    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [January 31, 2000]
    [Pages 161-162]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Action To Resolve the Impasse Over Armed Forces Training on
    Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
    January 31, 2000

        Today I am announcing a course of action to resolve the impasse over
    United States Armed Forces training on Vieques. This course will give
    the people of Vieques the right to determine the future of the island
    while assuring that our training needs are met. I have received a letter
    from the Governor of Puerto Rico endorsing
    this course.
        I am issuing two directives. They provide that between later this
    year and early 2002, there will be a referendum held on Vieques, in
    which the people of Vieques will be asked to choose between two
    alternatives. If they choose the first alternative, the Navy will cease
    all training on Vieques and leave the island by May 1, 2003. If they
    choose the second, training will continue on Vieques on terms that will
    be presented at least 3 months before the vote.
        During the period leading up to the vote, training done on Vieques
    will be limited to nonexplosive ordnance--meaning there will be no live
    fire--and the Navy and Marine Corps will cut in half the amount of time
    they will spend training to no more than 90 days per year, which is what
    we need to meet our training needs. I will also implement measures to
    meet the health, safety, environmental, and economic concerns of the
    people of Vieques, and I will ask

    [[Page 162]]

    Congress to begin transferring title to land on the western quarter of
    the island to Puerto Rico.
        I believe this plan will help resolve the impasse over Vieques in
    the fairest possible way, because it will meet our training needs while
    giving the people most affected by this decision--the people who
    actually live on the island--the ability to choose for themselves the
    future of their island.

    Note: The memorandums are listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.