    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 12, 1994]
    [Pages 2069-2070]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    November 12, 1994

        I'm speaking to you from Anchorage, Alaska, at the end of the first
    leg of my trip to Asia. The next stop is the Philippines, where I'll
    take part in a ceremony especially appropriate just a couple of days
    after Veterans Day. There I'll have the privilege of helping to honor
    the sacrifices made by those who fought in the Pacific during World War
    II to preserve our freedom and democracy.
        In the 50 years since, America has helped to build a world of peace
    and prosperity. But we know that these blessings are the fruit of our
    veterans' brave fights. That's why yesterday, on Veterans Day, we
    honored and remembered all who, in war and peace, have given so much so
    that America would remain free. We have a special obligation to make
    sure that our Nation never forgets their work and that we do everything
    we can to keep our country strong in the face of our challenges at home
    and abroad. We also have an obligation to honor those who are standing
    watch for freedom and security now, from our bases across America to our
    outposts around the world.
        Over the last few months, at home and abroad, I've had the privilege
    of saying thank you in person to our men and women in uniform, those who
    are keeping our Nation's commitments. Our troops in Haiti are helping
    the Haitian people turn from fear and repression to hope and democracy.
    In the Persian Gulf, they're ensuring that Iraq does not again threaten
    its neighbors or the stability of the vital Gulf region. All over the
    world, our military is proving that when America makes a promise, we'll
    keep it.
        The results are clear. The threat of nuclear war is receding. For
    the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age, no Russian missiles
    are pointed at Americans. North Korea has re-

    [[Page 2070]]

    cently agreed to become a nonnuclear state and to remove that threat of
    proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Peace and freedom are on
    the march, with American support and involvement in the Middle East, in
    the Gulf, in Haiti, and also in Northern Ireland and South Africa where
    we've been asked to be involved.
        Our national security plainly depends on our strong military and on
    a strong foreign policy. But our strength is more than military around
    the world. It also depends upon strength in a global economy. The future
    of every nation is really a global future. It means jobs and incomes in
    the United States. And expanded trade has always been a goal of mine and
    this administration because, whether we like it or not, we are in a
    global economy that we can't run from and trade-related jobs pay so much
    more on the average than jobs not related to trade.
        That's where the rest of this trip to Asia fits in. Next week in
    Jakarta, Indonesia, I'll meet with the 14 leaders of the Asian-Pacific
    Economic Cooperation forum, called APEC. We'll continue the work we
    began last year when I called the group together for the first time in
    Seattle. We've already forged a common vision of a more open community.
    When we meet in Jakarta, I hope we'll embrace a common direction,
    setting a goal for free and open trade among all our economies.
        Then when I return from the trip, we'll face another crucial test
    about our future in this global economy. Congress will reconvene soon to
    vote on ratifying GATT, the largest, most comprehensive trade agreement
    ever. GATT will require all nations to finally do what we've already
    done, to cut tariffs and other barriers and open up trade to our
    products and our services. It will level the export playing field for
    American companies and American workers all around the world and, in so
    doing, will create hundreds of thousands of new high-paying jobs right
    here at home.
        It will make our exports more competitive exactly when we have
    recovered our ability to sell more American products and services. This
    year, America's economy, for the first time in 9 years, has been voted
    the most productive in the world by the annual review of international
    economists. And for the first time since 1979, American automobile
    makers are selling more cars all around the world than their Japanese
    competitors.
        The congressional vote on the GATT will be a defining decision for
    America as we head into the next century. And I believe that members of
    both parties will put aside partisanship to do what's right for our
    country and our future.
        I also hope that both parties will take other opportunities to join
    together when the national interest is at stake, and we're moving into a
    future which has no easy partisan label tied to the past. Our common
    goal must be to produce a strong America, strong in terms of national
    commitments abroad. On this Veterans Day weekend, we know that a strong
    America means to be strong abroad. But surely, we also know that it
    means being strong at home, that our strength comes at bottom from
    strong families, strong communities, better education, higher paying
    jobs, safer streets. Strong at home, strong abroad: two sides of the
    same coin.
        We have to keep going because a majority of hardworking Americans
    still feel uncertain about their economic future and their personal and
    family security, even though we're in the midst of a significant
    economic recovery. We've got to keep going to bring our deficit down and
    keep shrinking the size of the Government, to increase trade and
    increase education and training, to keep these jobs going up and to get
    more high-wage jobs. We've got over 5 million new jobs in the last 22
    months. And for the first time, this year, we have some high-wage jobs
    coming back into this economy, more than in the previous 5 years
    combined.
        So let's make our goal to be number one militarily, number one
    economically, and number one in the strength of our families and our
    communities. Strong at home, strong abroad: That's an America that
    builds on the opportunities others have sacrificed so much to give us.
    And it takes responsibility to keep those opportunities alive for our
    children.
        Thank you, and God bless America.

    Note: The address was recorded at 5:45 p.m. on November 11 at the
    Anchorage Museum of Art and History in Anchorage, AK, for broadcast at
    10:06 a.m. on November 12.