[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[August 5, 1996]
[Pages 1255-1260]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on International Security Issues at George Washington University
August 5, 1996

    Thank you very much. President Trachtenberg, I was in the 
neighborhood so I thought I'd drop by. [Laughter] Dean Harding, members 
of the George Washington University community, Congressman Cardin, 
Congressman King, Congressman Matsui. Senator McGovern, thank you for 
coming, sir. Delighted to see you. And by the way, thank you for writing 
your brave book about your daughter and for going around the country and 
talking about her. Thank you so much. I want to thank the family members 
of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 who are here with me today, as well 
as two of those who were held hostage in Iran back in 1980 who are here 
today--and '79. Thank you for coming.
    I'm pleased to be back here at George Washington, especially as you 
celebrate your 175th anniversary. President James Monroe signed the 
congressional charter establishing GW. I can only applaud his wisdom and 
hope that 175 years from now our administration will be associated with 
a similarly proud legacy. I think he would be very proud if he could see 
what GW has become.
    Last night the centennial Olympics came to an end. It was a great 
Olympics for America not only because of the triumphs of our athletes 
but also because of the magnificent job done by the city of Atlanta and 
all the other hosts. But in a larger sense, it was a great event not 
just for Americans but for people everywhere who believe in peace and 
freedom, who believe in individual achievement and common effort.
    I believe we love the Olympics because they work the way we think 
the world ought to work. They are possible because all different kinds 
of people come together in mutual respect and mutual acceptance of the 
rules of the games. No one wins by breaking their opponent's legs or by 
bad-mouthing their opponents in a public forum. Instead, victory comes 
from doing well in a good way. And all who strive are honored, as we saw 
when our volunteers cleared the track for the brave, injured marathon 
runner who was the very last finisher in the race. Most individuals and 
teams from the 197 competing nations did not win any medal, but they all 
had their chance, did their best, and were better for their efforts. 
That is what we want for our country and the world at the edge of a new 
century and a new millennium.
    In the world of the 21st century, the Olympic way will become 
possible in the lives of more people than ever before. More people than 
ever before will have the chance to live their dreams. The explosion of 
knowledge, communication, travel, and trade will bring us all closer 
together in the global village. But as we saw in that terrible moment of 
terror in Centennial Park, this new openness also makes us more 
vulnerable to the forces of destruction that know no national 
boundaries. The pipe bomb reminded us, as did the murder of 19 fine 
American servicemen in Saudi Arabia and the still unresolved crash of 
TWA 800, that if we want the benefits of this new world we must defeat 
the forces who would destroy it by killing the innocent to strike fear 
and burn hatred into the hearts

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of the rest of us. This is a lesson and a responsibility every American 
must accept. As the mayor of Montoursville, a town of just 5,000 people 
in Pennsylvania that lost 21 of its brightest hopes for the future on 
TWA Flight 800, said, no matter how secluded and how innocent we are, 
once we leave our community we're subject to the troubles of the outside 
world.
    America faces three great challenges as we enter the 21st century: 
keeping the American dream alive for all who are willing to work for it; 
bringing our own country together, not dividing it; and making sure 
America remains the strongest force in the world for peace and freedom, 
security and prosperity. I come to this place of learning and reason, a 
place so focused on the future, to explain why we cannot meet our own 
challenges of opportunity and responsibility and community unless we 
also maintain our indispensable role of leadership for peace and freedom 
in the world.
    The worldwide changes in how people work, live, and relate to each 
other are the fastest and perhaps the most profound in history. Most of 
these changes are good: The cold war is over; our country is at peace; 
our economy is strong; democracy and free markets are taking root on 
every continent. The blocs, the barriers, the borders that defined the 
world for our parents and grandparents are giving way, with the help of 
a new generation of extraordinary technology. Every day millions of 
people use laptops, modems, CD-ROM's, and satellites to send ideas and 
products and money all across the planet in seconds. The opportunities 
to build a safer world and a more prosperous future are enormous.
    But for all the promise of our time, we are not free from peril. 
