    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 3 (Monday, January 24, 1994)]
    [Pages 67-79]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks in a Town Meeting With Russian Citizens in Moscow

    January 14, 1994

        The President. Thank you, Alexander Nikolaiovich, for that
    introduction, for your lifetime of accomplishment, and your support for
    free speech and for reform.
        I am deeply honored to be here today at this station, which has
    become for all the world a beacon of information and truth. Attacked 3
    months ago by opponents of reform, Ostankino stands as a symbol of the
    power of free expression and of the brave sacrifices the Russian people
    have been making to build a great and free future.
        I'm so glad there are many young people here, and I hope there are
    many, many more watching us on television, because it is the future of
    the youth of Russia that I wish to speak about. Once every generation or
    two, all great nation's must stop and think about where they are in
    time. They must regenerate themselves. They must imagine their future in
    a new way. Your generation has come of age at one of those moments.
        Yesterday I walked through Moscow. I stopped at a bakery and bought
    some bread. I went into another shop and talked to the people there. I
    talked with an awful lot of people on the street. I went to Kazan
    Cathedral and lit a candle in memory of my mother. It is a cathedral
    which, like Russia itself, has been built anew on old foundations.
        Over the centuries the Russian people have shown their greatness in
    many ways: in the arts and literature, on the battlefield, in the
    university, and in space. Though the Communist system suppressed human
    rights and human initiative and repressed your neighbors and brought the
    world the cold war, still the greatness of the Russian people shown
    through.
        Now on the brink of the 21st century, your nation is being called
    upon once again to redefine its greatness in terms that are appropriate
    to the present day and to the future, in ways that will enable your
    nation to be strong and free and prosperous and at peace.
        We live in a curious time. Modern revolutions are changing life for
    the better all over the world. Revolutions and information and
    communications and technology and production, all these things make
    democracy more likely. They make isolated, state-controlled economies
    even more dysfunctional. They make opportunities for those able to seize
    them more numerous and richer than ever before. And yet even in this
    modern world, the oldest of humanity's demons still plague us: the
    hatreds of people for one another based solely on their religion or
    their race or their ethnic backgrounds or sometimes simply on the piece
    of ground they happen to have been born upon.
        In the midst of these conflicts between the faces and forces of
    tomorrow and the forces of yesterday, I believe that the greatness of
    nations in the 21st century will be defined not by whether they can
    dictate to millions and millions of people within and beyond their
    borders but instead by whether they can provide their citizens, without
    regard to their race or their gender, the opportunity to live up to the
    fullest of their ability, to take full advantage of the incredible
    things that are in the world of today and tomorrow.
        Therefore, if we are to realize the greatness of Russia in the 21st
    century, I believe your nation must be strong democratically and
    economically. And in this increasingly interconnected world, you must be
    able to get along together and to get along with and trade with your
    neighbors close at hand and all around the globe. To do that, I think we
    will have to write an entirely new future for all of Europe, a future in
    which security is based not on old divisions but on a new integration of
    nations by means of their shared commitment to democracy, to open
    economies, and to peaceful military cooperation.
        I come here as a friend and supporter of the democratic changes
    going on in this nation. I hope that my Nation and I can make a positive
    contribution in the spirit of genuine and equal partnership, not simply
    to these large changes but a positive contribution to the everyday lives
    of ordinary citizens of this great nation.

    [[Page 68]]

