[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.