Fascism and communism may be dead or discredited, but the forces of 
destruction live on. We see them in the sudden explosions of ethnic, 
racial, religious, and tribal hatred. We see them in the reckless acts 
of rogue states. We see them especially in the dangerous webs of new 
threats of terrorism, international crime and drug trafficking, and the 
continuing threat that weapons of mass destruction might spread across 
the globe. These forces of destruction find opportunity in the very 
openness, freedom, and progress we cherish.
    We must recognize that modern technologies by themselves will not 
make for us a new world of peace and freedom. Technology can be used for 
good or evil. American leadership is necessary to assure that the 
consequences are good. That is why we have worked so hard to seize the 
opportunities created by change and to move swiftly and strongly against 
the new threats that change has produced. To seize the opportunities, we 
are strengthening our alliances, dramatically reducing the danger of 
weapons of mass destruction, leading the march for peace and democracy 
throughout the world, and creating much greater prosperity at home by 
opening markets to American products abroad.
    Our alliances are the bedrock of American leadership. As we saw in 
the Gulf war, in Haiti, and now in Bosnia, many other nations who share 
our goals will also share our burdens. In Europe, we have supported the 
forces of democracy and reform in the former Soviet Union, the removal 
of Russian troops from the Baltics, and led the way to opening NATO's 
doors to Europe's new democracies through the Partnership For Peace, as 
Europe, the main battleground for the bloodiest century in history, is 
finally coming together peacefully. In Asia, we have revitalized our 
security alliance with Japan, joined with South Korea to promote lasting 
peace on the Korean Peninsula, and worked steadily to encourage the 
emergence of a strong, stable, open China.
    The end of the cold war has also allowed us to lift the dark cloud 
of nuclear fear that had hung over our heads for 50 years. Today not a 
single Russian missile is pointed at our citizens or cities. We are 
cutting Russian and American arsenals by two-thirds from their cold war 
height. We helped Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakstan to give up their 
nuclear weapons which were left on their land when the Soviet Union 
dissolved. We are working with Japan and Korea, and we have persuaded 
North Korea to freeze the dangerous nuclear program it had been 
developing for over a decade.
    We have advanced the struggle for peace and freedom. When people 
live free and at peace, we are more secure because they are less likely 
to resort to violence or to abuse human rights, and more likely to be 
better trading partners and partners in our common struggle against 
terrorism, international crime and drug trafficking, environmental 
degradation.
    Because America is taking those risks for peace and democracy, the 
dictators are gone from Haiti. Democracy is back and the flow of 
desperate refugees has stopped. In Bosnia the snipers' killing fields 
have become children's

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playing fields once again. In Northern Ireland and the Middle East, 
though difficulties remain, conflicts that once seemed unsolvable are 
moving closer to resolution. None of these struggles is easy. There is 
no guarantee of success. But we will continue to work for success, and 
we will make a difference.
    Finally, we have seized the opportunity to better our people's lives 
at home by opening markets abroad. The true measure of our security 
includes not only physical safety but economic well-being as well. 
Decades from now people will look back on this period and see the most 
far-reaching changes in the world trading system in generations, changes 
that are good for the American people, changes that include 200 new 
trade agreements, including GATT and NAFTA; the Summit of the Americas; 
the Asian-Pacific leaders' commitment to bring down trade barriers. 
Because of these changes America is the world's number one exporter 
again, and we have a million new high-paid jobs as a result.
    Now, none of these achievements just happened. They came about 
because we worked with others to share the risk and cost of engagement, 
because we used the power of our example and, where necessary, the 
example of our power. They happened because we were willing to make 
tough choices today knowing they would pay off for you tomorrow. Above 
all, they happened because we refused to listen to those who said that 
with the cold war over America could choose escapism over engagement. 
Had we done so we would have weakened the world's reach for freedom and 
tolerance and prosperity and undermined our own security and prosperity.
    The fact is America remains the indispensable nation. There are 
times when America and only America can make a difference between war 
and peace, between freedom and repression, between hope and fear. Of 
course, we can't take on all the world's burden. We cannot become its 
policemen. But where our interests and values demand it and where we can 
make a difference, America must act and lead.
