[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[November 25, 1995]
[Pages 1780-1782]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
November 25, 1995

    Good morning. All across our Nation this weekend, American families 
are coming together to give thanks for the good things in our lives. 
Hillary and I wish all of you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving weekend. 
As we rejoice in our blessings in the company of our loved ones, let's 
also give thanks for America's blessings and for all we have achieved as 
a nation.
    This week, after a tough debate on the Federal budget, we made 
important strides toward what I hope will be common ground. Our 
Government is open again, and the Republican leaders in Congress have 
agreed to work with me to find a process so that we can establish our 
Nation's priorities together.
    I hope we can balance the budget in a way that is true to our 
fundamental values: expecting responsibility from all our citizens but 
also providing opportunity so that we become a society in which 
everybody has a chance to win, not a winner-take-all society; honoring 
our obligations to our senior citizens through Medicare and Medicaid 
while also making investments for the next generation in education, 
environment, research, and technology; helping our families to be 
stronger and stay together; and ensuring that America remains the 
strongest force in the

[[Page 1781]]

world for peace and freedom, democracy and prosperity.
    All around the world we are seeing the results of America's 
willingness to work and to lead for peace. We see it in the Middle East, 
where even in the wake of the tragic loss of Prime Minister Rabin, Arabs 
and Israelis continue to turn the page on past conflict. We see it in 
Northern Ireland, where bombs and bullets have given way to hope for the 
future--where I will visit next week. And in this week of Thanksgiving, 
we have seen the results of America's leadership for peace in Bosnia.
    After 4 years of terrible conflict, we have helped the people of 
Bosnia turn from the horror of war to the promise of peace. America's 
negotiating team, backed by NATO's resolve and airpower, brokered a 
cease-fire. We got the parties to agree on the principles of the 
settlement and brought them to the peace table in Dayton, Ohio. And now, 
the skill and dedication of our negotiators, working with our European 
and Russian partners, has enabled them to reach a comprehensive peace 
agreement.
    Peace in Bosnia is important to America, to both our values and our 
interests. The Bosnian people have suffered unspeakable atrocities: mass 
executions, ethnic cleansing, campaigns of rape and terror. Two hundred 
and fifty thousand people have died; 2 million have been driven from 
their homes, with over a million of them still homeless. The violence 
done to those innocent civilians does violence to the principles on 
which America stands. The only way to end the killing for good is to 
secure a commitment to peace. Now our conscience demands that we act.
    Securing the peace will also prevent the war in Bosnia from 
reigniting and then from spreading, sparking an even wider and more 
dangerous conflict right in the heart of Europe in the Balkan regions 
where there is still a lot of tension and potential for conflict in 
areas near Bosnia. In 1914, a gunshot in Bosnia's capital, Sarajevo, 
launched the first of two World Wars that drew America in to make great 
sacrifices for freedom. We must not let this century close with gunfire 
ringing in Sarajevo.
    The peace agreement preserves Bosnia as a single state within its 
present borders and with international recognition. It settles the 
territorial disputes over which the war began. Refugees can return to 
their homes. People will be able to move freely throughout the country. 
The parties have accepted strong safeguards for human rights. They've 
pledged to cooperate fully with the international war crimes tribunal so 
that those responsible for crimes against humanity can be brought to 
justice.
    Now that all the parties, including the Bosnian Serbs, have made a 
serious commitment to peace, America must help them to make it work. All 
the parties have asked for a strong international force to give them the 
confidence and the breathing room they need to implement the peace 
agreement and to begin the hard task of rebuilding.
    NATO, the alliance of democracies that has preserved our security 
since the end of World War II, is clearly that force. And America, as 
NATO's leader, clearly must participate. Without our support the hard-
won peace would be lost, the terrible slaughter would resume, the 
conflict that already has claimed so many lives could spread like a 
cancer throughout the region.
    In the days ahead I will review the NATO implementation plan and 
continue to consult closely with Congress. As of now, we expect that 
about a third of the NATO force will be American, approximately 20,000 
troops. Two-thirds will be from our NATO allies in other supportive 
countries.
    Our men and women will take their orders from the American general 
who commands NATO forces. They will have the authority to meet any 
threat to their safety or any violation of the peace agreement with 
immediate and decisive force. They will not be deployed until I am 
satisfied that the NATO mission is clear, limited, and achievable and 
until Congress has a chance to be heard.
    I will discuss the peace agreement and the NATO mission in more 
detail when I speak to the Nation on Monday. I will also be visiting 
with American troops in Germany next week to talk directly with them 
about the important mission their Nation is asking them to carry out.
    But on this Thanksgiving weekend, I ask my fellow Americans to think 
about who we are as a people, what we are as a nation. All around the 
world others look to us not just because of our economic and military 
might, because of what we stand for and what we're willing to stand 
against.
    In Bosnia, our Nation has led the way from horror to hope, hope for 
no more Srebrenicas, no more shelling of children's playgrounds, no

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more desperate winters, no more shattered lives. Now we have a 
responsibility to see this achievement for peace through. Our values, 
our interests, and our leadership are at stake.
    So let us give thanks for America's role in bringing Bosnia's 
nightmare to an end, and let us share the blessing of our Nation's 
strength to secure a lasting peace.
    May God bless the United States on this Thanksgiving weekend.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:30 a.m. on November 24 at Camp 
David, MD, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 25.