    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [August 9, 1999]
    [Pages 1410-1413]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the 50th Anniversary of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Fort
    Myer, Virginia
    August 9, 1999

        Thank you very much. Thank you, Secretary Cohen and Janet. Let me begin
    by thanking the Secretary for his remarks, his devotion, his remarkable
    leadership, and his willingness to serve in our administration, to prove
    that when it comes to the national security of the United States, we are
    beyond party, and all Americans.

    [[Page 1411]]

        General Shelton, thank you for your
    leadership and for your remarks. And we are delighted to be joined today
    not only by your wonderful wife, Carolyn,
    but also by your mother. We're glad
    she came up to be with us.
        Thanks, Secretary Slater, Secretary
    West, Senator Thurmond, for being here. Senator Thurmond may be the only person
    here who served in the military before there was a Joint Chiefs of
    Staff. He was at D-day, and he's here 55 years later, and we're
    delighted to have him. In both places, he has served our country well.
    Thank you, Senator.
        I thank the service secretaries, the members of the Joint Chiefs who
    are here, General Ralston and others, and
    the former members of the Joint Chiefs, and all the other officers who
    are here. One in particular I would like to mention, General Wes
    Clark, because of his extraordinary
    leadership in our most recent military victory in Kosovo. I thank him
    and all the men and women of our Armed Forces who have served there.
        I especially want to welcome here the former Chairmen and their
    wives: Admiral and Mrs. Moorer, General and Mrs.
    Jones, General
    and Mrs. Vessey, Admiral and Mrs. Crowe,
    General and Mrs. Shalikashvili, and, of course, Alma Powell. We're glad to have them here.
        Fifty years ago--you've heard a lot about already today, but I think
    it is worth remembering what it was like to be the Chairman of the Joint
    Chiefs of Staff 50 years ago. It was a new job. It was clearly
    overwhelmingly preoccupied with the onset of the cold war and the need
    to defend Europe. But soon after General Omar Bradley was summoned to
    assume the job, war broke out in Korea. So he had not only to defend
    Europe, but also to defend freedom in South Korea, and fulfill the job
    description to coordinate the services, and also to coordinate with the
    State Department and the White House.
        We have our White House Chief of Staff, Mr. Podesta, and the National Security Adviser, Mr. Berger, and others who are here. I think we can say with
    some conviction that sometimes the hardest military job of the Chairman
    of the Joint Chiefs is his coordination with the White House. And it has
    been so for 50 years. But General Bradley and then 13 other remarkable
    leaders have found a way to do that, and at the same time, to provide
    wise and honest counsel at crucial moments to every President and
    Secretary of the Defense. And I would like to stop a moment and
    emphasize that.
        There will come a time in the service of every President--in my time
    it has come, unfortunately, on several occasions--when you have to have
    the honest advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And very often,
    it is the last thing in the world you want to hear, because he will
    either tell you that you really can't achieve the objective you want to
    achieve for the price you're willing to pay, or that you have to do
    something that you'd rather to go to the dentist without novocaine than
    do. And I can tell you that, without exception, every time a Chairman of
    the Joint Chiefs has had to do that to me, he has done it. He has served
    our country well; he has served the President well; he has served the
    military and the men and women in uniform well. This institution has
    worked because the people who are part of it did what they were required
    to do in times of crisis. And our country should be very grateful to all
    of them.
        Just think what has happened over the last 50 years. We look back on
    50 years of constant vigilance, of two hot wars and a long cold war, of
    military victories in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans, of difficulties
    like the Cuban missile crisis and many others too numerous to mention.
    But through it all, and though new threats emerged continuously, we see
    the march to freedom, and we see the depth of America's security.
        We can look forward to the 21st century with genuine confidence, in
    no small measure because of the 14 leaders we honor today. So again, I
    say, along with the Secretary of Defense, to those who are here, to the
    surviving families of those who are not, and to those who could not be
    with us today, our Nation is grateful. You have served it well.
        I was very privileged to work with three Chairs: Colin
    Powell, John Shalikashvili, and Hugh Shelton; to work
    very closely with the previous Chairman, Bill Crowe, who has been my Ambassador to Great Britain and has done
    a lot of important work to alert us to the continuing dangers to our
    Embassies and their personnel from terrorists. I had the privilege of
    getting good counsel on the very difficult POW/MIA issue from General
    Vessey, and on our efforts to save
    innocent civilians from the dangers of landmines by General
    Jones. Of course, I still hear from General
    Powell on a regular

