    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book II)]
    [November 11, 1994]
    [Pages 2065-2067]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2065]]

    Remarks to the Military Community at Elmendorf Air Force Base in
    Anchorage, Alaska
    November 11, 1994

        Thank you very much, General Boese, General Cox, General Case,
    General Needham. On this Veterans Day, I would be remiss if I did not
    say a special word of thanks to General Needham for his work in trying
    to recover the information we need about our POW's and MIA's in Vietnam.
    I thank you, sir, for your work there. Governor Hickel, Senator Stevens,
    Mayor Mystrom, former Governor Sheffield, ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad
    to be here in Alaska. I've been trying for 2 years to get here to
    Alaska. At times I find the President is Commander in Chief of the Armed
    Forces but not of his own schedule. [Laughter]
        Twenty-five years ago, before I met her, my wife came to Alaska and
    worked for a summer. So you can say to me, welcome to Alaska, but for
    Hillary, it's welcome back to Alaska. I've heard so much about it I
    always felt that I had imagined it, seen it all in my mind. Those of you
    who, like me, have been married for a while, we've told each other the
    same stories so many times I feel that I could tell you what it was like
    when I worked in Alaska 25 years ago. [Laughter] But I'm glad to be here
    to see the real thing.
        I've also heard a lot about Alaska from another group, the veterans
    of the 208th Coastal Artillery, a National Guard unit from my home State
    of Arkansas that defended Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians during World War
    II. One of my best friends and one of my former chiefs of staff lost his
    brother in that brave struggle. And I just want you to know that I know
    you're a long way from the rest of our country territorially, but we're
    proud to be here in the United States and proud of the contribution that
    Alaska has made to the United States of America.
        I am especially pleased to be here on Veterans Day because, as all
    of you know, Alaska is veteran country, the State with the highest
    concentration of both current armed forces personnel and former
    servicemen and women in the entire State of the Union.
        I began this morning at Arlington National Cemetery, and that's what
    this little pin is. This is the pin the National Cemetery did for
    Veterans Day this year, honoring all those who served. It was a
    beautiful day there--a little warmer. [Laughter] The sun was shining;
    there were still a few autumn leaves on the trees. And the great
    amphitheater at Arlington is being closed for--it's being repaired. Many
    of you have seen that amphitheater there. So instead, we celebrated
    Veterans Day at the foot of the long steps up to the Tomb of the Unknown
    Soldier. And it was so incredibly moving, walking up those long flight
    of stairs to put the wreath down and then turning around and looking
    just as far as you could see down a sweeping, beautiful hillside with
    American veterans, their families, their supporters standing in the
    midst of the magnificent graves of Arlington Cemetery.
        I'm on my way to Manila now to honor other soldiers, those who
    fought in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War--to recall
    those who left home and family for places they never heard of, places
    they could barely imagine, for dangers they certainly could not have
    imagined. To those of you here who defended us in that war, whether in
    the islands of the Far East or here in Alaska with distinguished units
    like the Eskimo Scouts, on this Veterans Day, I salute you, and on
    behalf of all the American people, I thank you.
        We also honor and remember all those who, in war and peace, have
    given so much to America so that we could remain free and strong. To all
    the veterans of our Armed Forces, your country will never forget the
    extraordinary service you have performed. We owe you the safety of our
    shores and the liberty we enjoy. We have a special obligation to all of
    you who are veterans. Even when your service in uniform ends, the
    country's service must continue.
        In recent weeks I signed into law two bills that addressed the
    concerns of thousands of veterans. The Veterans Health Program Act of
    1994 extends the Veterans Administration's authority to provide
    hospital, outpatient, and nursing home care to veterans of the Gulf war,
    Vietnam, and World War II to any exposure they may have had from toxic
    substances. The act also provides about $400 million--[applause]--thank
    you, thank you. The act also provides nearly

