[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
[May 5, 1999]
[Pages 691-692]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Dinner With the Troops at Ramstein Air Base
May 5, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. General Jumper, General Wooley, ladies and 
gentlemen, let me first of all say that I know I speak for all the 
people in our group--the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, 
General Shelton, and others--in saying that 
we are delighted to be here and very proud of you.
    I have been to Ramstein at least three times since I've been 
President. I was trying to think; it may be four. But I feel a special 
affinity for this base. I flew from here into Bosnia in 1995, when the 
people who were stationed here then did so much to restore freedom and 
peace to the people there.
    There are a lot of things I'd like to say, as briefly as I can. 
First of all, I'd like to tell you I had a real good time tonight taking 
all the pictures and--[laughter]--I like having the opportunity to look 
our men and women in uniform in the eye and see where you're from and 
hear a little about your views. I thank especially the people who had 
dinner with me at the table over there tonight. I got questions about 
the Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq and the long-
term prospects in Kosovo and----
    Audience member. Pay raises.
    The President. ----and pay raises, that's right. [Laughter] And they 
did a very good job. I want you to know, the guys at the table, they did 
a good job, because we talked a lot about how the Air Force and the Navy 
and this year probably the Army will be down on their recruitment goals 
and the reenlistment problems and how we face the converging pressures 
of

[[Page 692]]

a very, very strong economy in the private sector--the strongest it has 
been maybe ever, certainly in a generation--and a very much increased 
operations tempo for people in the military, taking people away from 
their families more frequently and often for extended periods of time. 
And if that results in--those two things result in our not meeting our 
enlistment or reenlistment quotas, obviously, that only aggravates the 
up-tempo problem further.
    I think there is strong, overwhelming bipartisan support in the 
Congress this year to make some changes in pay, in retirement, in 
enlistment and reenlistment bonuses. And those three things, plus some 
other things we're going to do, I hope will help to keep more of you in 
the service, and I hope will help to get more young people coming in.
    The job market is very, very strong out there, as all of you know. 
And particularly after you've been in the service for a while and you've 
gotten the invaluable training that you get, I understand the 
temptations and the lures of taking those offers which wouldn't require 
you to be away from home so much and so far.
    But I can tell you this: The United States military, because of 
people like you, can do things for a troubled world that no one else can 
do. And I am profoundly grateful. You're taking those supplies into the 
refugees in Macedonia and Albania--you must have talked to some of them. 
You must know what they have been through. And if you were involved in 
the operation in Bosnia or you talked to anybody else who was, you must 
know what they were put through and what it is that NATO is trying to 
stop in the heart of Europe.
    At the end of the cold war, the question was, do we need a NATO? And 
the 19 Allies decided that, yes, we did; that if we wanted Europe to be 
free and united and at peace, we needed NATO, and that would be our 
mission. And I wish there had been nothing for us to do--nothing for you 
to do. I wish none of you reservists or guards people had to be called 
up or had to volunteer. But it happened. And it is truly ironic that 
after all the wars in the 20th century, that here in Europe we would 
still be fighting over religious and ethnic bigotry, being used to 
dehumanize people to the point of justifying killing them, burning them, 
looting their homes, running them out, burning their villages, 
eradicating every last vestige of historical, cultural records, burning 
their houses of worship. And that's not the world I want your children 
to live in.
    And if your children are wearing the uniform of our Armed Services, 
I don't want them to have to fight a war because we didn't nip in the 
bud a cancer that can never sweep across Europe again.
    So this is profoundly important. And the humanitarian aid you're 
taking to those desperate people is profoundly important. They are good 
people. They have their dignity. You are enabling them to keep what they 
can when most of them are running out of their country with nothing but 
the clothes on their back.
    I just want you to know that back home people do know what you're 
going through; they do know what a sacrifice it is. We will do 
everything we can to make it better. In the Congress this year, I do 
believe there was overwhelming bipartisan support to respond to the 
problems you face and the challenges you face and the private market you 
face.
    But nothing can ever compensate or take the place of the profound 
sense of satisfaction you must get when you go to bed at night knowing 
that you did something that was good and decent, not because your 
country wanted to dominate another people or control land but because we 
want our children and their children to live in a decent world.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 8:10 p.m. in Hangar 3. In his remarks, he 
referred to Gen. John P. Jumper, USAF, Commander, U.S. Air Forces in 
Europe and Allied Air Forces Central Europe; and Brig. Gen. Michael W. 
Wooley, USAF, Commander, 86th Airlift Wing and Kaiserslautern Military 
Community.