    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 20, 1999]
    [Pages 977-980]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks to the American Community in Bonn, Germany
    June 20, 1999

        Lord Mayor Dieckmann, thank you very
    much for your words and for your wonderful gift of Beethoven's music;
    Mr. Ambassador; ladies and gentlemen.
        Let me begin by saying a word of thanks to our Embassy staff and to
    those of you here in Bonn who have been our hosts for so many years. We
    are very proud of our long presence here, but we know, as the Lord Mayor
    said, that our departure is made possible by something we have dreamed
    of for a very long time, the Germany envisioned when the American High
    Commission came to Bonn in 1951. Also, thanks in large measure to
    Germany's leadership and example, we see the Europe envisioned in the
    days of Truman and Adenauer, a Europe free, undivided, and at peace, at
    last within our grasp.
        The man for whom this chapel was named, Henry Stimson, shared those
    dreams of Germany and Europe. I understand one of his relatives, Arthur
    Stimson, is here today, and we are honored by
    that. I also want to wish the chapel's pastor, Dr. Hubbard, well as he returns to America tomorrow after his
    service here. We thank you, sir, and we wish your successor,
    Reverend Satre--and Father
    McNally, thank you for being here.
        Hillary and I and Secretary Eizenstat, who's about to become the Deputy Secretary of the
    Treasury--he's moving, too--all of our Americans here are profoundly
    grateful to those of you who have served in Bonn and have done a
    remarkable job of forging the truly incredible relationship we have with
    Germany. It is a security alliance, an economic partnership, and a
    cultural bond. The gift of this chapel is meant to symbolize that whole
    relationship and to make it stronger. I thank all of you who have made
    it possible.
        As I think about where we are today compared to where we were 50
    years ago and the work we did today for the Europe our children and
    grandchildren will live in 50 years from now, I think it is altogether
    fitting that we are here in Bonn, the home of Beethoven, for his life
    makes possible for us to see one of the most important admonitions of
    the Scriptures. The Bible says, ``Where there is no vision, the people
    perish.''
        Beethoven, I believe, was the greatest composer in the history of
    the world. He was also stone deaf. He wrote his music because of his
    vision, because of the melding together of his mind, his heart, his
    memory, his imagination. Human beings are at their best, not only
    individually but working together, when they are guided by their visions
    and they are good.

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        The summit we have just completed was the last leaders' meeting of
    the 20th century. It followed our victory in Kosovo for values and for
    the vision we have of the 21st century.
        I want to talk very briefly--and I thank the rain for letting up.
    [Laughter] God approved my interpretation of the Scriptures, you see?
    [Applause] Thank you. I want to say just a few words about the vision we
    have for southeastern Europe, for our relations with Russia, for the
    challenges of the new global economy.
        Consider first the lessons we would be leaving this century for the
    next if we had come to Cologne without having taken a stand in Kosovo.
    Then we would be saying that innocent men, women, and children could be
    singled out for destruction because of their ethnic heritage or
    religious faith, even in the heart of Europe; that innocent people could
    be driven from their homes, loaded on train cars, raped and killed,
    their religious faith and their culture erased, and the world would not
    hear, see, speak, or act to stop it; that the world's most powerful
    alliance is simply powerless to stop crimes against humanity, even those
    on its own doorstep.
        Years from now, people would say that we lived through a time of
    amazing progress in human freedom and economic prosperity. But the
    children of the 21st century would have to look back and say that we
    failed a decisive moral test, that our inaction imperiled our own
    security, that we had not learned the lessons of the bloody 20th
    century.
        Now, think about how the century is actually ending, with a powerful
    statement by our 19 democracies that we will stand up for the innocents
    in the face of evil; with our Alliance strong, united, working with
    partners all across the Continent to meet common objectives; with ethnic
    cleansing not only defeated but, as the Kosovars go home, reversed; with
    the remarkable sight of German troops marching with their democratic
    Allies through the towns and villages of a Balkan country, cheered as
    liberators by people grateful to be going home in peace and safety.
        We may never have a world that is without hatred or tyranny or
    conflict, but at least instead of ending this century with helpless
    indignation in the face of it, we instead begin a new century and a new
    millennium with a hopeful affirmation of human rights and human dignity.
    The people of Kosovo have a future again. And there is no future in
    Europe for Mr. Milosevic and his policy
    of manipulating normal human differences for inhuman ends.
        Now, we find ourselves at that pivotal moment between winning a
    conflict and winning the peace. Today the last Serb forces are leaving
    Kosovo, in accordance with the deadline that has been set. Over 60,000
    Kosovars have already gone home. I believe shortly we will formalize our
    agreement with the KLA to demilitarize their forces. Of course, there
    are still dangers ahead. But we also have a remarkable opportunity, and
    what we do now will determine the character of this continent, the shape
    of our Alliance, and the nature of our partnership with Russia for years
    and years to come.
        Our biggest challenge perhaps will be to put in place a plan for
    lasting peace and stability in the Balkans. We cannot do this a
    province, a nation, a crisis at a time. All our G-8 partners have agreed
    it is time to help transform the entirety of southeastern Europe the way
    Western Europe was transformed after World War II and central Europe was
    after the cold war. We want to give the region's democracies a path to a
    prosperous and shared future, a unifying magnet that is more powerful
    than the pull of old hatreds and destruction which has threatened to
    tear them apart.
        Some say this is a dream. Some still believe the people of the
    Balkans are somehow predestined to a never-ending struggle over land,
    faith, and power. But after all, that is what, in times past, people
    used to say about England and France, or France and Germany, or Germany
    and Poland, or Poland and Russia. If we had listened to all the people
    throughout human history who said that we couldn't get along, none of us
    would be here today.
        Look around this crowd at the different faces, the different races,
    the different religious faiths. None of us would be here today if we had
    believed that any of those past conflicts was more powerful and more
    predestined than the innate goodness and potential and dignity of all
    human beings, without regard to their origin.
        Henry Stimson once said, ``The most deadly sin I know is cynicism.''
    Today, we ought not to have much of that, for we have a lot to hope for.
    Most of central and eastern Europe is transforming itself through
    democracy and cooperation with neighbors. If the countries of
    southeastern Europe keep taking the same path, we have pledged to do our
    part to work with the World Bank, the IMF, and others to support

