[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
[July 17, 1997]
[Pages 964-965]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 964]]


Remarks Announcing the Nomination of General Henry H. Shelton To Be 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an Exchange With Reporters
July 17, 1997

    The President. Good morning. Mr. Vice President, Secretary Cohen, 
National Security Adviser Berger, General Shalikashvili, members of the 
Joint Chiefs, General and Mrs. Shelton. Let me begin by saying that it 
has been my great honor for these last 4 years to work with General John 
Shalikashvili as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When he departs 
at the end of September for his return to civilian life, he will have 
spent nearly four decades standing up for our interests and our ideals. 
At a later time I will have more to say about Shali's extraordinary 
service to our Nation, but today I have to thank him on behalf of the 
American people and the President. He has done a magnificent job. We 
thank you, sir.
    Gen. John M. Shalikashvili. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. I also want to thank Vice Chairman General Ralston, 
the Joint Chiefs, the other commanders in chief for all they have done 
and will do working with Secretary Cohen to ensure that we continue to 
have the finest military in the world and that America remains the 
world's greatest force for peace, security, and freedom.
    Today I am pleased to announce my decision to nominate General Hugh 
Shelton as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Over more 
than three decades of service to our Nation, he has distinguished 
himself as a decorated soldier, an innovative thinker, a superb 
commander. From Vietnam to Desert Storm, he has proven his skill and 
courage in combat, and through long experiences in special operations, 
he also brings to this job a unique perspective in addressing the broad 
range of challenges we face on the brink of a new century, from 
warfighting to peacekeeping, from conventional threats to newer threats 
like the spread of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
    General Shelton's extensive experience in joint military operations 
and building coalitions with other nations give him invaluable tools to 
serve as Chairman in our more interdependent world. Many of you recall 
his skill and professionalism in Operation Uphold Democracy, which 
restored hope and freedom to Haiti. As the Commanding General of the 
18th Airborne Corps, General Shelton played a decisive role in planning 
the operation. As joint task force commander, he oversaw our last-second 
shift from a forced entry to a peaceful arrival. And as the first 
commander of the U.S.-led multinational force in Haiti, his qualities 
personified the best of America, strong and skillful with great 
sensitivity and no nonsense. Our mission in Haiti was a model of 
effectiveness, flexibility, and safety. It proved that our military's 
will to defend peace is as great as its ability to prevail in war. And 
thanks in large measure to General Shelton's determined leadership, 
America got a tough job done and helped the people of Haiti return to 
democracy's road.
    Most important, General Shelton has always shown an exceptional 
concern for the men and women under his command. Their safety and well-
being are his number one priority in times of peace as well as war. He's 
led a platoon, a company, a battalion, a brigade, a division, a corps, a 
unified command. But he always remembers the individual soldier, sailor, 
airman, or marine. General Shelton has the knowledge, judgment, and 
experience to advise Secretary Cohen and me on the very best way to 
defend our interests and to protect our men and women in uniform. I 
believe he is the right person for the job, the right person for our 
troops, for our security, the right man for our country, and I'm proud 
to nominate him to help to lead our military into the 21st century.
    General.

[At this point, General Shelton made brief remarks.]

Bosnia

    Q. Mr. President, one of the great situations facing any new 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is whether or not the troops will 
be coming home from Bosnia next summer as scheduled. Could you perhaps 
clarify your position on this? The American people really I think would 
like to know this.
    The President. We expect the SFOR mission to end on schedule, as we 
have repeatedly said. We also know that there will be continuing work

[[Page 965]]

that has to be done in virtually every area of the Dayton accords. The 
question of what, if any, role should be pursued by NATO after that in a 
different way and to what extent we should be a part of it has simply 
not been decided yet. But I think it's fair to say that none of us want 
to see Bosnia revert to what happened before we started this, and none 
of us want to see the extraordinary efforts which had to be made by the 
United States and our allies in NATO have to be made all over again a 
few years from now because Bosnia goes back into war and we all watch 
the same horrible, horrible scenes on television that we went through 
once.
    We have been able to pursue our mission there with an ever more 
reduced presence. Today, the United States forces, I think, are about 25 
percent of the total number there, with a remarkable amount of 
effectiveness and with virtually no casualties, as you know. There was a 
stabbing yesterday, but we have no conclusive evidence that it was 
related in any way to the arrest of the people who are wanted for trial 
on war crimes.

``Mir'' Space Station

    Q. [Inaudible]--the Mir critical now, and are you giving second 
thoughts to ever sending another American to be on the Mir spacecraft?
    The President. Well, when I came to the office this morning I got a 
briefing about it, and as far as we know right now, they have gotten 
control of things and there seems to be no immediate crisis. But I have 
no--I'm not sure that I have all the information I need. We have the--
that's the basic report I have now, and it's too soon after the incident 
for me to draw a conclusion about the question you ask. I can't say that 
we would not continue cooperation based on what little I've heard this 
morning; I just don't know enough.

TWA Flight 800 Tragedy

    Q. Mr. President, on this anniversary of the TWA Flight 800 
disaster, are you disappointed that a solution has not been found to 
what caused the crash, and what efforts do you think need to be 
redoubled in order to find a solution?
    The President. Of course I'm disappointed that we don't conclusively 
know, but I'm not sure what else we can do. This is an issue that I have 
had a great deal of personal interest in. The Vice President, who as you 
know has done an enormous amount of work on our behalf for airline 
safety, has spent a lot of time on. I don't know what else we can do. If 
anybody has any ideas about what else we can do to try to definitively 
put this issue behind us, I would be happy to explore them. But it's 
been a very frustrating experience for me not to be able to know 100 
percent what caused that crash.
    Q. There are some who say----

Boeing-McDonnell Douglas Merger

    Q. Are you determined to make sure the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas deal 
goes through even if it means a trade war with Europe?
    The President. Let me say I'm concerned about what appear to be the 
reasons for the objection to the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger by the 
European Union, and I think that it would be unfortunate if we had a 
trade standoff with them. But we have a system for managing this through 
the World Trade Organization, and we have some options ourselves when 
actions are taken by Europe in this regard. I don't know that Airbus--
the Europeans have more people living on their continent than we do in 
the United States, and I don't believe Airbus has an effective 
competitor in Europe. So I have mixed--quite a lot of concern about what 
the Europeans have said. But I think there is an orderly process for our 
handling this, and I think we had better let the orderly process play 
itself out before we talk ourselves into a trade war. I think we're a 
long way from that, and I think we'll probably avoid it.
    Thank you very much.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Nomination

    Q. Do you have any reason to believe that General Shelton will 
survive confirmation, Mr. President?
    The President. Yes. I think--I have reason to believe that General 
Shelton can survive just about anything.

Note: The President spoke at 8:55 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to General Shelton's wife, Carolyn.