[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[December 6, 1999]
[Pages 2212-2215]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2212]]


Remarks on Presenting the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights
December 6, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much, Belquis. Congressmen Gilman, 
Lewis, Jackson Lee; Reverend and Mrs. 
Jackson; Deputy Attorney General 
Holder; Harold Koh; Bob Seiple; Julia Taft; Hattie Babbitt; Bette 
Bao Lord, thank you for coming back.

School Shooting in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

    Ladies and gentlemen, before I begin, I need--because this is my 
only opportunity before the press today just to say a brief word about 
this school shooting this morning in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. The Federal 
Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms 
are on the scene now working with the local authorities. I expect to get 
a detailed briefing shortly. Meanwhile, our prayers are with each of the 
children and their families, and the entire Fort Gibson community is--
right now there are no fatalities, only people who are wounded, and we 
hope and pray it will stay that way.

Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights

    It occurs to me that at some point tonight someone will be doing 
what some of us--Hillary says it's mostly a male thing--somebody will be 
channel-surfing tonight. [Laughter] And they will just come upon 
Belquis speaking. And they may stop and 
listen, or they may not. They may know what the Taliban is, or they may 
not. But I wonder if even someone who hears her will recognize that in 
nearly half the world today--in spite of the fact that for the first 
time in history more than half the people of the world live under 
governments of their own choosing--in nearly half the world, doing what 
Belquis just did, simply standing up and speaking freely, could get her 
arrested, jailed, beaten, even tortured. That's why we're here today.
    I wonder if someone who just happened along her remarks tonight would understand that until people 
like Eleanor Roosevelt came along, the rest of the world didn't even 
recognize that the right to speak out is more than something enshrined 
in the American Constitution. It is truly an international human right.
    Sometimes we forget how long it took the world to agree on a common 
definition, a universal declaration of what freedom actually means. Half 
a century ago the Universal Declaration on Human Rights said it in very 
simple words: ``All human beings are free and equal in dignity and human 
rights. All have the right to life, liberty, and security. All are 
endowed with reason and conscience. All have the right to a standard of 
living adequate to health and well-being.''
    The real genius of the Declaration of Human Rights is that it 
affirmed that basic human rights are not cultural, but universal; that 
what a country does to people within its own borders is not its business 
alone, but the business of all of us. We in the United States know how 
hard it is to achieve the aspirations of that declaration. We've been 
living with it since our Founders, and living with our flaws in failing 
to meet up to its standards.
    A hundred years ago Eleanor Roosevelt was a 15-year-old girl growing 
up in a country where women could not vote. Half a century ago, if the 
standards of the Universal Declaration were held up to segregated 
schools and lunch counters in the United States, we would have failed 
the test resoundingly.
    This century has taught us that even though human rights are endowed 
by the hand of our Creator, they are ensured by the hearts and hands of 
men and women among us who cannot bear to see it otherwise. Inch by 
inch, such people have moved the world forward. Today we honor five 
brave Americans whose lives have made a difference. And we ask that all 
of us remember, in their triumphs, the struggles of people like 
Belquis, the continuing tensions in Africa, 
the continuing tensions in the Balkans, and elsewhere in the world where 
human rights are not yet secure.
    It is said that when Burke Marshall first 
met Robert Kennedy, they sat across a table for 10 minutes and didn't 
say a single word. Those of us who had Burke Marshall in law school can 
believe that story. [Laughter] Perhaps now he will tell us who spoke 
first. But from that silent moment sprang a truly extraordinary 
partnership.
    As Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the 
Kennedy administration,

[[Page 2213]]