    Nowhere is that responsibility more clear or more urgent than in the 
struggle against terrorism. No one is immune, whether you're riding a 
subway in Tokyo or a bus in Tel Aviv, whether you're window shopping in 
London or walking the streets in Moscow, whether you're doing your duty 
in Saudi Arabia or going to work in Oklahoma City. Terrorism has become 
an equal opportunity destroyer, with no respect for borders.
    Whether we like it or not, in ways both good and bad we are living 
in an interdependent world. That's why we must break down the walls in 
our mind between foreign and domestic policy. And I might say, Mr. 
President, on this 175th anniversary, that is one of the intellectual 
objectives that I hope our great universities will commit themselves to.
    The reality is our personal, community, and national prosperity 
depend upon our policies on economics in trade at home and abroad. Our 
personal, community, and national well-being depends upon our policies 
on the environment at home and abroad. Most dramatically, our personal, 
community, and national security depend upon our policies on terrorism 
at home and abroad. We cannot advance the common good at home without 
also advancing the common good around the world. We cannot reduce the 
threats to our people without reducing threats to the world beyond our 
borders. That's why the fight against terrorism must be both a national 
priority and a national security priority.
    We have pursued a concerted national and international strategy 
against terrorism on three fronts: First, beyond our borders, by working 
more closely than ever with our friends and allies; second, here at 
home, by giving law enforcement the most powerful counterterrorism tools 
available; and third, in our airports and airplanes by increasing 
aviation security.
    This will be a long, hard struggle. There will be setbacks along the 
way. But just as no enemy could drive us from the fight to meet our 
challenges and protect our values in World War II and the cold war, we 
will not be driven from the tough fight against terrorism today. 
Terrorism is the enemy of our generation, and we must prevail.
    First, on the international front, stopping the spread of terrorism 
clearly requires common action. The United States has a special 
responsibility to lead in this effort. Over the past 4 years, our 
intelligence services have been sharing more information than ever with 
other nations. We've opened up a law enforcement academy in Budapest 
which is training people from 23 nations, an FBI office in Moscow, and 
just last Friday, Congress gave us the funding for FBI offices in Cairo, 
Islamabad, Tel Aviv, and Beijing.
    We've requested more money for intelligence in 1997. This focus is 
making a difference. As

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the Senate intelligence committee concluded in its 1996 report on the 
intelligence authorization bill, the work of U.S. intelligence agencies 
against terrorism has been an example of effective coordination and 
information sharing.
    I've also worked to rally other nations to the fight against 
terrorism: last year at the U.N. General Assembly; this spring at the 
historic Summit of Peacemakers at Sharm al-Sheikh, where 29 nations, 
including 13 Arab nations, for the first time condemned terrorism in 
Israel and anywhere else it occurs in the Middle East and throughout the 
world; at the G-7 summit in Lyons and the recently held follow-on 
conference we called for in Paris, where we were represented ably by the 
Attorney General.
    Now, the point of all these efforts with other countries is not to 
talk but to act. More countries are acting with us. More countries are 
taking the ``no sanctuary'' pledge and living up to their extradition 
laws so that terrorists have no place to run or hide. More countries are 
helping us to shut down the gray markets that outfit terrorists with 
weapons and false documents.
    Last week in Paris, the G-7 nations and Russia agreed to pursue a 
sweeping set of measures to prevent terrorists from acting and to catch 
them if they do. And we set timetables with specific dates by which 
progress must be made. We're also working with Saudi Arabia to improve 
the security of our forces stationed there, so that we can continue to 
deter aggression by rogue states and stand against terrorism in the 
Middle East.
    After Khobar Towers, I immediately ordered investigations by the FBI 
and a commission headed by General Wayne Downing, which is to report to 
me later this month. While it's too early to reach conclusions, these 
investigations are moving aggressively in cooperation with our host. And 
we are working with the Saudi Government to move almost all our troops 
to other bases to better protect them from terrorist attacks.
