[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[October 22, 1996]
[Pages 1890-1896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Community in Detroit
October 22, 1996

    Thank you very, very much. Thank you so much. Mayor and Mrs. Archer, 
Congressman Dingell, Congressman Bonior, Congressman Levin, Governor and 
Mrs. Blanchard, Mayor Stanley--[applause]--you can clap for anyone you 
like, it's an informal day--Mayor Stanley, Bishop, Mayor Bob Kozaren of 
Hamtramck, welcome. [Applause] Thank you.
    I'd like to welcome the fourth-grade students from the Hiller 
Elementary School from Lapeer, Michigan. They're here somewhere. Where 
are they? Welcome. We're glad you're here. And students from the Academy 
of Military Science in Detroit are here somewhere, I think. Where are 
you, back there in the back? Welcome.
    I want to thank Senator Carl Levin for his extraordinary work. As 
you know--I'm sure everyone in Michigan knows that in January Senator 
Levin will become at least the ranking Democratic member of the Senate 
Armed Services Committee and perhaps the chairman of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee. We wish him well. In addition to his vigorous 
representation of the people of Michigan on all kinds of domestic 
issues, he has been a great leader for keeping our Nation strong and 
secure in this time of remarkable change. And the State, the Nation, and 
the President are in your debt, Senator. Thank you very much.
    I am delighted to be here in Detroit to discuss the challenges we 
face as we enter the 21st century, to make sure that we remain the 
world's strongest force for peace and freedom, for security and 
prosperity. Detroit is a city meeting the challenges of the future and 
is the perfect place for me to have this opportunity to visit with you. 
Yesterday I couldn't help thinking that in the empowerment zone that the 
mayor and others have worked to make so much of, which has generated $2 
billion in private capital to develop the resources of the people of 
Detroit here, and in the ground we broke yesterday for a $1.6 billion 
new airport to give you the capacity to reach out to the rest of the 
world, Detroit is doing what all of America must do. We must develop 
ourselves and reach out to the rest of the world. Congratulations, 
Mayor, and to all the other local officials here. We're delighted to be 
here.
    From its very founding, our Nation has stood for the idea that 
people have the right to control their own lives, to pursue their own 
dreams. In this century we have done far more than just stand for these 
principles; Americans have acted upon them and sacrificed for them, 
fought two World Wars so that freedom could triumph over tyranny, then 
made commitments that kept the peace, that helped to spread democracy, 
that brought great prosperity to ourselves and helped to win the cold 
war.
    Now the ideas we struggle for, democracy and freedom--freedom of 
religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, open markets, respect 
for diversity--these ideas are more and more the ideals of humanity. 
When we adopted democracy as our form of government in 1776, and then 
when we ratified our Constitution a few years later, it was an unusual 
choice that we made. Democracy had largely vanished from

[[Page 1891]]

the Earth for nearly 2,000 years, since ancient Greece.
    In this century, amid all the wars and bloodshed, we have struggled 
to advance the cause of democracy and to support those who are seeking 
it. And now, for the first time in history, 61 percent of the world's 
nations, and for the very first time in the last couple of years, over 
half of the people on the face of the globe live under democratically 
elected leaders in free countries. That's a remarkable thing. This never 
happened before.
    Four years ago when I sought the Presidency I said that to build a 
strong community based on opportunity and responsibility here at home, 
to be both prosperous and secure, we would have to continue to lead 
abroad in this new era. The burden of American leadership and the 
importance of it, indeed, the essential character of American leadership 
is one of the great lessons of the 20th century. It will be an even more 
powerful reality in the 21st century, a century in which the blocs and 
barriers that defined the world for previous generations will continue 
to give way to greater freedom, faster change, greater communications 
and commerce across national borders, and more profound innovation than 
ever before, a century in which more people than ever will have the 
chance to share in humanity's genius for progress.