        In the end, you will have to decide your own future. I do not
    presume to do that. Your future is still yours to make, yours to write,
    yours to shape. But I do come to say that my Nation and its President
    want very much to be your equal partners and genuine friends.
        If I were in your place listening to this speech, I might ask
    myself, ``Why is this guy saying this? What is on his mind? Why is he
    really eager to work with us?'' First of all, I identify with and even
    sympathize with the difficulty of the changes you face. I ran for
    President of the United States in 1992 because I was convinced that my
    Nation had to make some very hard changes and some tough changes in
    order to keep the dream that had inspired Americans for 200 years alive,
    in order to keep the hopes of our working people alive in a fierce and
    difficult and every-changing new global economy. So I understand that. I
    have devoted myself at home to making those changes, and I know the
    changes are difficult, even in an environment in which they are easier
    than the ones you face. So I come here in genuine sympathy and
    understanding.
        Secondly, I am interested in supporting these changes because my
    Nation stood for so long against a Communist system, against its lack of
    freedom, against its excessive dictates, against its imperial impulses,
    and I could not bear to think that a majority of your people would ever
    be sorry to have given it up.
        I come here because I believe that, together, we can write a new
    future for Europe and help the entire world to have a more peaceful and
    prosperous future. And frankly, I come here because I believe your
    success is clearly in the best interests of the United States and of
    ordinary American citizens. For it is in our interest to be able to
    spend less on defense and to invest more in our own people, in the
    education and health and welfare and technology that will help to carry
    us into a better time in the 21st century. It is in our interest to curb
    the spread of weapons of mass destruction and to cooperate with you in
    reducing threats to peace all around the world. It is in our interest to
    develop new trade ties and new customers. And each of these developments
    is more likely if we have a genuine, equal partnership with a strong and
    free Russia.
        I believe how you define your future will be determined in large
    measure by how you decide to respond as a people to the three great
    challenges facing you. First, will you continue to work for a genuine
    market economy, or will you slow down or turn back? Second, will you
    continue to strengthen and deepen your commitment to democracy, or will
    you allow it to be restricted? And third, how will you define your role
    in the world as a great power? Will you define it in yesterday's terms
    or tomorrow's?
        Let me begin with a challenge that clearly most affects the daily
    lives of the people of this nation, the economic one. I know that your
    transition to a market economy has been hard, painful, even emotionally
    disorienting to millions of people. But if the change seems costly,
    consider the price of standing still or trying to go back. A rigid,
    state-run economy simply does not work in the modern world.
        To be sure, the system you had produced a very literate society,
    made some of you the best educated people in the world, developed a
    high-tech base and developed a strong industrial base tied quite closely
    to her military might. But it is inadequate to a dramatically changing,
    highly competitive, increasingly flexible global economy in which all
    decisions simply cannot be made by a handful of people from the top down
    and in which no country is immune from the forces without.
        The old system failed before. That is why you are in the present
    period of transition. If you attempted to reimpose it, it would fail you
    again. Let me make it clear that I do not suggest that markets solve all
    problems. They clearly do not solve all of society's problems. And
    indeed, they create some problems for every society, problems which must
    be frankly and forthrightly addressed by people who propose to have a
    strong community of common interest and common concern within their
    nation. Yet it is clear that the surest way to prosperity in the world
    in which we live is the ability of people to produce and to sell high-
    quality goods and services both within and beyond their borders. There
    is no other clear path to prosperity.
        Russia clearly has the capacity to do well in this kind of economy.
    You have enormous

    [[Page 69]]