    Even though we're working more closely with our allies than ever and 
there is more agreement on what needs to be done than ever, we do not 
always agree. Where we don't agree, the United States cannot and will 
not refuse to do what we believe is right. That's why we have maintained 
or strengthened sanctions against states that sponsor terrorism: Iran, 
Iraq, Libya, and Sudan. You cannot do business with countries that 
practice commerce with you by day while funding or protecting the 
terrorists who kill you and your innocent civilians by night. That is 
wrong. I hope and expect that before long our allies will come around to 
accepting this fundamental truth.
    This morning I signed into law the Iran-Libya sanctions act. It 
builds on what we've already done to isolate those regimes by imposing 
tough penalties on foreign companies that go forward with new 
investments in key sectors. The act will help to deny them the money 
they need to finance international terrorism or to acquire weapons of 
mass destruction. It will increase the pressure on Libya to extradite 
the suspects in the bombing of Pan Am 103.
    With us today, as I said before, are some of those families and the 
loved ones of other victims of terrorism sponsored by Iran and Libya. 
Let me repeat the pledge I made to them earlier. We will not rest in our 
efforts to track down, prosecute, and punish terrorists and to keep the 
heat on those who support them. And we must not rest in that effort.
    The second part of our strategy is to give American law enforcement 
officials the most powerful tools available to fight terrorism without 
undermining our civil liberties. In the wake of Oklahoma City, I 
strengthened the terrorism bill I had previously sent to Congress but 
which had not then been passed. Despite the vow of Congress to act 
quickly, it took a year before that bill came to my desk to be signed.
    The bill had some very good points. It made terrorism a Federal 
offense, expanded the role of the FBI, imposed the death penalty for 
terrorism. As strong as it was, however, it did not give our law 
enforcement officials other tools they needed and that they had asked 
for, including increased wiretap authority for terrorists to parallel 
that which we have for people involved in organized crime now, and 
chemical markers for the most common explosives so that we can more 
easily track down bombmakers.
    After the bombing in Atlanta, Congress said it would reconsider 
these and other measures. I immediately called the congressional 
leadership to the White House and urged them to put together a package 
and vote it into law before they left for the August recess last Friday. 
I am disappointed, and more importantly, the America people are 
disappointed that that job was not done. These additional measures would 
save lives. They would make us all more secure. When the Congress 
returns from the

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August recess, we will take them up again, and we must get the job done.
    There is more I will ask Congress to do. Next month I will submit to 
Congress the ``International Crime Control Act'' that our Justice, 
State, and Treasury Departments drafted at my request, because more and 
more, terrorism, international organized crime, and drug trafficking are 
going hand in hand. This bill expands our fight against money 
laundering, so criminals and terrorists will have a tougher time 
financing their activities. It strengthens our extradition powers and 
border controls to keep more criminals and terrorists out of America. It 
increases the ability of American law enforcement to prosecute those who 
commit violent crimes against Americans abroad. Congress should pass it.
    And once again, I urge the Senate to ratify the Chemical Weapons 
Convention, so that we can eliminate chemical weapons stockpiles and 
give our law enforcement new powers to investigate and prosecute people 
planning attacks with such weapons. We have seen the terrible, 
destructive impact of sarin gas in the Tokyo subway. Within a month of 
that attack, Japan's Diet ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, but 
we still have not done so. If the Chemical Weapons Convention were in 
force today, it would be much more difficult for terrorists to acquire 
chemical weapons. They are not waiting, and we shouldn't either.
    Finally, the third front of our struggle against terrorism is the 
airports and airplanes that bring us all closer together. Air travel 
remains the safest form of transportation. And our airlines have the 
best safety record and security record in the business. But that's a 
small consolation when a single attack can take so many lives.
    Last year we began field testing new high-tech explosive detection 
machines in Atlanta and San Francisco. We significantly increased 
security at our airports, and the FAA created a new Government and 
industry panel to review airline security.