    As walls come down around the world, so must the walls in our minds 
between our domestic policy and our foreign policy. Think about it. Our 
prosperity as individuals, communities, and a nation depends upon our 
economic policies at home and abroad, on Detroit's empowerment zone and 
your commitment to an airport facility that will connect you better to 
the rest of the world. Our well-being as individuals, communities, and a 
nation depends upon our environmental policies at home and abroad. Our 
security as individuals, communities, and a nation depends upon our 
policies to fight terrorism, crime, and drugs at home and abroad. We 
reduce the threats to people here in America by reducing the threats 
beyond our borders. We advance our interests at home by advancing the 
common good around the world.
    Let me just give you one example that I'll return to in a moment. In 
the last 4 years the American people, working together, have created 
10\1/2\ million new jobs. Now, that is good news. But perhaps even more 
important, more than half of those jobs are in high-wage categories. 
That is one reason that real wages for the typical working family have 
started to rise again for the first time in a decade.
    Now, that has to be seen in terms of what is happening to the 
American economy becoming connected to the rest of the world. We've had 
an all-time high in exports, an increase in exports of about 35 percent, 
and we know that export-related jobs, on average, pay considerably 
higher than jobs which are totally confined in their economic impact to 
the domestic community.
    The 200-plus agreements we've made in trade, including over 20 with 
Japan, we've seen an increase of 85 percent in the export of American 
products to Japan. I visited, as many of you know, an American auto 
dealership in Tokyo. And just yesterday we learned that our exports of 
American cars to Japan increased 40 percent in just one year last year. 
I say that simply to make the point that our economic policies at home 
and abroad affect the well-being of America's families.
    And in a world that is increasingly interconnected, we have to just 
sort of take down that artificial wall in our mind that this is 
completely a foreign policy issue and this is completely a domestic 
issue, because increasingly they impact one on the other. That is why I 
think, among other things, we have to resist those who believe that now 
that the cold war is over the United States can completely return to 
focusing on problems within our borders and basically ignore those 
beyond our borders.
    That escapism is not available to us because at the end of the cold 
war, America truly is the world's indispensable nation. There are times 
when only America can make the difference between war and peace, between 
freedom and repression, between hope and fear. We cannot and should not 
try to be the world's policeman. But where our interests and values are 
clearly at stake, and where we can make a difference, we must act and 
lead.
    We must lead in two ways: first, by meeting the immediate challenges 
to our interests from rogue regimes, from sudden explosions of ethnic, 
racial, and religious and tribal hatreds, from short-term crises; and 
second, by making long-term investments in security, prosperity, peace, 
and freedom that can prevent these problems from arising in the first 
place and that will help

[[Page 1892]]

all of us to fully seize the opportunities of the 21st century.
    We have approached the immediate challenges with strength and 
flexibility, working with others when we can, alone when we must, using 
diplomacy where possible and force where necessary.
    When I took office, the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II 
was raging in Bosnia. Thanks to U.S.-led NATO air strikes, American 
diplomacy, and IFOR's peacekeeping efforts, the war is over. Elections 
have been held. The Bosnian people are now getting on with the very hard 
work of rebuilding their lives, their land, their economy, and their 
capacity to deal with each other in an atmosphere of respect. None of it 
will be easier, but America acted, our partners and allies acted. And 
think of what would have happened if we had walked away.
    When I took office, dictators terrorized Haiti. They forced tens of 
thousands of refugees to flee. Because we backed American diplomacy with 
military force and the power of an international coalition, the 
dictators are gone; Haiti's democracy is back; the flight from fear has 
ended. Difficulties remain, but think what it would be like if America 
had not acted.
    As Senator Levin said, when I took office North Korea was moving 
forward with a dangerous nuclear program it had been working on for more 
than a decade. Thanks to our diplomacy, and with the help of Japan, 
South Korea, and China, North Korea has frozen that program under 
international monitoring. I wish that more progress were being made in 
North Korea toward openness, but think how much worse it would be if we 
had not acted.
    Two years ago the collapse of the Mexican peso jeopardized our own 
economy and the sanctity of our borders. Because we stepped in 
immediately and rallied others to join us, Mexico has rebounded. Three-
quarters of our loans have been repaid ahead of schedule. We are earning 
interest on the deal. I believe we have made about a half a billion 
dollars so far. I know that was one of the more unpopular decisions of 
my Presidency, but think what would have happened if we had allowed our 
neighbor to the south to collapse economically without a supporting hand 
from the United States for their efforts to reform their political and 
economic systems and, therefore, to be able to work with us in a 
supportive way.