    technological prowess, a highly educated citizenry that is known and
    respected around the world. You have immensely valuable natural
    resources. It is clear that you have the capacity to do well. You have a
    rapidly growing private sector. Already your nation has privatized
    nearly one-third of its industry. About 600 businesses a month are
    privatizing. Tens of millions of your people now own private property
    and are gaining daily experience in market economies. But there remain
    serious problems, the most profound, of course, is high rates of
    inflation.
        Inflation at high rates destroys wages. It makes people feel that
    they can't keep up and that no matter how hard they work, they will not
    be rewarded for their labor. It hurts the ordinary working people, the
    very people that are the backbone of any society, who have to believe
    that the future can be better than the present. It undermines that very
    belief and makes it so difficult to develop and maintain a majority for
    the changes and the short-term sacrifices that have to be made. So
    inflation must be tamed. And as everyone knows, that also has its price,
    for inflation can only be tamed if the government is willing to print
    less money and therefore to spend less.
        The next problem you have, it seems to me as an outside observer, is
    that even though you have a lot of privatization of companies, the
    systems on which every private economy depends are not as well-developed
    as they ought to be. There are not enough laws which clarify and protect
    contracts, which make tax systems clear, which provide, in other words,
    the framework within which all different kinds of transactions can
    occur. But that can be rather easily corrected.
        There are other problems. I might just mention one other that
    President Yeltsin has talked about quite a lot lately and that has
    received a lot of attention all around the world since the last election
    here in Russia, and that is that your country must develop some sort of
    social safety net as all other successful market economies have to deal
    with the fact that some people are always going to have difficulties in
    a rapidly changing economy. Most people can be restored to participation
    in the economy in times of prosperity, but in any market economy there
    will always be people who are dislocated. So you have to have training
    systems, retraining systems, systems to make sure that new businesses
    can always be started when old businesses are stopping, and systems to
    deal with people who simply are not competitive in difficult times.
        Now, you must determine how to do this. No one can determine how to
    do it for you or even whether to do it. But as your partner, I can tell
    you that the United States will do what we can to help to ease your
    hardships as you move forward on this path and do what we can to help
    you make the decisions that you are prepared to make.
        Let me say that I think this has been, in some ways, the most
    difficult period of all for you because you have taken a lot of risks,
    you have made a lot of changes already, and yet the changes have not
    been felt tangibly in the lives of most ordinary citizens in the
    country. And that is very difficult. But I can say that just as an
    outside observer, it seems to me that it is likely that you will begin
    to see those changes.
        Let me just give you a couple of examples. I asked Vice President
    Gore and Prime Minister Chernomyrdin to work on a program of economic
    cooperation in the fields of energy, the environment, and space. You
    have massive energy resources. If we can just get a few more things
    worked out, it will lead to big flows of money and investment,
    prosperity, and jobs into this nation.
        We have reached an agreement, an unprecedented agreement, for
    cooperation in space. Next month, Russian cosmonauts will serve on our
    space shuttle. We will share our resources, share our knowledge, share
    our training. And we will uncover things in space and in our venture
    which will have direct economic benefits to the people of Russia and the
    people of the United States. We both have different but very significant
    environmental problems which require high levels of skill and technology
    but which generate enormous economic opportunity and large numbers of
    jobs. These things will come.
        Secondly, last April when I met with President Yeltsin, I pledged
    $1.6 billion in United States aid. We have now committed all that aid,
    and 70 percent of the money has been spent. And I provided a map the
    other day

    [[Page 70]]

    to show that it had been spent all over the country in all kinds of
    different ways, mostly to help you to develop a private economy. You
    will begin to see the benefits of that.
        Just this week, the G-7 big industrial nations opened an office in
    this city, led by an American, for the purpose of making sure that we
    speed up the aid that was promised last summer but which has been coming
    too slow. In September, the Congress of the United States approved
    another $2.5 billion aid package which can now begin to flow again to
    try to create jobs and opportunities and to help slow the rate of
    inflation in this country. So I believe that specific benefits will
    begin to be felt, and people will come to see that there is a light at
    the end of this long tunnel.
        Just today we announced the signing of a contract for the purchase
    of highly enriched uranium, a contract which will bring another $12
    billion to this nation over the next several years. And we are working
    hard to get assistance to the nations which buy your energy, because so
    many of them cannot afford to pay for it, to make sure that you can be
    paid in cash, promptly, as you sell your energy resources. All these
    things will begin to have an impact on the lives of ordinary citizens.
    That is something that, as someone who also has to run for election on a
    periodic basis, I am sensitive to that. In a democracy, if you put
    people in the driver's seat, they are going to drive. So it is best to
    give them a good road to drive on, and we are working with that.
        The next great challenge Russia faces is the consolidation of
    democracy, and I want to say just a few words about that. Just like the
    market, democracy is no cure-all for all economic troubles or social
    strains. It is always a noisy and messy system. Our common ally in World
    War II, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that,
    ``Democracy is the worst possible form of government, except for all of
    the others.'' Why did he say that? Because the debate is so wide; the
    opinions are so different. And sometimes, the differences are so sharp
    that you wonder if anything will ever be done. But democracy still
    offers the best guarantee of good decisionmaking and the protection of
    individual and minority rights.
        In a society like yours and mine and throughout the multiethnic
    expanse of Europe, democracy offers the best hope of protecting
    diversity and of making diversity a source of strength, harnessing it to
    a world in which diversity is perhaps the overwhelming fact of life.
    That is why I would argue to you that each of us, in order to protect
    your democracy and mine, has a personal responsibility to denounce
    intolerance and ethnic hatred and anti semitism and anything that
    undermines the ability of everybody who lives within our national
    borders to be as productive as possible. Because, keep in mind, in the
    world in which we live, if you make any decision that deprives anybody
    who lives in your country of the right to live up to the fullest of
    their capacity, you have weakened your own ability to be free and
    prosperous and successful.
        I might say it is also why the United States has cautioned other
    nations to respect the rights of ethnic Russians and other minorities
    within their borders. In both our nations the success of democracy
    depends partly on a formal constitution and partly on regular elections
    and respecting those elections. But it also depends upon a full array of
    other free associations that give real life and texture to democracies,
    independent trade unions, newspapers, and a wide variety of civic and
    cultural associations.
        If, like me, you are in a position of authority, you know that the
    freedom of speech can sometimes be a painful thing. Even in Roman times
    the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius said that the freedom of speech for
    someone in power was something to be endured, not enjoyed. But it is
    essential to democratic lives that people feel free to say what they
    believe without fear of retaliation.
        We are committed to fostering this kind of democratic ferment, and
    we are prepared to provide whatever kind of technical assistance we can
    to help it do well here. I say that because some people are concerned at
    the wide variety of views and the loud expression of those views we see
    in the Duma here after the last election. That can be a healthy thing
    if, but only if, everybody else's views are respected and protected too.
    For once democracy becomes an instrument of crushing the views of the
    minorities, those who

