[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 39 (Monday, October 4, 1993)]
[Page 1908]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a United Nations Luncheon in New York City

 September 27, 1993

    [Inaudible]--of all the heads of state here, we thank you for your 
warm and eloquent words, for your gentle urging to us to do better by 
the United Nations, and for the hospitality and vision which you have 
brought to your work.
    We have seen so many changes in the world in the last few years, 
indeed in the last few weeks. I saw the Foreign Minister of Israel here 
and could not help remembering again the magic ceremony on the South 
Lawn of the White House 2 weeks ago today and the handshake that 
electrified the world.
    Seven months from today, black and white South Africans will join in 
casting their votes for a genuine multiracial democracy and a new future 
for that long-troubled land. New possibilities for peace and progress 
unfold almost daily. And the United Nations will clearly play a central 
role in confronting the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the 
new era.
    Eleanor Roosevelt, a First Lady of ours who once played a vital role 
in the birth of the United Nations, described the United Nations as a 
bridge, a bridge that could join different people despite their 
differences. Today, the traffic across that bridge is brisk and crowded 
indeed. As with our own Nation and Russia, peoples who once rarely met 
each other halfway, now increasingly join to walk across that bridge 
shoulder-to-shoulder, joined in common efforts to solve common problems.
    As this grand bridge reaches nearly half a century in age, we need 
to modernize and strengthen it, but let us not lose sight of how 
dramatically the view from that bridge has improved. We can see new 
possibilities for conflict resolution. We can look toward new 
breakthroughs and the efforts to make progress against humankind's 
oldest problems: poverty, hunger, and disease. We can envision an era of 
increasing peace.
    Those are the sights which have driven the U.N.'s vision since its 
creation. Today, I suggest that we all raise our glass in a toast to 
make those visions new and real.

Note: The President spoke at 2:23 p.m. at the United Nations. A tape was 
not available for verification of the content of these remarks.