    In each of these cases we were able to succeed because, first, we 
accepted the responsibility to lead. But it isn't enough just to handle 
these immediate crises. We also must set our sights on a more distant 
horizon. Through our size, our strength, our relative wealth, and also 
through the power of our example, America has a unique ability to shape 
a world of greater security and prosperity, peace, and freedom. These 
are long-term efforts and often they take place behind the headlines. 
But only by pursuing them can we give our children the best possible 
opportunity to realize their own God-given potential.
    That's why we have worked patiently and pragmatically to reduce the 
threat of weapons of mass destruction, to take on the challenge of 
terrorism, to build an open trading system for the 21st century, to help 
secure the gains that peace and freedom are making around the world. We 
are making the future more secure by lifting the danger of weapons of 
mass destruction.
    It has taken hard negotiations and persistent diplomacy. But 
consider the results. Today, not a single Russian missile targets 
America. We are cutting our nuclear arsenals by two-thirds. We are 
working to keep the remaining weapons safe and secure. We helped to 
convince Ukraine, Kazakstan, and Belarus to give up the warheads left on 
their lands after the Soviet Union dissolved. We won the indefinite 
extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, our most powerful 
tool in keeping nuclear weapons from spreading. And just a few weeks 
ago, after literally decades of discussion that began under Presidents 
Eisenhower and Kennedy, I was proud to be the first head of state to 
sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Once enforced, it will 
end nuclear testing for all times.
    There is, to be sure, more hard work ahead of us. We must secure the 
ratification in the United States Senate of the Chemical Weapons 
Convention, to make it more difficult for rogue states and terrorists to 
acquire poison gas. We must strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention 
to help prevent the use of disease as a weapon of war. And we must 
succeed in negotiating a worldwide ban on antipersonnel landmines, which 
murder and maim more than 25,000 people a year.
    As we keep our focus on these goals, we must also keep the heat on 
terrorists who would darken the dawn of the new century. Piece by

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piece, we have put in place a strategy to fight terrorism on three 
fronts: toughening our laws at home, tightening security in our airports 
and airplanes, and pressing our allies to adopt with us a strict policy 
of zero--zero--tolerance for terrorism.
    In the congressional session just concluded, two important pieces of 
legislation were passed to help give us the tools to fight terrorists at 
home. And almost all the Vice President's recommendations for increased 
security at our airports and on our airplanes were adopted in a billion-
dollar bill designed to help us move immediately and aggressively to 
improve airport and airline security. I am encouraged by that.
    When I met last summer with the leaders of the G-7 nations in 
France, they agreed to work with us to try to get a zero tolerance for 
terrorism policy around the world. While we can defeat terrorists--and 
we have been successful in thwarting attempted terrorist attacks in the 
United States, attempted attacks on our planes flying out of the West 
Coast; recently there was a conviction in a United States court of a 
person we extradited back to the United States who was charged and then 
convicted of conspiring to blow up a number of airplanes flying out of 
our West Coast over the Pacific--it will be a long time before we defeat 
terrorism. But we have to remain determined and strong. If we do, we 
know we can prevail.
    It took a while for the cold war to be resolved in a way that was 
favorable to humanity and freedom, but we stayed the course, and we must 
stay the course against this. And our allies must help us. We simply 
cannot be doing business by day with people who are supporting 
terrorists who will kill us by night. That is wrong, and we must work to 
develop a common policy on that.
    We are building prosperity at home by opening markets abroad, as I 
said earlier. I believe that decades from now people will look back on 
this period and see the most far-reaching changes in the world trading 
system in generations. More than 200 trade agreements we have negotiated 
have led to more than a million new jobs. They've helped to make America 
the number one exporter again. You know that here in Detroit. You led 
the Nation here with the fastest recent growth in export trade. And 
today, for the first time since the 1970's, the United States is again 
the number one producer of automobiles in the world.