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    disagree, those who don't have the muscle, then democracy itself soon
    disappears.
        The third great challenge you face today is redefining the role of
    your great nation in this age: What does it mean to be a great power in
    this 21st century? How will you define it? How will you know Russia is a
    great nation? If someone asked you to describe it, looking to the
    future, how would you know? If someone asked you to describe it looking
    back in the early 1800's, you would say, ``We are a great nation because
    we beat Napoleon and ran him out of Russia.'' Right? Whether you agree
    or disagree with the Communist system, you can say you were a great
    nation in the sense that you loomed large at the height of the Soviet
    empire with the Warsaw Pact. Great does not always mean good, but at
    least it's large.
        How will you define your greatness? It is a profoundly important
    question that you must answer. I think there are some different ways to
    describe it. Russia cosponsored with the United States the Middle East
    peace process. I think it was a very great thing when Israel and the PLO
    signed their accord on September 13, 1993. I think it is a good thing
    that we are continuing to work until a comprehensive settlement is
    reached in that troubled area.
        I think it was a great thing what we did today with the Presidents
    of Ukraine and Russia and the United States, agreeing to get all the
    nuclear weapons out of Ukraine and to give fair compensation to that
    nation for the uranium they are giving up. It makes the world a safer
    place. It makes your nation and mine less vulnerable to nuclear
    terrorism or threats. It shows that we can move beyond the nuclear age
    entirely.
        There are still questions, you know, in the world about how you will
    define your greatness. When I was at the NATO conference and afterward,
    there are nations that live between Western Europe and the border of
    Russia who still wonder what the future holds, nations who said, ``Put
    me in NATO now just in case. Oh, I believe this President of Russia when
    he says he respects the territorial borders of other nations, but look
    at the history of Russia. Think of the national impulse. Draw another
    line across Europe while you have a chance.''
        There are people who are in the Baltic nations now who hear some of
    the debate in your politics, who hear the threats to take them over
    again. One of your political leaders even suggested you might like to
    have Alaska back. I don't think I can go along with that. [Laughter] I
    say that because all those definitions I would argue to you are looking
    to yesterday. What in the world would you do with an army of occupation
    to the east? How would you pay for it? And what would it give you? How
    would you be more powerful than some small nation, one of the industrial
    tigers of Asia, for example, producing and selling goods and services at
    such a rate that their people's incomes are going up by 10 percent a
    year, and they are giving the people who live there the opportunity to
    do things that would have been undreamed of by their parents or
    grandparents? This is a very serious thing.
        I believe that the greatness of a nation that lasts for centuries
    and centuries and centuries, as this nation has, is the ability to
    redefine itself in every age and time. The young people of Russia
    especially now have a chance to show that a great power can promote
    patriotism without expansionism, that a great power can promote national
    pride without national prejudice. That, I submit, is your challenge.
        Today you face no threat from invasion. That was a legitimate
    concern of Russia for decades and decades, a legitimate reason to want a
    buffer zone around your borders in former times. It is not there now. I
    believe the measure of your greatness in the future will be whether
    Russia, the big neighbor, can be the good neighbor.
        That is why it is so important that as your forces operate beyond
    your borders, they do so according to international law, why it is
    important that you continue your planned withdrawal from all the Baltic
    States, why it is important that your nation work with the United States
    and the rest of Europe to build the Partnership For Peace called for at
    the NATO conference this year, so that for the first time in the history
    of nation states we can have a Europe that is united by a shared
    commitment to democracy, free-market economies, and mutual respect for
    borders,

