[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[October 18, 1999]
[Pages 1811-1813]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Message to the House of Representatives Returning Without Approval
Foreign Operations Appropriations Legislation
October 18, 1999
To the House of Representatives:
I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 2606, the ``Foreign
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
2000.''
The central lesson we have learned in this century is that we cannot
protect American interests at home without active engagement abroad.
Common sense tells us, and hard experience has confirmed, that we must
lead in the world, working with other nations to defuse crises, repel
dangers, promote more open economic and political systems, and
strengthen the rule of law. These have been the guiding principles of
American foreign policy for generations. They have served the American
people well, and greatly helped to advance the cause of peace and
freedom around the world.
This bill rejects all of those principles. It puts at risk America's
50-year tradition of leadership for a safer, more prosperous and
democratic world. It is an abandonment of hope in our Nation's capacity
to shape that kind of world. It implies that we are too small and
insecure to meet our share of international responsibilities, too
shortsighted to see that doing so is in our national interest. It is
another sign of a new isolationism that would have America bury its head
in the sand at the height of our power and prosperity.
In the short term, H.R. 2606 fails to address critical national
security needs. It suggests we can afford to underfund our efforts to
keep deadly weapons from falling into dangerous hands and walk away
without peril from our essential work toward peace in places of
conflict. Just as seriously, it fails to address America's long-term
interests. It reduces assistance to nations struggling to build
democratic societies and open markets and backs away from our commitment
to help people trapped in poverty to stand on their feet. This, too,
threatens our security because future threats will come from regions and
nations where instability and misery prevail
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and future opportunities will come from nations on the road to freedom
and growth.
By denying America a decent investment in diplomacy, this bill
suggests we should meet threats to our security with our military might
alone. That is a dangerous proposition. For if we underfund our
diplomacy, we will end up overusing our military. Problems we might have
been able to resolve peacefully will turn into crises we can only
resolve at a cost of life and treasure. Shortchanging our arsenal of
peace is as risky as shortchanging our arsenal of war.
The overall funding provided by H.R. 2606 is inadequate. It is about
half the amount available in real terms to President Reagan in 1985, and
it is 14 percent below the level that I requested. I proposed to fund
this higher level within the budget limits and without spending any of
the Social Security surplus. The specific shortfalls in the current bill
are numerous and unacceptable.
For example, it is shocking that the Congress has failed to fulfill
our obligations to Israel and its neighbors as they take risks and make
difficult decisions to advance the Middle East peace process. My
Administration, like all its predecessors, has fought hard to promote
peace in the Middle East. This bill would provide neither the $800
million requested this year as a supplemental appropriation nor the $500
million requested in FY 2000 funding to support the Wye River Agreement.
Just when Prime Minister Barak has helped give
the peace process a jump start, this sends the worst possible message to
Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians about America's commitment to the
peace process. We should instead seize this opportunity to support them.
Additional resources are required to respond to the costs of
building peace in Kosovo and the rest of the Balkans, and I intend to
work with the Congress to provide needed assistance. Other life-saving
peace efforts, such as those in Sierra Leone and East Timor, are
imperiled by the bill's inadequate funding of the voluntary peacekeeping
account.
My Administration has sought to protect Americans from the threat
posed by the potential danger of weapons proliferation from Russia and
the countries of the former Soviet Union. But the Congress has failed to
finance the Expanded Threat Reduction Initiative (ETRI), which is
designed to prevent weapons of mass destruction and weapons technologies
from falling into the wrong hands and weapons scientists from offering
their talents to countries, or even terrorists, seeking these weapons.
The bill also curtails ETRI programs that help Russia and other New
Independent States strengthen export controls to avoid illicit
trafficking in sensitive materials through their borders and airports.
The ETRI will also help facilitate withdrawal of Russian forces and
equipment from countries such as Georgia and Moldova; it will create
peaceful research opportunities for thousands of former Soviet weapons
scientists. We also cannot afford to underfund programs that support
democracy and small scale enterprises in Russia and other New
Independent States because these are the very kinds of initiatives
needed to complete their transformation away from communism and
authoritarianism.
A generation from now, no one is going to say we did too much to
help the nations of the former Soviet Union safeguard their nuclear
technology and expertise. If the funding cuts in this bill were to
become law, future generations would certainly say we did too little and
that we imperiled our future in the process.
My Administration has also sought to promote economic progress and
political change in developing countries, because America benefits when
these countries become our partners in security and trade. At the
Cologne Summit, we led a historic effort to enable the world's poorest
and most heavily indebted countries to finance health, education, and
opportunity programs. The Congress fails to fund the U.S. contribution.
The bill also severely underfunds Multilateral Development Banks,
providing the lowest level of financing since 1987, with cuts of 37
percent from our request. This will virtually double U.S. arrears to
these banks and seriously undermine our capacity to promote economic
reform and growth in Latin America, Asia, and especially Africa. These
markets are critical to American jobs and opportunities.
Across the board, my Administration requested the funding necessary
to assure American leadership on matters vital to the interests and
values of our citizens. In area after area, from fighting terrorism and
international crime to promoting nuclear stability on the Korean
peninsula, from helping refugees and disaster victims to meeting its own
goal of a 10,000-member Peace Corps, the Congress has failed to fund
adequately these requests.
[[Page 1813]]
Several policy matters addressed in the bill are also problematic.
One provision would hamper the Export-Import Bank's ability to be
responsive to American exporters by requiring that the Congress be
notified of dozens of additional kinds of transactions before the Bank
can offer financing. Another provision would allow the Export-Import
Bank to operate without a quorum until March 2000. I have nominated two
individuals to the Bank's Board, and they should be confirmed.
A third provision could be read to prevent the United States from
engaging in diplomatic efforts to promote a cost-effective, global
solution to climate change. A fourth provision places restrictions on
assistance to Indonesia that could harm our ability to influence the
objectives we share with the Congress: ensuring that Indonesia honors
the referendum in East Timor and that security is restored there, while
encouraging democracy and economic reform in Indonesia. Finally, this
bill contains several sections that, if treated as mandatory, would
encroach on the President's sole constitutional authority to conduct
diplomatic negotiations.
In sum, this appropriations bill undermines important American
interests and ignores the lessons that have been at the core of our
bipartisan foreign policy for the last half century. Like the Senate's
recent vote to defeat the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, this bill
reflects an inexcusable and potentially dangerous complacency about the
opportunities and risks America faces in the world today. I therefore am
returning this bill without my approval.
I look forward to working with the Congress to craft an
appropriations bill that I can support, one that maintains our
commitment to protecting the Social Security surplus, properly
addressing our shared goal of an America that is strong at home and
strong abroad, respected not only for our leadership, but for the vision
and commitment that real leadership entails. The American people deserve
a foreign policy worthy of our great country, and I will fight to ensure
that they continue to have one.
William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 18, 1999.