    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [April 20, 1999]
    [Pages 582-584]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 582]]

    Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Former
    Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany
    April 20, 1999

        The President. Secretary Cohen, Mr.
    Berger, distinguished Ambassadors, Senator
    Roth, Congressman Pickett, other Members of the Congress, retired Members of
    Congress, present and former members of the diplomatic corps, and to our
    German and American exchange students who are here: Welcome to the White
    House.
        Today it is my privilege to confer America's highest civilian honor
    on a great statesman of the 20th century, the Federal Republic of
    Germany's longest serving Chancellor, Helmut Kohl.
        President Kennedy first saw the design for the Medal of Freedom on
    July 3, 1963, just a week after he had gone to Berlin and challenged a
    new generation of Germans to forge a future of freedom and unity, of
    European integration and American partnership. No one did more to
    fulfill the hopes that President Kennedy expressed on that trip than
    Helmut Kohl.
        Very few non-Americans have received the Medal of Freedom. The last
    year a foreign leader was honored was 1991, when President Bush
    presented the award to Margaret Thatcher. That day we celebrated a
    partnership among nations and leaders that helped to end the cold war
    with a victory for freedom.
        Today we honor a partnership dedicated to building a 21st century
    Europe that can preserve the freedom and peace and find genuine unity
    for the first time. Today we honor the leader whose values and vision
    have made that possible.
        In 1991 the world was very different. The Berlin Wall had come down,
    but a profound gulf separated the eastern half of Europe from its more
    affluent neighbors to the West. Everyone agreed that something had to be
    done to bring Europe together, but not everyone had a clear idea of what
    that something should be.
        Some people thought NATO should go the way of the Warsaw Pact, and
    that in its place we had to build something new, untested, unproven, a
    community that embraced everyone but imposed no true obligations on
    anyone. Others felt that our challenges in Eastern Germany and Eastern
    Europe consisted simply of sending assistance and plenty of advice. They
    were in no hurry to open our institutions to nations and people they
    thought of as distant and foreign.
        But Helmut Kohl understood that we needed a bold vision, backed by a
    practical blueprint, grounded in the institutions that had served us so
    well for so long. He said, ``We are all called upon to construct a new
    architecture for the European house, a permanent and just peace order
    for our continent.''
        Consider the splendid house that has risen since then. Germany is
    united. Europe has achieved economic and monetary union. NATO has three
    new members. The European Union soon will embrace nations from the
    Baltics to the Balkans. What a remarkable few years it has been.
        The story of Helmut Kohl is the story of 20th century Germany. He
    was born in 1930 in Ludwigshafen, a small city on the Rhine. He saw
    firsthand the ravages of nazism. His brother, Walter, perished in the
    war that tore Europe apart. But the young man, then called ``der
    Lange,'' ``the tall one,'' was quick to see the possibilities of hope
    and rebirth in the postwar world.
        Through the Marshall plan, he saw firsthand what Europeans and
    Americans could do together to spread good will and support for
    democracy among young people.
        When he was only 16, he was one of the very first people to join the
    Christian Democratic Union. Indeed, his membership number was 00246. And
    50 years ago, at the age of 19, he and his friends were actually briefly
    detained at the French border for causing what must be the friendliest
    border incident in history: they tried to remove some of the barriers
    between the countries and carried banners in support of Franco-German
    friendship and European unity. ``Der Lange'' was not your everyday
    teenager.
        As Helmut Kohl's political star rose, he never wavered from those
    convictions. He believed young people were crucial to the future. He
    still believes that. And we thank him, and we thank the young Germans
    and Americans who are here to honor him.
        He championed the Franco-German friendship as the linchpin of the
    new Europe, a

    [[Page 583]]