    It is not easy to both expand trade and keep the rules fair. It has 
to be done issue by issue, agreement by agreement. It is hard work, day-
in and day-out, month-in and month-out, year-in and year-out. But we 
must continue to do it. Next month I will travel again to Asia, to the 
Philippines, for the fourth annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation forum, because a lot of America's future is tied to Asia's 
future. As a Pacific power, we have a responsibility to work for 
stability and security in Asia, and an opportunity to benefit from that 
region's extraordinary economic growth.
    We are also working to advance the cause of peace and freedom around 
the world. This also is a mission rooted in both our ideals and our 
interests. After all, when people live free and they're at peace, 
they're much less likely to make war or abuse the rights of their own 
citizens, much more likely to be good trading partners and partners in 
the struggle against terrorism, international crime, and drug 
trafficking, working with us to prevent global environmental decay. From 
the Middle East to Northern Ireland, from Cuba to Burma, from Burundi to 
South Africa, those taking risks for peace and freedom know that the 
United States will stand at their side.
    Nowhere are our interests more engaged than in Europe. When Europe 
is at peace, our security is strengthened. When Europe prospers, so does 
America. We have a special bond because our Nation was formed from the 
hopes and dreams of those who came to our shores from across the 
Atlantic seeking religious freedom, fleeing persecution, looking for a 
better life. From the Pilgrims of 1620 to the Hungarian freedom fighters 
of 1956, whose struggle we commemorate tomorrow, they gave America the 
strength of diversity and the passion for freedom.
    Remarkable generations of Americans invested in Europe's peace and 
freedom with their own sacrifice. They fought two World Wars. They had 
the vision to create NATO and the Marshall plan. The vigor of those 
institutions, the force of democracy, the determination of people to be 
free, all these helped to produce victory in the cold war. But now that 
that freedom has been won, it is this generation's responsibility to 
ensure that it will not be lost again, not ever.
    President Reagan gave strength to those working to bring down the 
Iron Curtain. President

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Bush helped to reunify Germany. And now, for the very first time since 
nation-states first appeared in Europe, we have an opportunity to build 
a peaceful, undivided, and democratic continent. It has never happened 
before; it can be done now, a continent where democracy and free markets 
know no boundaries, but where nations can be assured that their borders 
will always be secure and their sovereignty and independence will always 
be respected.
    In January 1994, during my first trip to Europe as President, I laid 
out a strategy for European integration: political integration around 
democracies, economic integration around free markets, security 
integration around military cooperation. I urged our enduring allies and 
new friends to build the bonds among our nations that are necessary for 
this time, through the European Union, through NATO, through the other 
institutions of a new Europe. I challenged all our people to summon the 
will and the resources to make this vision real.
    The United States and Europe are answering that challenge. With our 
help, the forces of reform in Europe's newly free nations have laid the 
foundations of democracy. They have political parties and free 
elections, an independent media, civilian control of the military. We've 
helped them to develop successful market economies and now are moving 
from aid to trade and investment.
    Look at what has been achieved by our common efforts. In the 7 years 
since the fall of the Berlin Wall, two-thirds of Russia's economy has 
moved from the heavy grip of the state into private hands. Poland has 
now one of the West's highest rates of growth. You're as likely to read 
about Poland on the business page as the front page today. The private 
sector produces half the national income of an independent Ukraine. From 
the Czech Republic to Hungary to Estonia, the same forces of freedom and 
free markets are creating bustling prosperity and hope for the future.
    The bedrock of our common security remains NATO. When President 
Truman signed the North Atlantic Treaty 47 years ago, he expressed the 
goal of its founders plainly but powerfully: to preserve their present 
peaceful situation and to protect it in the future. All of us here 
today, every single one of us, are the beneficiaries of NATO's 
extraordinary success in doing just that.
    NATO defended the West by deterring aggression. Even more, through 
NATO, Western Europe became a source of stability instead of hostility. 
France and Germany moved from conflict to cooperation. Democracy took 
permanent root in countries where fascism once ruled.
