    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [November 11, 1995]
    [Pages 1732-1734]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Veterans Day Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia
    November 11, 1995

        Thank you, Secretary Brown, for your introduction and for your
    remarkable service on behalf of the veterans of the United States.
    General Foley, Commander Liwack, distinguished leaders of all our
    veterans organizations, Secretary Brown, Secretary Perry, General
    Shalikashvili, Attorney General Reno, Senator Simpson; especially to my
    friend Congressman Montgomery. I want to join the remarks that were
    earlier made and thank you, sir, for your lifetime of service to the
    United States and for your unparalleled service to the veterans of the
    United States. We will all miss you, and we thank you. To our men and
    women in uniform and their families here today and most of all, of
    course, to all of our veterans and their families and the Gold Star
    mothers and wives, their survivors who are here today; my fellow
    Americans.
        On this day that marked the end of World War I, we close the 50-year
    commemoration of the end of World War II. Together on this day we offer
    a prayer for peace and a tribute to those who defend it. All across this
    land a symphony of 50 bells will soar. Together on this day we say thank
    you to those who stepped forward to safeguard our security and our
    ideals. Today, this day, our grateful Nation is united to honor
    America's veterans.
        This year we have paid special homage to the World War II
    generation. From the windswept beaches of Normandy to the craggy rocks
    of Corregidor, meeting the Americans who fought in that struggle has
    been one of the great privileges I have had as your President. Later
    today we will honor all of them in dedicating the site of the World War
    II memorial, ensuring that we will never, never forget those

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    who suffered and sacrificed so that future generations of Americans
    might be free.
        They followed in the footsteps of others who came before them, from
    those who battled for our independence to those who braved the trenches
    in ``the war to end all wars.'' And clearly they inspired successive
    generations of heroes, men and women who fought in Korea, Vietnam, and
    the Persian Gulf; who steadily won the cold war; who served with such
    skill and compassion in Haiti; who saved so many lives in more than one
    place in Africa; who halted the Bosnia Serb attacks against innocent
    civilians; and the men and women who, even as we gather here, safeguard
    the frontiers of freedom with their courage, their commitment, and their
    confidence.
        Our Nation has obligations to all those who wear our uniform,
    ensuring that our military remains the strongest in the world, leaving
    no stone unturned in the search for the fullest possible accounting for
    Americans who never came home, supporting our citizen soldiers, the
    Guard and the Reserves, whom we call on increasingly to serve overseas,
    and ensuring that when our men and women in uniform leave the service we
    do not leave them. From education to employment, from buying a home to
    getting quality medical care, our veterans deserve and must have their
    Nation's unfaltering support, for our peace, our freedom, our prosperity
    is surely the legacy of their service.
        Much of this responsibility still falls upon our Federal Government.
    We must uphold the commitment established first by President Franklin
    Roosevelt to give veterans preference for Federal jobs, and we are. Even
    as we shrink the work force of the National Government to its lowest
    level since President Kennedy served here, the percentage of permanent
    jobs in the Government going to our veterans has grown over the last 3
    years.
        We must rally the resources for veterans benefits, and we are. Even
    as we cut Government spending--and my fellow Americans, our annual
    deficit as a percentage of our income is now lower than that of any
    other industrial country in the entire world except for Norway--even as
    we do that, I have sought more than a $1 billion increase in health
    funding for the VA so that we can provide better care for even more
    veterans.
        And even as we enjoy a 15-year high in homeownership among
    Americans, we must not forget that there are too many homeless
    Americans, and an extraordinary percentage of them are veterans. Later
    today, a group of distinguished American entertainers will attempt to
    make America laugh to raise funds and increase awareness of the problems
    of the homeless. And they do it on this Veterans Day to remind us that
    it is a national disgrace that people who are willing to lay down their
    lives for this country do not have a roof over which they will lay down
    their heads tonight. And we must continue to fight that.
        We are committed to active communication with our veterans. We have
    to do more to bring the men in on the decisions that affect their lives.
    We will continue to pursue answers and provide relief for Gulf war
    veterans with unexplained illnesses. Just 3 days ago, we launched a
    major study to help address the concerns of Persian Gulf veterans about
    their health and that of their spouses and their children. And we are
    working hard to meet the special concerns of women veterans, the needs
    of disabled veterans, and the precious debt we owe to veterans'
    families.
        But Government cannot and should not do this job alone. Supporting
    our veterans is not the Government's job; it's America's job. Over the
    last 3 years, I have visited our troops all around the world. I have
    stood in the desert of Kuwait with our vigilant warriors who stopped
    Iraqi aggression this time before it could start. I have met our fliers
    in Ramstein, Germany, who delivered supplies and hope to Bosnia in the
    largest humanitarian airlift of all time. I have visited the men and
    women of Operation Uphold Democracy who ended the terror and turned on
    the lights for the freedom-loving people in Haiti. I have been to Korea,
    where the steady presence of our Americans in uniform has been
    indispensable to our successful efforts to end the nuclear threat and
    maintain the peace there.
        Wherever I go, I see firsthand the dedication, the skill, the
    ingenuity of our men and women in uniform. I see the legacy of World War
    I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, Desert Storm, all of our
    other encounters, in these young people who get better and better and
    better at what they do.
        Every year, more than 275,000 of these talented Americans finish
    their military service and return to civilian life. The strength they
    bring to our Armed Forces can and indeed must fortify our Nation's
    civilian economy and fiber of