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    basis about his work with America's Promise and our shared interest in
    it.
        The more I know the people who are involved in these endeavors, the
    more my esteem for them grows. I always have separation anxiety when
    someone important leaves. When Shali
    walked out the door and went all the way across the country, I thought
    Joan would never let him come back. But
    I've even found something for him to do from time to time that doesn't
    get him in too much trouble at home.
        These people are unique. They have these unique experiences that
    they blend with their abilities and their patriotism. And I think we
    should think just a moment about the position beyond the question of
    advice to the President. If you think about it, with the world changing
    as much as it is today, and with the United States occupying the rather
    unique position we occupy at this moment in history, there are few
    positions which require the occupant to think harder about the threats
    the Nation faces and will face. There are few which force a leader to
    weigh more soberly the costs of action--which in a world where people
    are comfortable, are very high--against the costs down the road of
    inaction. There are few which require a person to spend as much time
    thinking about how to avoid war as how to win one if it should become
    necessary.
        General Bradley said a long time ago that the way to win a nuclear
    war is to make sure it never starts. I would like to thank the former
    Chairs of the Joint Chiefs who have endorsed the ratification of the
    Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to end nuclear testing forever, proposed
    by President Eisenhower, championed by President Kennedy, signed now by
    the United States and over 150 other countries; 41 of them have ratified
    it. Four of our former Chairs--General Jones,
    Admiral Crowe, General Powell, General Shalikashvili--have issued a statement endorsing the
    treaty, agreeing with the current Chair, General Shelton, that it is in America's interest.
        Why? Because we have already stopped testing; our leading experts
    say we can maintain a safe and reliable nuclear deterrent without
    further tests; and the only remaining question is, will we join or lose
    a verifiable treaty that can prevent other countries from testing
    nuclear weapons. If we don't ratify it, by its terms the treaty can't
    enter into force. And countries all around the world will feel more
    pressure to develop and test weapons in ever more destructive varieties
    and sizes, threatening the security of everyone on Earth.
        So today, once again, as we honor the Joint Chiefs, the individuals
    and the institution, I ask the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to
    hold hearings on the treaty this fall and the full Senate to vote for
    ratification as soon as possible. This will strengthen national security
    not only of the United States but of people around the world. This will
    help the new Chairs of the Joint Chiefs in the future not only to
    prepare for war but to avoid it.
        Let me finally say that as we approach a new century, we can still
    be proud, indeed, never prouder, of our men and women in uniform. Thanks
    to their courage and skill in the most recent campaign in Kosovo, a
    brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing has been reversed; our alliance has
    been preserved and strengthened; there is new hope for a world where
    people are not murdered or uprooted because of their ethnic heritage or
    the way they choose to worship God.
        Operation Allied Force was a truly remarkable military campaign:
    over 30,000 sorties flown; no combat casualties. Still we must not
    indulge the illusion of a risk-free war. In Kosovo, our pilots risked
    their lives every day. They took enemy fire, faced enemy aircraft, time
    and again put themselves in even greater danger just to avoid hitting
    civilians on the ground. And we know not every conflict will be like
    Kosovo; not every battle can be won from the air.
        We must remember, too, that the rigorous training we require of our
    men and women in uniform is in itself dangerous. We lost two helicopter
    pilots training in Kosovo. In every single year, we lose a good number
    of men and women in uniform just doing their duty.
        Our job from the top down is to reduce the risks of their service as
    much as we can and to send our service men and women into harm's way
    only when we're certain that the purpose is clear, the mission is
    achievable, and all peaceful options have been exhausted.
        When we do send them, we have to make sure they have the tools to do
    the job. We must always match their skill and courage with a high level
    of readiness. And we must always prepare today for tomorrow's threats.
    All those jobs, in the end, fall on the shoulders of the Chair of the
    Joint Chiefs of Staff.
        In his remarkable memoir of World War II, Omar Bradley wrote the
    following words. He

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    said, ``No matter how high an officer's rank, it's important to scoff at
    the myth of the indispensable man. For we have always maintained that
    Arlington Cemetery is filled with indispensable men.''
        Now, that statement is a tribute to his decency and his humility.
    Nevertheless, for 50 years now, the role of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
    of Staff has been indispensable to the preservation of life on this
    planet from nuclear holocaust, to the security of the United States, and
    to the march of freedom across the world.
        Fourteen Americans of great ability and even more intense patriotism
    have occupied that office and made it indispensable. So, to all of those
    who are here and their families and those who are not here today, a
    grateful nation says, thank you, thank you, thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at Summerall Field. In his remarks,
    he referred to Secretary Cohen's wife, Janet Langhart Cohen; General
    Shelton's mother, Sarah Laughlin Shelton; Gen. Wesley K. Clark, USA,
    Supreme Allied Commander Europe; former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of
    Staff Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, USN (Ret.), and his wife, Carrie; Gen.
    David C. Jones, USA (Ret.), and his wife, Lois; Gen. John W. Vessey,
    Jr., USA (Ret.), and his wife, Avis; Adm. William J. Crowe, Jr., USN
    (Ret.), and his wife, Shirley; Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, USA (Ret.),
    and his wife, Joan; and Gen. Colin Powell, USA (Ret.), and his wife,
    Alma.