    I came to office convinced that NATO can do for Europe's East what 
it did for Europe's West: prevent a return to local rivalries, 
strengthen democracy against future threats, and create the conditions 
for prosperity to flourish. That's why the United States has taken the 
lead in a three-part effort to build a new NATO for a new era: first, by 
adapting NATO with new capabilities for new missions; second, by opening 
its doors to Europe's emerging democracies; third, by building a strong 
and cooperative relationship between NATO and Russia.
    To adapt NATO, we have taken on missions beyond the territory of its 
members for the first time and done so in cooperation with nonmember 
states, shifting our emphasis to smaller and more flexible forces 
prepared to provide for our defense but also trained and equipped for 
peacekeeping. We're setting up mobile headquarters to run these new 
missions more effectively and efficiently. We're giving our European 
allies a larger role within the alliance, while preserving NATO's vital 
core, which is an integrated command military structure.
    The United States will continue to take the lead in NATO, especially 
in the southern region where the most immediate threats to peace exist. 
But we welcome our allies' willingness to shoulder a greater share of 
the burden and to assume greater leadership.
    Bosnia has been the first major test of the new NATO. At first, NATO 
could act jointly only with the United Nations. But once NATO took 
charge, once its lead, its air power, together with its diplomatic 
leadership, was available fully, it pushed the Bosnian Serbs from the 
battlefield to the bargaining table. The NATO-led Implementation Force 
has restored security to Bosnia. It has given the Bosnian people a 
chance--not a guarantee but a chance--to build a lasting peace.
    But for NATO to fulfill its real promise of peace and democracy in 
Europe, it will not be enough simply to take on new missions as the need 
arises. NATO must also take in new members, including those from among 
its former adversaries. It must reach out to all the new democracies in 
Central Europe, the Baltics, and the New Independent States of the 
former Soviet Union.

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    At the first NATO summit I attended in January of 1994, I proposed 
that NATO should enlarge steadily, deliberately, openly. And our allies 
agreed. First, together, we created the Partnership For Peace as a path 
to full NATO membership for some and a strong and lasting link to the 
alliance for all. I think it would be fair to say that the Partnership 
For Peace has exceeded what even its most optimistic supporters 
predicted for it in the beginning. There are more than two dozen members 
now.
    The more than two dozen members and the astonishing amount of 
cooperation and joint training and partnership that has developed as a 
result of this Partnership For Peace has made it something of 
significance--I believe enduring significance--beyond what we ever 
imagined when we started it. And the strategy is paying off. The 
prospect of membership in or partnership with NATO has given Europe's 
new democracies a strong incentive to continue to reform and to improve 
relations with their neighbors.
    Through the Partnership For Peace, prospective new members are 
actually gaining the practical experience they need to join NATO. 
Thirteen partner nations are serving alongside NATO troops and helping 
to secure the peace in Bosnia. There are Polish and Czech combat 
battalions, Hungarian and Romanian engineering troops, soldiers from 
Ukraine and the Baltic States, forces from Sweden and Finland, and a 
full Russian brigade. Just 7 years ago, these soldiers served on 
opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. Today, their teamwork with our 
troops and other European NATO allies is erasing the lines that once 
divided Europe while bringing an end to the bloodiest conflict in Europe 
since World War II.
    We have kept NATO enlargement on track. Now it is time to take the 
next historic step forward. Last month, I called for a summit in the 
spring or early summer of next year to name the first group of future 
NATO members and to invite them to begin accession talks. Today I want 
to state America's goal. By 1999, NATO's 50th anniversary and 10 years 
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first group of countries we 
invite to join should be full-fledged members of NATO.
    I also pledged for my part, and I believe for NATO's part as well, 
that NATO's doors will not close behind its first new members. NATO 
should remain open to all of Europe's emerging democracies who are ready 
to shoulder the responsibilities of membership. No nation will be 
automatically excluded. No country outside NATO will have a veto. We 
will work to deepen our cooperation, meanwhile, with all the nations in 
the Partnership For Peace. A gray zone of insecurity must not reemerge 
in Europe.