Burke Marshall was a bridge between 
Government and those activists fighting every day to end Jim Crow. 
Congressman John Lewis, who received this award 
last year, once recalled that whenever Martin Luther King or James 
Farmer needs to talk to somebody in Washington--needed to talk to 
someone in Washington, they would simply say, ``call Burke.''
    His work was crucial to passing the Civil 
Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. After he had helped shape a new 
America, he later worked equally hard to shape young minds at Yale Law 
School.
    I made a joke about Hillary and I being students. But I can tell 
you, I never will forget the first time I saw him. And I imagined how this man of slight stature and such 
a modest demeanor could almost shake with his passion for justice. It 
was quite something to see for the first time, and we are all in his 
debt.
    When Leon Sullivan was 8 years old, he 
walked into a grocery store, slapped a nickel on the counter and said, 
``I want a Coke.'' The place being in segregated South Carolina, the 
shopkeeper threw him out. That moment was the beginning of his life's 
work. The pastor of two churches by the time he was at the ripe old age 
of 17, Reverend Sullivan went on to write the Sullivan principles, which 
called upon companies all around the world to act in a socially 
responsible manner. By compelling dozens of businesses to desegregate 
their plants in South Africa, his work helped to pull down apartheid.
    Today, as the author of the new global Sullivan principle, Leon 
Sullivan is still changing the world. He's too 
big for anyone to deny him a Coke--[laughter]--but he has helped to win 
that right for millions of others who aren't so large.
    Reverend Sullivan, thank you for keeping 
your eyes on the prize for nearly 80 years now. Thank you.
    For those of you who wonder from time to time about whether there 
really could be a divine plan guiding our lives, consider this: In 
Spanish, the name, Dolores Huerta, means 
``sorrowful orchard.'' But if Dolores has her way, her name will be the 
only sorrowful orchard left in America.
    She began her career teaching young 
migrant children but couldn't stand seeing them come to class hungry. So 
in 1962 she and Cesar Chavez cofounded the United Farm Workers. While 
Cesar Chavez worked the fields, she worked the boardrooms and the 
statehouses, negotiating contracts and fighting for laws that lifted the 
lives of thousands and thousands of Americans. In the process, she found 
time to raise 11 children.
    Dolores, we thank you for all you have 
done and all you still do to promote the dignity and human rights of 
your family and America's family. Thank you.
    It is no accident that when America opened its arms to Kosovar 
Albanians early this year, one of the first calls that went out was to a 
Dominican nun in the Fordham section of the 
Bronx. Scripture tells us that ``if you spend yourselves on behalf of 
the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your life will 
rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday.'' If that 
is true, there are few people who live their lives in more sunshine than 
Sister Jean Marshall.
    Disturbed by the sight of refugee families picking up garbage off 
the street to feed their children, in 1983 Sister Jean founded St. Rita's Center for Immigrant and Refugee 
Services. In the days since, it has helped thousands of refugees, from 
Vietnam to Cambodia to Bosnia, to find jobs, learn English, live better 
lives.
    Sister Jean, we thank you for all you are 
doing to make our democracy real and dreams come true for thousands who 
flee human rights abuses and come here expecting the Statue of Liberty 
to live up to her promise. Thank you.
    Lastly, there are few people who have done more to directly build on 
Eleanor Roosevelt's work on women's rights around the world than 
Charlotte Bunch. Gloria Steinem once 
observed that for every question that comes up regarding women's rights, 
sooner or later someone asks, what does Charlotte think? [Laughter]
    As the founder of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at 
Rutgers University, she has worked to build 
a worldwide network of activists. As a result, when the World Conference 
on Human Rights was held in Vienna in 1993, for the first time there was 
a network in place to raise international awareness of issues like 
violence against women and gay and lesbian issues. And for the first 
time, the U.N. acknowledged that women's rights are human rights.
    Today I think the best way to thank Charlotte Bunch is for the Senate to finally ratify the Convention 
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Thank 
you.

[[Page 2214]]