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    $400 million for the VA to build, lease, and repair medical facilities
    around our country. The Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 1994
    authorizes compensation to Gulf war veterans suffering from undiagnosed
    illnesses from Operation Desert Storm. No one who wears our uniforms, no
    member of their families should have to suffer because of difficulty in
    diagnosing a particular illness. Thanks to this act, we will be able to
    respond quickly and compassionately to veterans' needs plainly related
    to what they have done in the service of our country.
        Today we also must pay tribute to those of you who at this very
    moment are standing watch for freedom, demonstrating skill and
    professionalism here in Alaska and around the world. I know that
    personnel from Elmendorf and Fort Richardson are now deployed in support
    of the operation in Haiti, where our troops have helped a nation turn
    from fear, oppression, and intimidation back to democracy and hope. And
    I thank you for that. I thank you also for your service in humanitarian
    missions, from Rwanda to Papua New Guinea. You have shown that we stand
    by our ideals. Thank you. [Applause] Somebody back there sounds like he
    wants to go back. [Laughter] Thank you.
        Here at the Alaskan Command, your strength and preparedness has
    helped America to keep its security commitments in Asia as well. Alaska
    Command plays a vital role in maintaining security on the Korean
    Peninsula, where I have visited our troops and where we have just
    concluded an agreement with North Korea to make sure that that nation
    becomes a nonnuclear state and does not contribute to the proliferation
    of weapons of mass destruction.
        And finally, I thank you for the support of our troops in the
    Persian Gulf, where we moved with amazing speed and strength to make
    sure that Iraq poses no threat to its neighbors or to the stability of
    the vital Gulf region. I thank you for your contribution in that.
        This kind of decisive action tells the world that when America makes
    a commitment, we keep that commitment. And I want you to know that we
    all understand it is your strength, your ability, your preparedness, and
    your devotion to duty that makes it possible for me as President to make
    and keep commitments on behalf of the United States. We are all in your
    debt on this Veterans Day for that, and on every day. And because of
    that, it is imperative that you remain the best equipped, best trained,
    best prepared fighting force in the world, and we will see that you do
    so.
        You know, here in Alaska, the home of Senator Ted Stevens and
    Senator Frank Murkowski and Congressman Don Young, I want to say that in
    light of the elections last Tuesday giving a majority of the Congress to
    the Republican Party, I want to pledge again to work with them on issues
    of concern to the State of Alaska and to work with them, more
    importantly, as well as all others of both parties, in a nonpartisan way
    on behalf of problems of this country, which are in many cases new,
    different, challenging, unlike anything we have faced before, and unable
    to be put into clean and neat partisan categories. Let us now join
    together to move this country forward in the best American spirit.
        All over our country today, we have a unique situation, as far as I
    know, in the history of America. We are in the midst of an economic
    recovery that is the envy of the world, and yet still, a majority of
    ordinary Americans, the people who keep this country going, who get up
    every day and work hard to try to build their families and raise their
    kids to do the right thing and have a good life, a majority of those
    people feel personal insecurities, insecurities that are economic,
    insecurities that are social. They're worried about the crime in our
    streets or the stability of their jobs or the security of their health
    care benefits.
        Interestingly enough, when I went to Europe to celebrate D-Day, I
    met on two separate occasions with very large numbers of American
    service personnel who were celebrating the end of the cold war with the
    D-Day celebration and with the other celebrations because they knew that
    we were able to reduce our force in Europe somewhat. But over and over
    and over again these fine people who had worn our uniform said, ``Well,
    if I go home, Mr. President, will I be able to find a job? If I find a
    job, Mr. President, will it be a job with health benefits with my kids,
    or without them? Because as long as I'm in the military, I have that.''
        This is a significant new development in the history of our country
    where, because of the radical changes in the global economy and because
    of social problems we've been dealing with in our Nation for 30 years
    now, you have a majority of ordinary Americans feeling uncertainty in
    the midst of developments which appear to be very, very hopeful.

    [[Page 2067]]

        Well, I can tell you that both are true. The events are hopeful, the
    trends are good, but the reasons for insecurity and uncertainty are
    real. We have to continue to work together to reduce the size of our
    Government where it is too big, to make sure that you get better value
    for the dollar, to make sure that people at the State and local level,
    where folks are in touch with the grassroots realities, have more
    freedoms to pursue reforms in their schools, in their welfare systems,
    in their health care systems. We have to do what we can also, together,
    to keep this economic recovery going so that we not only get more jobs,
    we get higher paying jobs and greater stability and security and support
    for those jobs.
        Finally this year, after a very long time, we are beginning to see
    high-wage jobs come back into the American economy, more this year than
    in the previous 5 years combined. But folks, make no mistake about it,
    you here on America's frontier know that we are in a global economy,
    know that we have to fight and struggle for every single opportunity we
    have, and know that we have to be as competitive, as efficient, and as
    dominant where we can, economically as we are militarily. Your strength
    must be mirrored in the strength of every American business, every
    American community, and every American family. If we can equal your
    performance economically, we will do just fine well into the 21st
    century for our children and our grandchildren.
        Believe it or not, I know you'd never know it from the press, but
    we've actually worked together some before in the last 2 years. I
    thank--for example, I would like to thank Senator Stevens and Senator
    Murkowski for supporting the Family and Medical Leave Act, which made it
    possible for 66,000 people here in Alaska to take a little time off when
    a baby was born or a parent was sick without losing their job.
        And so I say to you, we've got a lot of work to do as a country. In
    the military, you've done a brilliant job of setting up a continuous,
    continuous education and training program. Why are we doing so well?
    Because the military is always changing but still rooted to its
    traditional values. That is what America must do.
        One of the little-known facts about the success of our operation in
    Haiti and the success of our operation in the Gulf recently is that both
    of them reflected lessons learned in the last 2 years to increase our
    mobility by land, by air, by sea; to pre-position materials; to train
    people to do new and different skills; to have the services working
    together as never before. The Haitian operation was the most integrated,
    jointly planned, jointly executed operation in American history. That is
    what we have to do in our private lives as well, always learning, always
    growing, always moving forward.
        That is a new challenge for America. It does not have a partisan
    label on it. It is very important; the national interest is at stake.
    We've always done what it took for the national defense. We have always
    understood that national security required us to be strong around the
    world. But we know ultimately that the security of America is in our
    strong families, our strong communities, our education systems, our
    ability to generate good jobs, and our ability to keep our streets safe
    and our laws sacred--strong at home and strong abroad.
        On this Veterans Day, I want to say that one of my most prized
    possessions as President are the coins that I get whenever I visit any
    base, any unit. I now must have 100 on a big table in the Oval Office.
    Anybody that comes in to see the President of the United States sees a
    big, flat table covered with military coins from all over the world and
    all over the United States, a constant reminder of the service that you
    have rendered to our country. And I ask you to think about that on this
    Veterans Day. Being strong abroad and being strong at home are two sides
    of the coin we should have for America and we should leave to our
    children.
        God bless you all, and God bless America. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:15 p.m. in Hangar 1. In his remarks, he
    referred to Lt. Gen. Lawrence E. Boese, commander, Alaskan Command; Maj.
    Gen. Hugh L. Cox III, adjutant general, Alaska National Guard; Brig.
    Gen. Thomas R. Case, commander, 3d Wing; Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Needham,
    USA, commander, U.S. Armed Forces, Alaska; Gov. Walter J. Hickel of
    Alaska; and Mayor Rick Mystrom of Anchorage. A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of these remarks.