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    the economic development and the private investment necessary to grow
    the economy and the futures of the people of southeastern Europe. We
    ought to integrate them into the global economy and into our regional
    arrangements.
        All of this, of course, will cost money, but how well spent that
    money will be. The costliest peace is cheaper than the cheapest war.
        This summit was also the first meeting between the leaders of Russia
    and the West since our disagreement over the conflict in Kosovo. Of
    course, Russia opposed our use of force there, but it did work with us
    to achieve the peace, to fulfill our objectives. Now we have committed
    to implementing this peace together in a way that will strengthen our
    relationship, reassure the security of innocent civilians--both ethnic
    Serb and Albanian--in Kosovo, and preserve the unity of NATO.
        The summit gave us a chance to work on what we have in common.
    President Yeltsin and I, for example, agreed
    to hold discussions later this year on START III, further reductions of
    our nuclear arsenals, and preserving the ABM Treaty, even as we work to
    get START II ratified.
        Our G-8 partners agreed to increase support for our enhanced threat
    reduction initiative. That is what safeguards nuclear materials,
    technology, and expertise in Russia so that horrible weapons of mass
    destruction don't fall into the wrong hands. We also recognize that
    Russia's future depends upon the health of its economy. President
    Yeltsin affirmed today that Russia can thrive
    in the global marketplace only with a strong reform program. And the
    rest of us made it clear that we will move quickly, once Russia's IMF
    program is in place, to support a rescheduling of its debt.
        Our final challenge in Cologne was to join forces to maximize the
    benefits and minimize the risks of the global economy to ordinary people
    the world over, whether in wealthy or poor countries. The rise of an
    open economy in the world represents one of the most hopeful
    developments in history. But to build public support for it, we must
    make sure that the benefits are widely shared, that when people are
    disrupted, as they inevitably will be, they are helped to get back to a
    good life, and that no one is left behind.
        At this summit we took critical steps to make the economy of the
    world more resilient, to moderate the cycles of boom and bust that have
    gripped Southeast Asia and the rest of Asia in the last couple of years,
    and to do more to protect the most vulnerable among us. We resolved to
    work with the International Labor Organization to eradicate abusive
    child labor and enforce good labor standards around the globe.
        We pledged to launch a new global trade round at the WTO meeting in
    Seattle later this year to spread the benefits of trade more broadly.
    And we launched an historic effort to move the world's poorest nations
    onto a path of growth and independence, something I have been working on
    for most of my tenure as President. Our plan will more than triple the
    amount of money available for debt reduction, reducing up to 70 percent
    of the outstanding debt of the poorest nations of the world.
        We also committed to increase the number of countries eligible for
    this aid and to deliver the relief faster, in ways that will free up the
    resources of the poor countries so they can spend that money on health
    care and education, on the fight against AIDS, on the alleviation of
    poverty, on future prosperity. It will help to ensure that no country
    committed to that kind of progress is too indebted to achieve it and to
    meet the basic needs of its people. It will help to reduce poverty and
    expand opportunity. It will help to turn debtor countries into good
    citizens of the world and good partners for Germany and the United
    States.
        So I say to you, we left this summit grateful for our long
    partnership with our European allies and especially with Germany. We
    look forward to the movement of our Embassy to Berlin, because it is the
    fulfillment of the visions of those who came before us. We will always
    be grateful for what the people of Bonn have given us in partnership and
    support.
        But as you think about the future--whenever you are tempted to
    believe that we cannot eradicate ethnic hatred from the Balkans;
    whenever you are tempted to believe that some people are destined to be
    chained in poverty and oppression; whenever you are tempted to believe
    that the world's problems, like the spread of AIDS, cannot be turned
    back--think about your native son. If anyone at any point in human
    history had ever said the greatest composer who ever lived would be
    stone deaf, they would have laughed and laughed and laughed. There is
    nothing we cannot do without the right vision.
        Thank you, and God bless you.

    [[Page 980]]

    Note: The President spoke at 6:35 p.m. at the Stimson Memorial Chapel.
    In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Barbel Dieckmann of Bonn, Germany;
    U.S. Ambassador to Germany John C. Kornblum; Rev. Donald R. Hubbard,
    outgoing Protestant chaplain, Rev. Douglas M. Satre, incoming Protestant
    chaplain, and Father Stephen McNally, Catholic chaplain, Stimson
    Memorial Chapel; President Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of
    Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); and President Boris Yeltsin of
    Russia.