[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