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    instead of the Europe that is divided for the first time in history.
        I'm very proud and pleased that President Yeltsin decided to
    participate in the Partnership For Peace and work for an integrated
    Europe, that he signed the historic accord with President Kravchuk and
    with me today to eliminate over 1,800 nuclear warheads. These are
    hopeful signs and, I believe, signs that indicate you can make a future
    that is different from the past.
        Yours is a history of heroism and of persistent hope. The question
    now is, can we make the economic decisions, the political decisions that
    foster hope? You will have to decide these things. I'm amused when I
    come here in the spirit of genuine partnership and respect and some
    people say, ``Well, the United States is trying to dictate our course.''
    Nothing could be further from the truth. Believe me, my friends, it's
    all we can do to deal with our own problems. We don't have time to try
    to dictate your course. But the course you take will affect us, and so
    we want you to make decisions that are best for you.
        And I will close as I began: Will you define your future greatness
    in terms that were relevant to the past or terms that will shape the
    future? This is a crossroad and a difficult one. But the younger
    generations of Russians will look back on this time with either
    gratitude or regret, depending on how those questions are answered, the
    economic, the political, the military questions.
        I believe you will choose the future. After all, Russia did not get
    to this point by making all that many wrong decisions in the past. And
    every nation makes a few mistakes. There are few people anywhere that
    have more knowledge of history, both positive and negative, that have
    more reason to hope for the future than you do. I know the present is
    difficult, but if you make the right decisions, if you choose hope over
    fear, then the future will reward your courage and your vision.
        Thank you very much.

    [At this point, the television station took a commercial break.]

        The President. Now we're going to take some questions from the
    audience. And what I will do is, we have also some remote sites, so I'll
    take one from the right, one from the left, I'll do the screen and come
    back, okay? I can't see so well, so----
        Q. Do I need to speak Russian or English?
        The President. Speak English. And then they can listen to the
    translation, and I'll listen to you.

    Education in Russia

        Q. I am a student of Moscow University. Mr. Clinton, what do you
    think about the future education in Russia, what it needs to be, how it
    needs to be done, and what changes are needed?
        The President. Well, I'm not an expert in your education system,
    although I have spent a little time trying to find out about it, because
    in my career in the U.S., my major area of interest was education. I
    think first you have a very strong basic system. Virtually all your
    people are literate. An enormous number of your people speak more than
    one language. And you have very strong technical programs.
        I would say you need to develop some of your educational programs
    for the professions that manage market economies. Do you have enough
    people who can run things in a very rapidly changing world? I think
    there are some gaps here, in other words, in the kinds of training you
    have for the kind of economy you're trying to develop. And I think some
    studies should be done about that, and you should provide those
    education programs. But you're actually quite fortunate in having a very
    literate society and a very strong background in the arts, the
    humanities, and in science and technology.
        Keep in mind one other thing. In most modern market economies, the
    average person, even if he or she stays with the same employer, will
    change the nature of their work seven or eight times in a lifetime. So
    it's impossible to give someone even a university degree that answers
    all the questions they will face in the workplace forever. So you have
    to develop systems of learning for a lifetime. And the most important
    thing is that you just get a good basic foundation that enables you to
    think well, to solve problems and to change, to learn as new things come
    along.

