[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[December 10, 1996]
[Pages 2180-2182]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Human Rights Proclamation
December 10, 1996

    The President.  This may be one of those cases where the 
introduction was better than the speech. [Laughter] Thank you, Julie, 
and thank all of you for being here. I'm honored to be with this 
distinguished group on Human Rights Day. I want to thank all of you in 
attendance. I think Congresswoman Connie Morella is here. Where are you, 
Connie? There you are, right in front of me. [Laughter] Our AID 
Administrator, Brian Atwood; Assistant Secretary John Shattuck; 
Assistant Secretary Phyllis Oakley; and all of you who represent 
organizations who have done so much to advance the cause of freedom 
around the world. I want to say a special word of welcome to my good 
friend Gerry Ferraro. Thank you for being here.
    Before I begin what I want to say about human rights, I think it is 
appropriate on Human Rights Day that I have just gotten a report from 
the Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, who is meeting with our NATO 
foreign ministers in Brussels, that, together, they agreed to hold an 
historic NATO summit in July in Madrid to carry forward our goal of 
building a Europe that is undivided, democratic, and at peace for the 
first time in history; one in which we will work to forge a partnership 
with Russia, adapt NATO to the demands of a new era, and invite the 
first aspiring members from among Europe's new democracies into NATO. My 
goal is to see them become full members of the alliance for NATO's 50th 
birthday in 1999.
    It's fitting that this step comes on Human Rights Day and on Bill of 
Rights Day and in Human Rights Week. The prospect of NATO membership and 
integration into the West has been a very strong incentive for Europe's 
new democracies to expand their political freedoms and to promote 
universal human rights.
    Working together with our allies and our partners, we're building a 
world where, as Judge Learned Hand once said, rights know no boundaries 
and justice no frontiers.
    For the first time in history, more than half the world's people now 
live under governments of their own choosing. Today we dedicate 
ourselves to the unfinished task of extending freedom's reach. Promoting 
democracy and human rights reflects our ideals and reinforces our 
interests. It's a fundamental pillar of our foreign policy.
    History shows that nations where rights are respected and 
governments are freely chosen are more likely to be partners in peace 
and prosperity. That is why we've worked hard over the last 4 years to 
help equality and freedom take root in South Africa, to stop the reign 
of terror in Haiti, to promote reform in Bosnia and Russia, to bring 
freedom back to Bosnia, and peace, and to enable millions of suffering 
people all around the world to reclaim their simple human dignity. That 
is why we must continue to support the world's newest democracies and to 
keep the pressure on its remaining repressive regimes.
    The First Lady and I have just had a remarkable meeting with these 
six women. They are courageous in promoting human rights in different 
ways. They are courageous in promoting democracy and empowerment by 
helping women to live up to their potential. You can just look at them 
and see that they've put the lie to the notion that human rights is some 
Western cultural idea that has no place in other societies.
    Julie Su, who spoke so eloquently, has played a crucial role in 
stopping the exploitation of Thai women immigrants in sweat shops. And I 
am proud of the work that Secretary Reich and the Labor Department has 
done in that regard, and we intend to continue to do that for the next 4 
years. For the last 20 years, Dawn Calabia has fought to protect women 
refugees and children. Nahid Toubia is a doctor from Sudan whose 
organization has played a pioneering role in women's health issues. 
Barbara Frey has promoted corporate responsibility for human

[[Page 2181]]

rights around the world and has also promoted education of children in 
her native Minnesota in human rights. Wanjiru Muigai from Kenya has 
helped women in her country to secure their legal rights, and she made a 
passionate appeal to me to focus on targeting United States aid in a way 
that will promote the empowerment of women in nation after nation. And 
since coming here from El Salvador, Lillian Perdomo has worked to 
protect women from domestic violence right here in the District of 
Columbia.
    Each of these women tells a story for many others. Together their 
experiences underscore a shared truth. As the First Lady said in Beijing 
and as Julie repeated, ``Human rights are women's rights, and women's 
rights are human rights.''
    I want to tell you that I am very proud of the role that Hillary, 
Ambassador Albright, and all the members of the United States 
delegation--and thank you, Marge Mezvinsky, back here--played in issuing 
Beijing's call to action. That was a great moment for the United States 
and a great moment for women around the world.
    Beijing's message was as clear as it was compelling. We cannot 
advance our ideals and interests unless we focus more attention on the 
fundamental human rights and basic needs of women and girls. We must 
recognize that it is a violation of human rights when girls and women 
are sold into prostitution, when rape becomes a weapon of war, when 
women are denied the right to plan their own families, including through 
forced abortions, when young girls are brutalized by genital mutilation, 
when women around the world are unsafe even in their own homes. If women 
are free from violence, if they're healthy and educated, if they can 
live and work as full and equal partners in any society, then families 
will flourish. And when they do, communities and nations will thrive.
    We are putting our efforts to protect and advance women's rights 
where they belong, in the mainstream of American foreign policy. During 
the last 4 years, we have worked to steer more of our assistance to 
women and girls, to help protect their legal rights, and to give them a 
greater voice in their political and economic futures. These programs 
are making a real difference, whether by raising female voter turnout in 
Bangladesh, promoting equality for women in Nepal, enabling women in 
Bosnia to participate fully in the rebuilding of their country. But we 
must do more.
    Today I call upon the Senate again to ratify the United Nations 
convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against 
women. As you know, many, many, many other nations have done this. In 
our country where we have worked so hard against domestic violence, 
where we have worked so hard to empower women, it is, to say the least, 
an embarrassment that the United States has not done this, and there is 
no excuse for this situation to continue.
    I'm also pleased to announce several initiatives totaling $4 million 
to protect and advance women's rights, including new efforts to help 
Rwandan women who have been torn from their homes and to provide women 
refugees around the world with access to reproductive health services. 
They've built on the commitment I made at last year's G-7 summit to help 
women in Bosnia start new businesses and will help women across Africa 
to do the same. They strengthen our commitment to stop the trafficking 
of women and children for prostitution and child labor. And they will 
help women's groups in Asia fight violence and discrimination.
    In short, these efforts will reinforce America's global leadership 
on behalf of human rights and democracy in perhaps the most fundamental 
areas at which they are at risk. They reflect our Nation's enduring 
commitment to the freedoms of our Bill of Rights that safeguard our own 
citizens. They support the values in the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights that promote freedom, justice, and peace all around the world.
    We live at a time when our most deeply held ideals are ascendant, 
but this hopeful trend toward freedom and democracy is neither 
inevitable nor irreversible, nor has it extended to the real lives of 
hundreds of millions of people all across the globe. While we seek to 
engage all nations on terms of good will, we must continue to stand up 
for the proposition that all people, without regard to their gender, 
their nationality, their race, their ethnic group, or their religion, 
should have a chance to live up to their potential.
    I want to say again how gratified I am that there are people like 
these six women alive and well and at work in the world, people like so 
many of you. It is a constant source of inspiration to me. I want to say 
again how grateful

[[Page 2182]]

I am to the First Lady for going across the world to raise our concerns 
about this and bringing back to me the knowledge of the work that has 
been done and what still can be done on behalf of women and girls.
    As I sign this proclamation marking International Human Rights Day, 
I ask you all to remember not just that women's rights are human rights 
but that the defense and the promotion of human rights are the 
responsibilities of all of us.
    Thank you.

[At this point, the President signed the proclamation on Human Rights 
Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week.]

    The President. Thank you all very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House. In his remarks, he referred to Geraldine Ferraro, former 
Vice Presidential candidate, and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, Alternate 
U.S. Representative to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on 
Women. The proclamation is listed in Appendix D at the end of this 
volume.