    We honor these five Americans today with the thanks of a grateful 
nation. But let me say again, to echo what Hillary said earlier, if we 
truly want to honor their work, we must stay committed in the places 
where the glory has not come and continue to speak out for human rights 
around the world, from Burma to Cuba to Sudan, from Serbia to North 
Korea and Vietnam. We must do so because it's the right thing to do and 
the surest path to a world that is safe, democratic, and free.
    In Afghanistan, we have strongly condemned the Taliban's despicable 
treatment of women and girls. We have worked with the United Nations to 
impose sanctions against the Taliban, while ensuring that the Afghan 
people continue to receive humanitarian assistance. We are Afghanistan's 
strongest critic, but also its largest humanitarian donor.
    And today we take another step forward. I am pleased to announce 
that we will spend, next year, at least $2 million to educate and 
improve the health of Afghan women and children refugees. We are also 
making an additional $1\1/2\ million available in emergency aid for 
those displaced by the recent Taliban offensive. And we're dramatically 
expanding our resettlement program for women and children who are not 
safe where they are.
    But, as Belquis said, these are but temporary solutions. The Taliban 
must stop violating the rights of women and respect the human rights of 
all people. And we must continue to work until the day when Afghanistan 
has a government that reflects the wisdom of its people.
    The whole world is also concerned about the plight of innocent 
people in Chechnya. Two weeks ago, at the OSCE summit in Turkey, I 
raised the issue directly with President Yeltsin. The people of Chechnya are in a terrible position, 
beleaguered by paramilitary groups and terrorists on the one hand and 
the Russian offensive on the other. I made clear that Russia's fight 
against terrorism is right, but the methods being used in Chechnya are 
wrong. And I am convinced they are counterproductive.
    We've seen rocket and artillery attacks on largely civilian areas, 
with heavy losses of life and at least 200,000 people pushed from their 
homes. I'm deeply disturbed by reports that suggest that innocent 
Chechens will continue to bear the brunt of this war, and not the 
militants Russia is fighting.
    Russia has set a deadline for all inhabitants, now, to leave Grozny 
or face the consequences. That means that there is a threat to the lives 
of the old, the infirm, the injured people, and other innocent civilians 
who simply cannot leave or are too scared to leave their homes. Russia 
will pay a heavy price for those actions with each passing day, sinking 
more deeply into a morass that will intensify extremism and diminish its 
own standing in the world.
    Another country about which we must continue to express concern is 
China. China is progressing and opening to the world in many ways that 
are welcome, including its entry into the WTO. Yet its progress is still 
being held back by the Government's response to those who test the 
limits of freedom. A troubling example, of course, is the detention by 
Chinese authorities, of adherents of the Falun Gong movement.
    Its targets are not political dissidents, and their practices and 
beliefs are unfamiliar to us. But the principle still, surely, must be 
the same: freedom of conscience and freedom of association. And our 
interest, surely, must be the same: seeing China maintain stability and 
growth at home by meeting, not stifling, the growing demands of its 
people for openness and accountability.
    For all these challenges, we have to say that we enter the new 
millennium more hopeful than we have been at any time in the past 
century. The second half of this century began with delegates from 18 
nations, including the United States, coming together to write the 
Universal Declaration. The century ends with 18 nations having come 
together with the United States to reaffirm those basic rights in 
Kosovo--with progress from Indonesia and East Timor to Nigeria.
    Now, as I've said, more than half the world's people live under 
governments of their own choosing. Shortly before the Congress went 
home, the United States Senate unanimously ratified the International 
Convention against Child Labor, and I became the third head of state to 
sign the convention. We are moving, but we have much to do as we enter a 
new century. And again I would say to my fellow Americans, we all know 
that our efforts have to begin at home.
    On the 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated a book called ``In Your Hands.'' On 
that day she said, and I quote, human rights

[[Page 2215]]

begin ``in small places, close to home . . . Unless these rights have 
meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted 
citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for 
progress in the larger world.''
    Today we honor that message by honoring five people whose work close 
to home has made the whole world a better place. May their work continue 
to inspire us all for generations yet to come.
    Lieutenant Colonel, read the 
citations.

[At this point, Lt. Col. Carlton D. Everhart, USAF, Air Force Aide to the President, read the citations, 
and the President and First Lady presented the awards.]

    The President. Thank you for coming. Thank you for honoring these 
great people. Thank you for reminding us of all the important work still 
to be done, Belquis.
    We're adjourned. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:17 p.m. in Presidential Hall (formerly 
Room 450) in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his 
remarks, he referred to Afghan refugee Belquis Ahmadi, who introduced 
the President; civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife, 
Jacqueline; Commissioner Harold H. Koh, Commission on Security and 
Cooperation in Europe; Ambassador at Large for International Religious 
Freedom Robert A. Seiple; and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.