    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [November 11, 1996]
    [Pages 2106-2108]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Veterans Day Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia
    November 11, 1996

        Thank you. Thank you very much, Secretary Brown, for your
    introduction and for the service that you, Deputy Secretary Gober, and
    all of the men and women of the Department of Veterans Affairs render to
    our Nation every day. I thank Commander Zweiman for his remarkable
    address this morning, and I congratulate him on the 100th anniversary of
    the Jewish War Veterans of America. Thank you, sir.
        To the distinguished leaders of our veterans' organizations; all the
    veterans who are here; the Gold Star mothers; the Gold Star wives; Major
    General Foley; all the members of the Cabinet who are here; the Joint
    Chiefs; the men and women in uniform, their families, and my fellow
    Americans.
        Today on this hallowed hillside and all across our great land, we
    pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of our veterans, all those who
    followed our flag in war and peace, those who gave their lives, and
    those who came home. Each of us owes to all of them a debt we can never
    fully repay. The inscription on the Korean war memorial says, ``Freedom
    is not free.'' For more than two centuries, our armed services have
    defended our freedom and made our Nation a beacon of hope for the world.
        I'd like to take a moment in this special time for Americans to
    recognize the special contribution that one American veteran in
    particular has made to our Nation. Bob Dole was a 21-year-old 2d
    lieutenant serving in the Po Valley of Italy when a German shell struck
    him down in battle. He would bear the burden of his severe injury from
    that day forward for the rest of his life. But he refused to withdraw
    from the world and instead dedicated his life to serving the American
    people. I ask all of you here now to join me in applauding his
    remarkable record of achievement and patriotism to America. [Applause]
        Today we thank God that America is at peace, but our freedom still
    comes at a cost. It depends upon the untiring efforts of the one and a
    half million men and women in our Armed Forces who defend our Nation,
    protect our interests, advance our ideals: keeping the peace in Bosnia,
    enforcing the no-fly zone in Iraq, standing watch over the DMZ on the
    Korean Peninsula, promoting stability and peace in Haiti. And beyond the
    headlines and hot spots, our service men and women are working every
    day, from Diego Garcia to Guam, to keep our forces strong and our
    readiness razor-sharp. Standing tall with them are the Guard and the
    Reserves, whose citizen soldiers proudly trace their lineage all the way
    back to the colonial Minutemen.

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        All those who serve our Nation deserve our strongest support. They
    must have the best training, the finest equipment, access to the newest
    technologies. And those who do go into battle for our Nation must never
    be left behind. And so we continue to pursue the fullest possible
    accounting for those Americans who are still missing.
        Those who serve in uniform deserve every chance to build good lives
    as private citizens. And so we must offer our veterans and their
    families every opportunity to live their dreams, helping them to improve
    their educations, find good jobs, buy homes, protect their health.
        This commitment extends to pursuing answers and providing relief for
    Gulf war veterans with unexplained illnesses. This issue was first
    brought to my attention by the First Lady as she traveled across America
    and veterans and their family members came up and talked to her of their
    personal experiences. Last year I appointed an independent Presidential
    advisory commission to address the health concerns of Persian Gulf
    veterans, their spouses and children. This commission will report its
    findings by year's end.
        I want to assure all of you that we will leave no stone unturned in
    our efforts to investigate these cases and to provide our Gulf war
    veterans with the medical care they need. Tens of thousands of
    examinations have been performed; 26,000 determinations of disability
    have been made. There are many research projects now underway. There are
    mysteries still unanswered, and we must do more. But the United States
    will not forget the people who have served us, and we will discharge our
    obligations to those who served in the Persian Gulf.
        Today we remember and honor the past service of America's veterans.
    And today we renew our commitment to meet the challenges of America's
    future for which they gave so much. Almost two centuries ago, Daniel
    Webster said in his dedication of the monument at Bunker Hill, ``There
    remains to us a great duty of defense and preservation. And there is
    open to us, also, a noble pursuit to which the spirit of the times
    strongly invites us.''
        My fellow Americans, on the brink of a new century, we stand before
    broad new vistas of hope and progress. But if we are to realize our
    hopes for that future, we must ensure that America remains the world's
    strongest force for peace and freedom, for security and prosperity. We
    must strengthen and expand the alliances that have brought us thus far.
    We must continue to reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass
    destruction. We must confront the violent conflicts rooted in ethnic,
    religious, and racial hatreds that so bedevil the world today. We must
    stop the global scourges of organized crime, drug trafficking, and
    especially terrorism. We must build an open trading system for the 21st
    century, and we must stand with all those who stand for democracy and
    universal human rights.
        I cannot help but note on this day that in our time, for the first
    time in the entire history of humanity on this planet, more than half
    the world's people live in democratically elected governments because of
    the example and the force and the power of the ideas of America and the
    sacrifice of America's veterans.
        Let me also say that, as we meet the challenges of the next century,
    our unity as a people will be, as it has ever been, our greatest
    strength. The silent white rows of crosses that surround us mark the
    final resting place of men and women of all services, all ranks, all
    races, all religions. They stand as stunning evidence that our Founders
    were right: We are all equal in the eyes of God. That is something we
    must continue to practice until we get it right. It is something we must
    teach our children, and it is something we must continue to teach to
    those troubled areas of the rest of the world where people still insist
    on killing over their differences.
        Our American veterans buried here came from different walks of life.
    They served our Nation in different places and in different ways. Yet
    all were united by love of country, belief in freedom and opportunity
    and responsibility, and their faith in America's future. As we
    commemorate this day of reverence and respect, let us also remember this
    unity of spirit that has guided our Nation forward from its beginnings.
    No words can repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who
    have stood up for our freedom, but we can honor the memory of our
    veterans best by remaining the best kind of Americans we can be and
    keeping our Nation strong and secure, one Nation under God, to fulfill
    the vision of a better world that so many of them, our veterans, gave so
    much to create.
        Thank you, and God bless America.

    [[Page 2108]]

    Note: The President spoke at 11:30 a.m. at the Amphitheater at Arlington
    National Cemetery. In his remarks, he referred to Robert Zweiman,
    national commander, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, and Maj. Gen. Robert
    F. Foley, USA, Commanding General, U.S. Army Military District of
    Washington.