    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [January 1, 1998]
    [Pages i-xiii]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page i]]

    PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

                           PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

                                        OF THE

                                     UNITED STATES

    [[Page ii]]

    [[Photographic insert]]

    photographic portfolio

    [[Page iii]]

                       PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

                                     OF THE

                                 UNITED STATES

                             William J. Clinton

                                      1998

                                  (IN TWO BOOKS)

                      BOOK I--JANUARY 1 to JUNE 30, 1998

                     ----------------------------------------
                     United States Government Printing Office
                                 Washington : 1999

    [[Page iv]]

                                Published by the
                         Office of the Federal Register
                  National Archives and Records Administration

                                 For sale by the
                           Superintendent of Documents
                         U.S. Government Printing Office
                              Washington, DC 20402

    [[Page v]]

                                    Foreword

        During the first half of 1998, America crossed an historic
    threshold. Six years after we put in place a new economic strategy,
    America's economy continued to reach new heights. Most dramatically, the
    Federal budget deficit--a number once so incomprehensibly large that it
    had 11 zeros--became merely zero. By May, we were projecting the first
    budget surplus since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. This seismic
    shift, from an era of deficits to an era of surpluses, was the result of
    6 years of hard work by the American people, and of tough choices made
    in Washington. The new era of budget surpluses would mean new
    opportunities and new challenges, and it would demand a new national
    debate about how best to use our hard-won prosperity. In my State of the
    Union address I sought to launch and frame this debate with four words:
    save Social Security first. I believed we had a duty to use the fruits
    of our prosperity to prepare for the challenges of the 21st century.

        In this time of great public controversy, I redoubled my efforts to
    focus on America's true priorities. I proposed a national effort to help
    reduce class size in the early grades by hiring 100,000 new teachers and
    by building or modernizing 6,000 schools. I called on the Congress to
    pass a patients' bill of rights for the 160 million Americans in managed
    health care plans. And as part of my initiative on race, we held
    conversations across the country, bringing citizens together across
    lines of race, religion, and ethnicity to build one America.

        It was a time when we moved forward to build new institutions and
    strengthen and advance America's values and leadership abroad. In
    Geneva, before the World Trade Organization, I set out a vision for a
    new international trading system. I said such a system must be more open
    and dynamic, but that it must also honor our values by ensuring that
    spirited economic competition among nations does not become a race to
    the bottom in environmental protections, consumer protections, or labor
    standards. In the first-ever tour by an American President of sub-
    Saharan Africa, I met with President Mandela of South Africa and
    witnessed firsthand the workings of a new democracy in which former
    oppressed and former oppressor sit side by side in a unity government,
    and traveled to some of Africa's emerging countries, from Ghana to
    Uganda. On my trip to China, I spoke to the Chinese people about the
    meaning of freedom. I said America believes that individual rights,
    including the freedom of speech, association, and religion, are
    universal, and that the Chinese government's actions in Tiananmen Square
    in 1989 were wrong. I also emphasized the interests both our nations
    could further by engaging with one another. And in Northern Ireland, the
    people agreed to an historic peace accord, raising hopes that decades of
    violence will come to an end. Around the globe, we saw the good that can
    come when America fulfills its mission as the strongest force for peace
    and freedom.

    [[Page vii]]

                                     Preface

        This book contains the papers and speeches of the 42d President of
    the United States that were issued by the Office of the Press Secretary
    during the period January 1-June 30, 1998. The material has been
    compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National
    Archives and Records Administration.

        The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates
    shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events. In
    instances when the release date differs from the date of the document
    itself, that fact is shown in the textnote. Every effort has been made
    to ensure accuracy: Remarks are checked against a tape recording, and
    signed documents are checked against the original. Textnotes and cross
    references have been provided by the editors for purposes of
    identification or clarity. Speeches were delivered in Washington, DC,
    unless indicated. The times noted are local times. All materials that
    are printed full-text in the book have been indexed in the subject and
    name indexes, and listed in the document categories list.

        The Public Papers of the Presidents series was begun in 1957 in
    response to a recommendation of the National Historical Publications
    Commission. An extensive compilation of messages and papers of the
    Presidents covering the period 1789 to 1897 was assembled by James D.
    Richardson and published under congressional authority between 1896 and
    1899. Since then, various private compilations have been issued, but
    there was no uniform publication comparable to the Congressional Record
    or the United States Supreme Court Reports. Many Presidential papers
    could be found only in the form of mimeographed White House releases or
    as reported in the press. The Commission therefore recommended the
    establishment of an official series in which Presidential writings,
    addresses, and remarks of a public nature could be made available.