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    civic life. So on this Veterans Day, let me urge every employer in
    America in the public and the private sector to tap the invaluable
    resource of America's veterans, to recognize their loyalty and their
    commitment--after all, they volunteered, sometimes for jobs of great
    danger and risk--to recognize their skill, their creativity, their
    dedication. There are so many ways in which we can now say, nobody does
    it better. America's veterans are leaders and winners, and they can help
    America to compete and win. But they must be given the opportunity to
    serve and to work.
        As we reflect on the challenges that these veterans have met so
    successfully in the recent and in the distant past, my fellow Americans,
    let us today rededicate ourselves to meet the new challenges we face
    today. Because of the work of our veterans, our Nation remains the
    world's strongest force for peace and freedom, for democracy and
    prosperity. And the world is moving in our direction.
        We can be very thankful that on this Veterans Day, for the first
    time since the dawn of the nuclear era, there are no Russian missiles
    pointed at the children of the United States. We can be thankful for
    that.
        But as the painful events of recent days have reminded us, the
    forces of darkness and division have not been destroyed. Threats like
    the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; violence rooted in
    ethnic, religious, and racial hatred; organized crime and drug
    trafficking; and especially terrorism call upon us to respond. Just as
    our veterans faced down the threats of a previous era, so now we must
    confront these challenges of this time. Just as Congress and the
    President join in bipartisan spirit over the last 50 years to protect
    our Nation's security, so we must join today.
        I am proud of the work our military is doing in the fight to keep
    illegal drugs out of America and the fight to break the terrible drug
    cartels of the world. I am proud of the work our law enforcement people
    have done here at home and abroad to combat terrorism, from bringing
    terrorists to justice from all across the world to actually stopping
    terrorists plots in the United States before they succeed.
        But as we saw in the World Trade Center and at Oklahoma City and as
    we saw so recently in the tragic, tragic murder of Israel's great leader
    and military hero, Prime Minister Rabin, there is more to be done.
    Giving our officials the tools they need to defeat terrorism is now a
    part of our national security mission, just as maintaining a strong
    national defense is. This matter must be beyond party. All of us must
    rise to the challenge to meet it.
        As we close this commemoration of World War II, let me thank again
    General Kicklighter and all those who helped to make it possible and let
    me urge all of us to summon the spirit that joined that generation that
    stood together and cared for one another. The ideas they fought for are
    now ours to sustain. The dreams they defended are now ours to guarantee.
    In war they crossed racial and religious, sectional and social divisions
    to become one force for freedom.
        Now, in a world where lives are literally being torn apart all over
    the globe by those very divisions, let us again lead by the power of
    example. Let us remember their example. Let us live our motto, E
    Pluribus Unum, from many, one. Let us grow strong together, not be
    divided and weakened. Let us find that common ground for which so many
    have fought and died.
        On this hillside of honor and respects, let us once again humbly
    thank our veterans for answering the call to duty for what they did in
    times of crisis and war and what they did to preserve the peace. Let us
    remain ever grateful for all they have done. And for what we owe them,
    let us never be forgetful. We must and we will meet our obligations and
    secure our future if we remember all of that. My fellow Americans, that
    is our mission, and we must fulfill it.
        Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:44 a.m. at the Tomb of the Unknowns at
    Arlington National Cemetery. In his remarks, he referred to Maj. Gen.
    Robert Foley, USA, commanding general, Military District of Washington;
    Joseph Liwack, commander, Polish Legion of American Veterans; and
    General C.M. Kicklighter, chairman, 50th Anniversary of World War II
    Commemorative Committee.