    After the TWA crash, I ordered new measures to increase the security 
of air travel. As any of you who have flown in recent days will have 
noticed, we're doing more hand searches and machine screening of 
luggage. We're requiring preflight inspections for every plane flying to 
or from the United States--every plane, every cabin, every cargo hold, 
every time. The Vice President is leading a commission on aviation 
security that is to report back to me within 45 days with an action plan 
to deploy machines that can detect the most sophisticated explosives and 
other needed changes.
    Now, I know all this has led to some extra inconvenience for air 
travelers, and it may lead eventually to a modest increase in the cost 
of air travel. But the increased safety and peace of mind will be worth 
it.
    So, greater international cooperation, stronger American law 
enforcement, safer air travel, these are the fronts of our concerted 
strategy against terrorism. Much of this work by law enforcement, 
intelligence, and military professionals goes unheralded, but we are 
getting results. For example, we prevented attacks on the United Nations 
and the Holland Tunnel in New York. We thwarted an attempt to bomb 
American passenger planes from the skies over the Pacific. We convicted 
those responsible for the World Trade Center bombing and arrested 
suspects in the Oklahoma City and Unabomber cases. We've tracked down 
terrorists around the world and extradited more terrorists in 4 years 
than in the previous 12.
    But I want to make it clear to the American people that while we can 
defeat terrorists, it will be a long time before we defeat terrorism. 
America will remain a target because we are uniquely present in the 
world, because we act to advance peace and democracy, because we have 
taken a tougher stand against terrorism, and because we are the most 
open society on Earth. But to change any of that, to pull our troops 
back from the world's trouble spots, to turn our backs on those taking 
risks for peace, to weaken our opposition against terrorism, to curtail 
the freedom that is our birthright would be to give terrorism a victory 
it must not and will not have.
    In this fight, as in so many other challenges around the world, 
American leadership is indispensable. In assuming our leadership in the 
struggle against terrorism we must be neither reluctant nor arrogant but 
realistic, determined, and confident. And we must understand that in 
this battle we must deploy more than police and military resources. 
Every one of you counts; every American counts.
    Our greatest strength is our confidence. And that is the target of 
the terrorists. Make no mistake about it: The bombs that kill and maim 
innocent people are not really aimed at them but at the spirit of our 
whole country and the spirit of freedom. Therefore, the struggle against

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terrorism involves more than the new security measures I have ordered 
and the others I am seeking. Ultimately, it requires the confident will 
of the American people to retain our convictions for freedom and peace 
and to remain the indispensable force in creating a better world at the 
dawn of a new century.
    Everywhere I travel on behalf of our country I encounter people who 
look up to us because of what we stand for and what we're willing to 
stand against. I have said this before, but when Hillary and I visited 
the Olympic Village, I was so moved by the athletes who came up to me 
and talked about what America had meant to their country: a young 
Croatian athlete who thanked me for our efforts there, not long after 
Secretary Brown's plane crashed and Secretary Kantor had finished the 
mission; an Irish athlete who thanked me for our efforts to bring peace 
in Northern Ireland; a Palestinian athlete who said that he came from a 
very old people, but they never had an Olympic team until they made 
peace with Israel, and that many people wanted to keep that peace.
    This responsibility is great, and I know it weighs heavily on many 
Americans. But we should embrace this responsibility because at this 
point in time no one else can do what we can do to advance peace and 
freedom and democracy and because it is necessary at this point in time 
for our own peace and freedom and prosperity.
    As we remember the centennial Olympics, the weeks of courage and 
triumph, the wonder of the world's youth bound together by the rules of 
the game in genuine mutual respect, let us resolve to work for a world 
that looks more like that in the 21st century, to stand strong against 
the moments of terror that would destroy our spirit, to stand for the 
values that have brought us so many blessings, values that have made us 
at this pivotal moment the indispensable nation.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:26 a.m. in the Lisner Auditorium. In his 
remarks, he referred to Stephen J. Trachtenberg, president, and Harry 
Harding, dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, George 
Washington University; former Senator George S. McGovern of South 
Dakota; and Mayor John Dorin of Montoursville, PA.