        The Commission's recommendation was incorporated in regulations of
    the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, issued under
    section 6 of the Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. 1506), which may be
    found in title 1, part 10, of the Code of Federal Regulations.

        A companion publication to the Public Papers series, the Weekly
    Compilation of Presidential Documents, was begun in 1965 to provide a
    broader range of Presidential materials on a more timely basis to meet
    the needs of the contemporary reader. Beginning with the administration
    of Jimmy Carter, the Public Papers series expanded its coverage to
    include additional material as printed in the Weekly Compilation. That
    coverage provides a listing of the President's daily schedule and
    meetings, when announced, and other items of general interest issued by
    the Office of the Press Secretary. Also included are lists of the
    President's nominations submitted to the Senate, materials released by
    the Office of the Press Secretary that are not printed full-text in the
    book, and proclamations, Executive orders, and other Presidential
    documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary and published in
    the Federal Register. This information appears in the appendixes at the
    end of the book.

        Volumes covering the administrations of Presidents Hoover, Truman,
    Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush are
    also included in the Public Papers series.

    [[Page viii]]

        The Public Papers of the Presidents publication program is under the
    direction of Frances D. McDonald, Managing Editor, Office of the Federal
    Register. The series is produced by the Presidential and Legislative
    Publications Unit, Gwen H. Estep, Chief. The Chief Editor of this book
    was Karen Howard Ashlin, assisted by Brad Brooks, Anna Glover, Margaret
    A. Hemmig, Maxine Hill, Michael Hoover, Alfred Jones, Jennifer S.
    Mangum, Michael J. Sullivan, and Karen A. Thornton.

        The frontispiece and photographs used in the portfolio were supplied
    by the White House Photo Office. The typography and design of the book
    were developed by the Government Printing Office under the direction of
    Michael F. DiMario, Public Printer.

    Raymond A. Mosley
    Director of the Federal Register

    John W. Carlin
    Archivist of the United States

    [[Page ix]]

                                    Contents

    Foreword . . . v

    Preface . . . vii

    Cabinet . . . xi

    Public Papers of William J. Clinton,
    January 1-June 30, 1998 . . . 1

    Appendix A
    Digest of Other White House Announcements . . . 1107

    Appendix B
    Nominations Submitted to the Senate . . . 1123

    Appendix C
    Checklist of White House Press Releases . . . 1133

    Appendix D
    Presidential Documents Published in the Federal
    Register . . . 1145

    Subject Index . . . a-1

    Name Index . . . b-1

    Document Categories List . . . c-1

    [[Page xi]]

                                    Cabinet

    Secretary of State                    Madeleine K. Albright...

    Secretary of the Treasury             Robert E. Rubin.........

    Secretary of Defense                  William S. Cohen........

    Attorney General                      Janet Reno..............

    Secretary of the Interior              Bruce Babbitt...........

    Secretary of Agriculture               Dan Glickman............

    Secretary of Commerce                  William M. Daley........

    Secretary of Labor                     Alexis M. Herman........

    Secretary of Health and Human          Donna E. Shalala........
    Services

    Secretary of Housing and Urban          Andrew M. Cuomo.........
    Development

    Secretary of Transportation             Rodney E. Slater........

    Secretary of Energy                     Federico Pena...........

    Secretary of Education                  Richard W. Riley........

    Secretary of Veterans Affairs           Togo D. West, Jr........

    United States Representative to         Bill Richardson.........
    the United Nations

    Administrator of the Environmental      Carol M. Browner........
    Protection Agency

    United States Trade Representative      Charlene Barshefsky.....

    [[Page xii]]

    Director of the Office of                 Franklin D. Raines......
    Management and Budget                     Jacob J. Lew............
                                              (acting, effective May
                                              20).....................

    Chief of Staff                            Erskine B. Bowles.......

    Counselor to the President                Thomas F. McLarty III...

    Chair of the Council of Economic          Janet Yellen............
    Advisers

    Director of National Drug Control         Barry R. McCaffrey......
    Policy

    Administrator of the Small                Aida Alvarez............
    Business Administration

    Director of Central Intelligence          George J. Tenet.........

    Director of the Federal Emergency         James Lee Witt..........
    Management Agency

    [[Page xiii]]

                      Administration of William J. Clinton

                                      1998