the cold war, an effort which
    ultimately led to perhaps the greatest peacetime victory in the world,
    the collapse of the Soviet empire.
        Now today we have to ask some of the hard questions again, about how
    much we should engage and whether we can withdraw. Some of those
    difficult questions are being answered by our men and women in uniform
    all around the world. Some of them have to be answered by those of us
    here in Washington on nonmilitary matters. I want to say a special word
    of thanks in that regard to the American Legion for endorsing the North
    American Free Trade Agreement. I said the other day to Admiral Crowe,
    who is here, that I was amazed that there were so many senior military
    officers who had spontaneously come up to me and said that they favor
    this treaty. And he and others observed, ``Well, if you've ever been in
    uniform and been around the world, you know what it means to have the
    opportunity to live in peace with your two biggest neighbors and to have
    commerce and friendly cooperation and competition and what it means to
    live and grow together.'' So I thank you all for that.
        This is a day when the United States has to reaffirm its commitment
    to our veterans. On Memorial Day we thank those veterans who have given
    their lives for our country and their families. Today we thank those
    veterans who have given their service to our country and who are still
    here among us and for whom we feel not only great affection but a
    profound sense of obligation.
        On Memorial Day, I pledged that our Government would declassify
    virtually all the documents related to all individuals held as prisoners
    of war or missing in action, to help answer questions that have haunted
    too many families for too long. Some of those questions may never be
    answered, but we have to try. And I can tell you that as of last night,
    in keeping with my commitment on Memorial Day to finish this job by
    Veterans Day, we have done that. We have declassified all the relevant
    documents that we can to answer the questions about the MIA's and the
    POW's.
        Secondly, I had the opportunity yesterday to sign a proclamation to
    honor our women veterans in National Women Veterans Recognition Week,
    and to welcome to the office that I hold now Diane Evans and the board
    of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project. They presented me with this
    wonderful replica of the statue being dedicated today to recognize the
    sacrifices of all the veterans of the Vietnam War and to further the
    process of healing and reconciliation. It is a magnificent work of art,
    gripping in so many ways. And I know that today's ceremony will grab the
    attention and the emotions and the convictions of the American people.
        Third, I am about to sign into law an increase in the cost of living
    allowance for our disabled veterans. With the leadership of the relevant
    chairmen in our Congress, Senator Jay Rockefeller and Congressman Sonny
    Montgomery, this new law will help 2.5 million American veterans and
    their families to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
        And finally, as you know, with the leadership of the First Lady and
    many others, we are doing our best to provide health security to all
    American people in a way that will improve the access and quality of
    veterans' health care in America. Of all the plans that have been
    addressed to deal with the health care problem, ours is the only one
    that has made a serious effort to address the concerns of our veterans.
    I'm very proud of that, and I thank all of you who had anything to do
    with it.
        With these actions on this Veterans Day, we continue a contract we
    can never fulfill to defend our Nation's security, to defend the
    security in the interest of those who have served our Nation and made it
    secure. I know that your service can never be repaid in full, but it can
    always be honored and must never be forgotten. So today, as I sign this
    law, let me tell you on behalf of a grateful Nation, we honor you, we
    will not forget you, and we are grateful for the security that you
    provide for all of us.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9 a.m. in the East Room at the White House.
    In his remarks, he referred to Adm. William J. Crowe, Jr., USN (Ret.),
    Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. S. 616,
    the Veterans' Compensation Rates Amendments of 1993, approved November
    11, was assigned Public Law No. 103-140.