    Now, I want to say that as we go forward the American people should 
be aware that this plan is not free of costs. Peace and security are not 
available on the cheap. Enlargement will mean extending the most solemn 
security guarantee to our new allies. To be a NATO member means that all 
the other members make a commitment to treat an attack on one as an 
attack on all. But mark my words, if we fail to seize this historic 
opportunity to build a new NATO in a new Europe, if we allow the Iron 
Curtain to be replaced by a veil of indifference, we will pay a much 
higher price later on down the road. America will be stronger and safer 
if the democratic family continues to grow, if we bring to our ranks 
partners willing to share the risks and responsibilities of freedom.
    By overwhelming majorities this summer, both Houses of Congress 
passed a NATO enlargement facilitation act. I greatly appreciate this 
bipartisan support for our efforts to forge a broader alliance of 
prosperity, of security and, as the First Lady said in Prague on the 
last 4th of July, an alliance of values with Europe. I look forward to 
working with Congress to ratify the accession of new members, to provide 
the resources we need to meet this commitment, to secure the support of 
the American people. NATO enlargement is not directed against anyone. It 
will advance the security of everyone: NATO's old members, new members, 
and nonmembers alike.
    I know that some in Russia still look at NATO through a cold-war 
prism and, therefore, look at our proposals to expand it in a negative 
light. But I ask them to look again. We are building a new NATO, just as 
we support the Russian people in building a new Russia. By reducing 
rivalry and fear, by strengthening peace and cooperation, NATO will 
promote greater stability in Europe and Russia will be among the 
beneficiaries. Indeed, Russia has the best chance in history to help to 
build that peaceful and undivided Europe and to be an equal and 
respected and successful partner in that sort of future.

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    The great opportunity the Russian people have is to define 
themselves in terms of the future, not the past, to forge a new 
relationship with NATO as enlargement moves forward. The United States 
has suggested that Russia and NATO work out a formal agreement on 
cooperation. We should set up a regular mechanism for NATO-Russia 
meetings at all levels. We should consult on European security issues so 
that whenever possible NATO and Russia can act jointly to meet the 
challenges of the new era, just as we have acted jointly in Bosnia.
    Just think about it. In Bosnia, Russia and NATO are already partners 
for peace. We should set our sights on becoming full partners and 
bringing all of Europe together. Together we can help to turn the main 
battleground for the bloodiest century in history into a continent whose 
people remain secure and prosperous, free and at peace.
    These past 4 years it's been one of the greatest privileges of my 
life to represent America around the world, from the halls of Kremlin to 
the hillsides of Port-au-Prince, from the deserts of Jordan to the Tokyo 
Harbor, from the Charles Bridge in Prague and Riga's Freedom Square to 
the DMZ in Korea. I have heard the voices and shaken the hands of 
presidents and prime ministers and, just as important, citizens on the 
streets of distant lands. Wherever I go, whomever I talk with, the 
message to me is the same: We believe in America. We trust America. We 
want America to lead. And America must lead.
    I wish every American could see our country as much of the world 
sees us. Our friends rely upon our engagement. Our adversaries respect 
our strength. When our family went to open the Olympics in Atlanta, I 
was so moved by the statements of young people from around the world 
about the efforts the United States had made to foster peace in Bosnia, 
peace in Northern Ireland, peace in the Middle East, things these young 
athletes felt personally because it was their lives, their future, and 
the children they still hope to have on the line.
    As we enter the 21st century, we must make a commitment to remain 
true to the legacy of America's leadership, to make sure America remains 
the indispensable nation, not only for ourselves but for what we believe 
in and for all the people of the world. That is our burden. That is our 
opportunity. And it must be our future.
    Thank you, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:52 a.m. at Fisher Theater. In his 
remarks, he referred to Mayor Dennis W. Archer of Detroit and his wife, 
Trudy; James J. Blanchard, former Governor of Michigan, and his wife, 
Janet; Mayor Woodrow Stanley of Flint, MI; Bishop P.A. Brooks, Church of 
God in Christ, Detroit; and Mayor Robert Kozaren of Hamtramck, MI.