    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1993)]
    [Pages 407-410]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks to the Crew of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt

     March 12, 1993

        Thank you very much, Secretary Aspin, Admiral Miller, Admiral
    Johnson, Captain Bryant, Captain Moore, Colonel Schmidt, General Keys,
    and to all of you here on the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt. I think I
    can speak for the people who came in my party, including the
    distinguished Members of the United States Congress who are here. This
    has been a wonderful day for us, and we thank you.
        I am honored to be here. As many of you know, it is a great blessing
    and a great honor to be elected President of the United States. But
    there is no greater honor in the office than being the Commander in
    Chief of the finest Armed Forces in the world today and the finest
    America has ever known.
        Our Armed Forces are more than the backbone of our security. You are
    the shining model of our American values: dedication, responsibility, a
    willingness to sacrifice for the common good and for the interests and
    the very existence of this country. Our Armed Forces today stand as one
    of modern history's great success stories. Look at this crew, reflecting
    every color, every background, every region of our society. I might say
    it's been a special pleasure to me to meet at least six people from my
    home State of Arkansas here today. I'm sure there are more of you here
    that I haven't met.
        The American military pioneered our Nation's progress toward
    integration and equal opportunity. It is America's most effective
    education and training system. It's constantly asked to adapt to change
    and always, always, you have risen to the challenge. All who wear
    America's uniforms are what makes the United States of America a true
    superpower and a genuine force for peace and democracy in the world.
        Yes, this carrier can extend our reach. These planes can deliver our
    might. They are truly extraordinary tools, but only because they are in
    the hands of you. It is your skill, your professionalism, your courage,
    and your dedication to our country and to service that gives the muscle,
    sinew, and the soul of our

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    strength. And today, I'm proud to be here to salute you. I want to say a
    word about the Navy and to tell you what it means to me to have a ready
    fleet.
        When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident that
    the first question that comes to everyone's lips is, where is the
    nearest carrier? This ship's namesake, President Theodore Roosevelt,
    once said, ``The Navy of the United States is the right arm of the
    United States and is emphatically the peacemaker.'' Theodore Roosevelt
    took special pride in our Navy, and I do, too. All of you ought to know
    that he was the first American ever to win the Nobel Prize. He won the
    Nobel Peace Prize for his role in settling a war between Russia and
    Japan in the first decade of this century, in part due to the
    contributions of the United States Navy.
        This impressive ship, not yet 10 years old, already has an
    impressive history, serving with distinction during the Gulf war, where
    many of you served as well. And today we should recall that three of
    this ship's crew gave the last full measure of their devotion toward
    that victory.
        But the Theodore Roosevelt was part of history even earlier. In
    1988, it was here that an American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    first welcomed his Soviet counterpart to visit an American aircraft
    carrier. When my friend Admiral William Crowe and Marshal Sergey
    Akhromeyev stepped aboard this ship together to meet the crew and watch
    flight operations, as I have done here today, it was a key milestone on
    the road to the end of the cold war.
        Now, less than 5 years later, the world has changed faster than
    anyone on board then could have possibly imagined. The cold war is over.
    The Soviet Union itself no longer exists. The Warsaw Pact is gone. The
    specter of Soviet tanks rolling westward across the north German plain
    no longer haunts the United States.
        Yet this world remains a very dangerous place. Saddam Hussein
    confirmed that. The tragic violence in Bosnia today reminds us of that
    every day. The proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass
    destruction is a growing menace, unfortunately, not a receding one, to
    peaceful nations. And human suffering such as that now being endured by
    the people of Somalia may not threaten our shores, but still they
    require us to act.
        Such challenges are new in many ways, but we dare not overlook the
    significance that they pose to our new world. Blinders never provide
    security. A changed security environment demands not less security but a
    change in our security arrangements.
        What is happening on this ship proves that it can be done. On this
    deployment you are, as the Secretary of Defense noted, doing something
    new. You've changed your crew and your equipment to reflect the new
    challenges of the post-cold-war era. A squadron of sub-hunting planes is
    gone, giving room to carry a contingent of tough and versatile Marines,
    enabling you to address new potential challenges such as evacuations or
    taking control of troubled ports.
        You have the services working together in new ways. That enables you
    to operate perhaps with fewer ships and personnel but with greater
    efficiency and effectiveness. This isn't downsizing for its own sake.
    It's rightsizing for security's sake.
        The changes on board the Theodore Roosevelt preview the changes I
    believe we must pursue throughout our military. We must keep, however, a
    few core ideas in mind as we pursue those changes. Our military must be
    exceptionally mobile, with first-rate sealift, airlift, and the ability
    to project power. And there is no more awesome example of that than the
    fearsome striking power that can be launched from the deck of this
    mighty ship.
        Our military must also be agile, with an emphasis on maneuver, on
    speed, on technological superiority. That's exactly what the special
    purpose Marine air ground task force you have on board is all about. Our
    fire power must be precise, so that we can minimize the exposure to harm
    for the men and women who wear our uniforms and reduce civilian
    casualties where we must act.
        Our military increasingly needs to be flexible so that we can
    cooperate with diverse coalition partners in very different parts of the
    world. And we must be smart, with the intelligence and communications we
    need for the complex threats we face. And I might say I was deeply
    impressed with a wide array of communications equipment that many of