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        Q. I am a first-year student at the department of foreign languages
    at Moscow University. First, I'd like to----
        The President. Well, I'd say you're a successful student. No accent.
    [Laughter]
        Q. I'd like to thank you for what you think about our future in
    economics and in democracy. But I'd like to remind you that--how I see
    tomorrow of our country is the spiritual power. Some astrologists say
    that Russia will soon become the center of everything because we have
    this spiritual energy here. What do you think of that? You didn't
    mention anything about our cultural future. Thank you.
        The President. Well, I mentioned a little bit about it, but I think
    you have enormous cultural power. I think you also have enormous
    spiritual power. There is a great energy in this country that
    communicates itself. It's always been here, I think. And in some ways it
    was repressed in the last several decades. And it's coming out now in
    all kinds of ways, not only in terms of creative culture but also in
    terms of new interest in religion and faith and all kinds of things that
    show the character and depth of the nation. And I would urge you to
    cultivate that, both in terms of culture and faith.
        Someone ask a question. I can't pick anyone there. You'll have to be
    self-selective.
        Q. Good day, Mr. President. This is the cradle of perestroika. This
    is the birthplace of the last President of the Soviet Union. This is a
    multinational area. We have all kinds of people here, students, workers,
    office workers, representatives from the Cossacks, also refugees from
    the hot points in the former Soviet Union.
        Mr. President, on the territory of the former Soviet Union, civil
    wars go on without end. Russia, unfortunately, either cannot or doesn't
    want to settle the civil strife. What is your feeling? Does the United
    States of America plan to get involved in these conflicts? And if so, in
    what way? And more so because there is an example of Yugoslavia. There
    is a danger here of taking sides in the West; the West is supporting the
    Moslems in Yugoslavia.
        Let me repeat the question: If there will be an involvement in the
    United States, what kind of involvement would this be?
        The President. Well, first, I don't think it's entirely accurate
    that Russia has not been involved at all. There's no question that
    Russia and the Russian military was very instrumental in stabilizing Mr.
    Shevardnadze's position in Georgia. So I think there will be times when
    you will be involved, and you will be more likely to be involved in some
    of these areas near you, just like the United States has been involved
    in the last several years in Panama and Grenada near our area.
        The thing I think that we have to try to do, as I said in my speech,
    that when there is an involvement beyond the borders of the nation, that
    it is consistent with international law and, whenever possible, actually
    supported through other nations either through the United Nations or
    through some other instrument of international law.
        Now, let us also frankly acknowledge that some of these conflicts,
    take the one in Yugoslavia, Bosnia, for example, some of these conflicts
    represent longstanding conflicts that were actually repressed during the
    time when these countries were effectively controlled from above and
    when the various warring factions were, in effect, occupied.
        What happened in Yugoslavia was when Mr. Tito died and then the
    central government's authority began to erode and then all the various
    parts of Yugoslavia began to try to be independent, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
    which always had these three different factions, basically degenerated
    back to the conflict which has been there for hundreds of years.
        There is no perfect solution to any of life's problems, you know,
    and I still think, on balance, we're better off without empires, and
    countries are better off seeking their own determination. But in this
    case, the truth is people there keep killing each other.
        Now, what I have done is--the reason that you say that we have
    supported the Moslems in Yugoslavia, we supported the multiethnic
    government in Bosnia because it was recognized by the United Nations. So
    the United States supported it because it was recognized by the United
    Nations. However, we also support a peace process which would give some
    territory to the Moslem-dominated government, to the Serbs and to the
    Croats. So what we're doing in Bosnia is to try to

