    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 23, 1999]
    [Pages 2144-2145]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2144]]

    Remarks at Ganimet Terbeshi Elementary School in Ferizaj, Kosovo
    November 23, 1999

        The President. Thank you. I want to begin by thanking you for your
    wonderful welcome. I thank Ramadan for his
    introduction. I think maybe some day he will be an elected official if
    he speaks so well from now on. I thank Luljeta for her equally fine introduction of Secretary
    Albright. And I thank your principal,
    Shafije Hajdari, for welcoming us here. We
    are honored to be here with all of you today, especially with the
    schoolchildren.
        When I was introduced, Ramadan said--he
    thanked me for making it possible for you to come home. There are some
    other people who were largely responsible, and I would like to introduce
    them, as well. We have four Members of the United States Congress:
    Representative Peter Deutsch of Florida;
    Representative Eliot Engel of New York;
    Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia;
    Representative Carolyn Maloney of New
    York. They voted for the funds that enabled our military to come here
    and end this terrible ethnic cleansing. I'd like to ask them to stand
    up. Please stand. [Applause]
        In addition to Secretary Albright,
    whom I know you know because you gave her such a wonderful reception,
    was the strongest advocate of the stand we took in Kosovo; I want to
    thank Sandy Berger, my National Security
    Adviser, and Larry Rossin, who is the Chief
    of Mission for the United States Government in Pristina, and ask them to
    stand. [Applause]
        And finally, I want to thank all the members of our Armed Forces and
    our Allies who are serving here with the U.N. and those who were here
    previously in the NATO campaign. And I would like to introduce the
    Commander of all of our NATO forces, General Wes Clark, and thank him for what he has done.
        I know with all these people here and all the children here, it is
    difficult to listen to a long speech, but I hope you can listen to a
    short speech.
        Mr. Milosevic wanted to keep control
    of Kosovo by getting rid of all of you, and we said, no.
        Audience members. Clin-ton! Clin-ton!
        The President. Now he has lost his grip on Kosovo, and you have
    returned. No more days hiding in cellars, no more nights freezing in
    mountains and forests.
        I know that for those who have lost their homes, perhaps homes where
    your parents and grandparents were born, this is still a difficult time.
    I know it is hard for children to feel a sense of security and happiness
    when they have seen too much killing and hatred. But I know this, too:
    The United Nations troops and international organizations who have come
    here to help will stand with you every step of the way, and the coming
    winter in Kosovo is going to be a lot better than the last winter was.
        There is still a lot of work to do, but it is important that the
    world know what has already been done since you came home a few short
    months ago.
        Audience members. Clin-ton! Clin-ton!
        The President. Thank you.
        We are preparing houses for the winter, fixing schools, bringing in
    police officers. KLA fighters are returning to civilian life. Radio
    stations and newspapers are operating. The U.N. is doing a good job
    under tough conditions. And last week, the international community
    pledged another one billion American dollars to help Kosovo, to fully
    fund the U.N. operation next year.
        With all the problems that remain, we should remember, Kosovar
    children are going back to school, learning in their language in
    communities that answer to their parents. That is in some ways better
    than it was before. And we can do better still.
        I want to make one last point, more important than anything else I
    have to say to the children and to the parents. You can never forget the
    injustice that was done to you. No one can force you to forgive what was
    done to you, but you must try. And let me tell you why.
        First of all, all the schoolchildren will soon be learning in their
    biology classes that all the people in the world--all the people in the
    world--in terms of their genetic makeup, scientifically, are 99.9
    percent the same: the Serbs, the Albanians, the Irish, the Africans, the
    Latins, the Asians. Children are not born hating those who are different
    from them, and no religion teaches them to do so. They have to be taught

    [[Page 2145]]

    to hate by people who are already grown. But all over the world--not
    just here in Kosovo, all over the world--it is children who bear the
    burden of their parents' blind hatred.
        I have been in Africa with a young man who lost his arm to someone
    of a different ethnic group, who cut it off with a machete simply
    because of his family heritage. I have been in Israel with
    schoolchildren staring at the pictures of their classmates who were
    blown up in buses simply because they were Jewish. I have been in
    Ireland with a beautiful, beautiful 16-year-old girl playing and singing
    to me, but her eyesight was gone because she was blown up in a bomb just
    because of the religious differences in Ireland. We owe the children in
    Kosovo a better future than that.
        Audience members. Clin-ton! Clin-ton!
        The President. Now you cheered for us when we came in because when
    you were being oppressed, we stood by you, and we exercised military
    power to defeat the aggression of Mr. Milosevic. We won the war. But listen: Only you can win the
    peace.
        The time for fighting has passed. Kosovo is for you to shape now.
    The international community will stand by you. But you must take the
    lead. What will you think about? Will you be focused on hatred and past
    wrongs and getting even? Or will you be thinking about good schools for
    your children, new homes for them, new businesses, the effort to create
    genuine self-government to eradicate corruption and violence and give
    your children the joys of a normal life?
        I beg you who are parents to teach your children that life is more
    than the terrible things that are done. It is how you react to them. Do
    not let the children's spirits be broken. Do not let their hearts
    harden. The future we fought to save for you is the future we see here
    today, smiling, cheering, happy children. Give them the tomorrow they
    deserve. The American people have been honored to stand with you, and we
    will stand with you every step of the way.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:15 a.m. in the Sports Pavilion. In his
    remarks, he referred to students Ramadan Ilazi and Luljeta Haliti; Gen.
    Wesley K. Clark, USA, Supreme Allied Commander Europe; and President
    Slobodan Milosevic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
    Montenegro). The President also referred to the KLA, the Kosovo
    Liberation Army.