    friendship crystallized in the unforgettable moment he and Francois
    Mitterrand clasped hands at Verdun. He always maintained that the new
    architecture of Europe must be built on the foundation of transatlantic
    partnership. And he reached out to Russia, to Ukraine, to the other
    former Communist countries, to make them a part of 21st century Europe.
        He served as Chancellor for 16 years. Future historians will say
    Europe's 21st century began on his watch. In the months that followed
    the fall of the Berlin Wall, he conceived a generous vision for
    Germany's unification and for a new partnership between the West and a
    democratic Russia. He saw the imperative of Europe's unification,
    politically and economically. He saw the need to embrace other nations
    into Europe's family, putting Germany in the center, not on the edge any
    longer, of a united, democratic Europe, a Europe where borders do not
    limit possibilities and where nationhood is a source of pride, not a
    crucible of conflict.
        It is to protect that vision that the NATO allies are in Kosovo
    today, to defeat the cynical vision embodied by Mr. Milosevic in which the most primitive hatreds and brutal
    oppression are more important than mutual respect and common progress.
        Anyone who respects the legacy of Helmut Kohl knows that for peace
    to survive in Europe, our alliance of democracies must stand, and stand
    together, against dictators who exploit human differences to extend
    power. And we must stay true to our vision long after we achieve
    military goals. Germany was buoyed by hope through the Marshall plan;
    Greece and Turkey, rescued by the Truman doctrine; central Europe,
    helped by the West in this decade, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
    Those were wise investments. We must be equally farsighted toward
    southeastern Europe.
        Among all the success stories of the late 20th century, none is more
    dramatic or instructive than the rebirth of Germany as a free and
    democratic nation. Germany's story has taught the world two profound
    truths: first, that it is possible for a people who love light and
    laughter to descend into the blackest darkness; and second, that it is
    also possible for a people to return to the light and lead others by
    their example.
        Germany is proof that war and ethnic hatred are not inevitable; that
    they do not represent a permanent aspect of the human condition; that
    the unacceptable is not written by fate into our destiny. But we can and
    must remain willing to act, because the work of building a new world
    never ends. That is the lesson of America, the lesson of Germany, the
    lesson of the 20th century.
        In 3 days the leaders of NATO and its partner nations will gather in
    Washington to mark the 50th anniversary of our alliance and to chart
    NATO's future path. The challenge we face in Kosovo has demonstrated
    beyond a shadow of a doubt that America and Europe need an alliance that
    combines our strength to protect our values and project stability
    eastward in Europe; an alliance ready to meet new challenges to our
    security, with allies able to contribute to the effort; an alliance open
    to new democracies making the right choices; an alliance that continues
    to work with Russia despite tensions that arise when we disagree.
        As Helmut understood so well, our vision of a Europe whole and free
    will not succeed unless it embraces a partnership with democratic
    Russia. And it will not succeed unless it is embraced by Russia. That is
    the kind of alliance that must and will emerge from the Washington
    summit.
        I can think of no better way to begin this week of allied solidarity
    than by honoring Helmut Kohl. When I was elected President, Helmut had
    been Chancellor for a decade. Seven years later, I find myself the
    senior leader of the G-8. In countless ways, I learned from him. In
    Bonn, I once told an audience that my opinion on most issues could be
    summed up in four words, ``I agree with Helmut.'' [Laughter] Those words
    have never failed me.
        After our first meeting in 1993, he summed it up when he said, ``The
    chemistry is right.'' Well, the chemistry was right every time we met,
    right when we planned NATO enlargement, right when we discussed our
    shared hopes for Russia, right when we talked about multilateral issues
    over a multicourse dinner at Helmut's favorite Washington restaurant,
    Filomena's--[laughter]--even right when he made me eat saumagen--
    [laughter]--and in spite of that--[laughter]--I hope our dinners
    continue far into the new century.
        With the 21st century breaking over the horizon, we can look back on
    the 20th century, with its grave threats to our common humanity and its
    great leaders, Churchill, Roosevelt, de Gaulle. For unifying Germany and
    Europe, for

    [[Page 584]]

    strengthening the Western alliance and extending the hand of friendship
    to Russia, Helmut Kohl ranks with them. His place in history is
    unassailable. And he has been a true friend of the United States.
        In 1989, the year of Germany's rebirth, we heard Beethoven's ninth
    symphony as if for the first time, with Schiller's ``Ode to Joy''
    capturing the feeling of a world coming together. In that same poem,
    ironically written just after the American Revolution, Schiller wrote
    that the circle of universal freedom begins very simply with the
    friendship linking two people.
        Helmut, President Kennedy stirred the world at the Berlin Wall when
    he said, along with freedom-loving people everywhere, ``Ich bin ein
    Berliner.'' Today a grateful United States says to you, ``Du bist ein
    Americaner.''
        In countless ways you have been an American. It is my honor to award
    you the Medal of Freedom.
        Commander, read the citation.

    [At this point, Comdr. Michael M. Gilday,
    USN, Navy Aide to the President, read the citation, and the President
    presented the medal. Chancellor Kohl then made brief remarks.]

        The President. I would like to invite all of you to join us in the
    State Dining Room for a reception in honor of Chancellor Kohl.
        Thank you very much, and we're adjourned.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:37 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to former Prime Minister Margaret
    Thatcher of the United Kingdom; and President Slobodan Milosevic of the
    Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).