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    you showed me today. Above all else, we must always be ready, given the
    unpredictability of new threats.
        None of these goals are possible unless we have a quality force.
    You, the crew of this ship, exemplify that quality with your skills,
    your experience, your training, and your dedication, many of you at
    astonishingly young ages. You have shown me that you know how to get the
    job done. I know our Nation can now have confidence that America's vital
    interests are well protected.
        While all of you from the grapes on the roof to the aviators in the
    ready rooms, to the snipes in the holes, while you carry out your
    missions so far from home over the next few months, we back at home will
    be engaged in a raging debate about defense policy. As you watch the
    news on CNN or read the newspapers that are delivered here to your ship,
    you will hear us talk of roles and missions. You will see news about
    bases and budgets. But as we reduce defense spending, we will not leave
    the men and the women who helped to win the cold war out in the cold. As
    bases close, and they must, we must not close our eyes and hearts to the
    need for new investments to create opportunities in the communities with
    the old bases.
        Defense spending has been declining ever since 1986. But I believe
    we have not had a strong enough plan for what to do with the new defense
    we are building and with those who contributed to the old defense; an
    insufficient plan for military personnel who muster out; an insufficient
    plan for civilian workers who made the wonderful weapons that helped us
    to dominate the world who now have lost their jobs; an insufficient plan
    for the communities that have been devastated or for the companies that
    have been hurt.
        We cannot repeal the laws of change. After all, you and those who
    preceded you in uniform worked so hard, fought so hard, and many died so
    that the cold war could be won and we could rely less on defense and
    focus more of our resources on building our economy here at home. But
    still, we must act boldly to deal with the consequences of the changes
    we face. That's why it's so important to make the investments we need in
    defense conversion and the education and training in new jobs and new
    industries but also to continue to make the investments we need in the
    defense that must be there for the United States and for the world
    tomorrow.
        As you follow the news of these events during your voyage, while our
    voyage back home into this great debate is taking place, I ask you to
    remember this: As your Commander in Chief, I am immensely proud of who
    you are, what you stand for, and what you are doing. As these changes
    proceed, I pledge to you that as long as I am President, you and the
    other men and women in uniform of this country will continue to be the
    best trained, the best prepared, the best equipped, and the strongest
    supported fighting force in the world. There is no single decision I
    take more seriously than decisions involving the use of force. As I
    weigh crises that confront America around the world, you will be in my
    mind and in my heart.
        This is a hopeful time, yet one still full of challenges. It is
    uncertain, and therefore, we are glad that missions such as this, while
    not darkly framed by the cold war confrontation with a nuclear
    adversary, are still smartly focused on the challenges we might face in
    the days ahead. Many new duties and dangers are taking place. And there
    is no clear direction for what things we all might have to face in the
    future. There is no sonar that can enable us to fathom all the changes
    in the terrain over which we are now setting sail.
        Napoleon had a standing order to his corps commanders to, quote,
    ``March to the sound of the guns.'' He meant that when the shooting
    starts on a battlefield, it is the soldier's obligation to move into the
    fight. Well, today, there are different security challenges into which
    we must march. And at times you who serve our Nation in uniform may be
    called upon to answer not only the sound of guns but also a call of
    distress, a summons to keep the peace, even a cry of starving children.
    The calls will be more diverse, but our values remain unchanged. Our
    purposes remain clear. And your commitment to serve remains the linchpin
    in every new and continuing effort.
        I know this has been a difficult day for many of you. It can't be
    easy to leave family and friends for 6 months at sea, especially

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    when the challenges before us seem unclear, and when you wonder whether
    world events may or may not place you in harm's way. But I hope you
    understand that your work is vitally important to the United States and
    to the Commander in Chief.
        This is a new and hopeful world but one full of danger. I am
    convinced that your country, through you, has a historic role in trying
    to make sure that there is, after all, a new world order, rooted in
    peace, dedicated to prosperity and opportunity.
        The American people have placed their faith in you, and you have
    placed your life at the service of your country. The faith is well
    placed, and I thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:25 p.m. in the hangar bay aboard the
    ship. In his remarks, he referred to Adm. Paul David Miller, USN,
    commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Command; Adm. Jay L. Johnson, USN,
    commander, Carrier Group 8; Capt. Stanley W. Bryant, USN, commanding
    officer, U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt; Capt. C.W. Moore, USN, commander,
    Carrier Air Wing 8; Col. John W. Schmidt, USMC, commander, Special
    Purpose Marine Air/Ground Task Force, U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt; and
    Gen. William M. Keys, USMC, commander, Marine Forces Atlantic. This item
    was not received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.