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    support the U.N. mission and trying to urge the parties to stop killing
    each other.
        If you don't have an imperial army, if you don't just go in and take
    people over and tell them what to do, then you have to make some
    allowances for the fact that occasionally they'll do the stupid thing
    and keep on killing each other even when it doesn't make any sense. And
    there are some areas where you can stop it and some where you can't.
        If you look at Africa, for example, and Brunei and Angola and the
    Sudan--never mind Somalia, just those three countries--hundreds of
    thousands of people have died in each of those countries just in the
    last couple of years because of civil war. That is what I said in my
    speech. There is still too much tribal and ethnic hatred in this world,
    and we can't control it all, not and take care of our problems within
    our borders.
        Q. I'm a journalist. Mr. Clinton, what would you like the historians
    to say about you once you finish your tenure as President?
        The President. I would like them to say I restored a sense of hope
    and optimism to my country, that I strengthened the economy, and made it
    possible for my people to lead the world economically into the 21st
    century and that I restored the sense of community in America, that we
    came back together as a people even though we are very diverse now. And
    I would like it to be said that I helped lead the world to more peaceful
    cooperation, into a future very different from the bloody and divided
    past of the 20th century.
        Q. I'm a journalist also. Mr. President, if at a dinner table, let's
    say, President Yeltsin would ask you to switch places with him, would
    you make such a risk? Would you risk doing that?
        The President. No, I like the job I have. [Laughter] And I wouldn't
    do it because I'm just as proud to be an American as he is to be a
    Russian. But if I asked him to switch places with me, he wouldn't do it
    either.
        You know, I'll tell you, the one thing I believe about President
    Yeltsin, he's just like me. We make mistakes, and we're not perfect, and
    we don't have all the answers. But I'll tell you one thing about him, he
    at least gets up every day and tries to make a difference. He is trying
    to do something. The world is full of politicians who in times of change
    only worry about maintaining their popularity instead of making
    decisions. At least he is trying to make decisions and move generally in
    the right historical direction.
        So if you disagree with him, you should get in here and contribute
    to this great democratic debate and try and help develop better
    politics. But it is a good thing, I think, that you have a President
    wade into the tides of history and make decisions.
        Q. You've been talking about the future of our nation, that we must
    look into another future, but the nearest future is 2 years for the new
    Presidential elections. And Mr. Yeltsin with whom you personally
    indicate--[inaudible]--Russian democracy, will not run for reelection
    because he leaves. And we can see at the moment he leaves is the moment
    democracy leaves. So it means in 2 years we'll have a different
    President. He could be either a Communist or a nationalist. Is America
    ready or getting ready to deal with this situation? And gentlemen, in
    concern with this why are not you willing to give protections to the
    nations who seek it? For instance, the Baltic situation?
        Thank you.
        The President. Wait, stand up. First of all, one of the things
    you've learned now that you have these elections all the time is that 2
    years is an eternity in democracy. Just because there's nobody on the
    scene now doesn't mean there won't be somebody on the scene that none of
    you have ever heard of 2 years from now that a majority of the people
    will fall in love with and make President of the country. So you cannot
    assume that.
        On the other hand, I would say this not only to the forces of reform
    but to any other blocs. One of the most important responsibilities of
    political parties in a democracy is to always be grooming new leaders
    and to never treat anyone, no matter how great he or she may be, as
    totally indispensable. So this is something that all of these groups
    will have to learn. You have to always be grooming new people for
    leadership. But I wouldn't assume that there would be no future leaders
    besides out of the other two blocs you mentioned.
        Now, on the Baltics, we have not denied them the right to
    protection. In fact, we have

    [[Page 75]]

    invited them to be part of this Partnership For Peace. And in order to
    be part of it--and keep in mind, Russia has agreed to be part of it--
    they will participate in joint military planning, joint military
    operations. And as we do the exercises, the only way you can be part of
    it is if you promise to respect the territorial boundaries of all of the
    other countries that are part of this. So we are giving them a great
    deal of protection. It just means that they're not members of NATO right
    away.
        The other NATO members will tell you that, to be part of NATO, you
    have to be in a position to assume certain responsibilities as well as
    just ask for the security guarantee. But there are significant increases
    in security just for being part of the Partnership For Peace.
        Before we go to the screen again, to St. Petersburg, I would like to
    introduce the most important person in this audience to me, my wife,
    Hillary, who just came to Russia this morning. Stand up. [Applause] A
    very large number of the people I have met in the last 2 days,
    especially young women, have asked me about her. So I thought I would
    introduce her, and I thank you for that.
        Is someone going to ask a--St. Petersburg, do you have a question?
        Q. Very recently, the political and economic assistance was very
    closely linked to human rights. And why, at the present time, does
    America help the Baltic States in spite of the repression against
    Russians in that country?
        The President. Which country?
        Q. Baltics.
        The President. First of all----
        Q. I'm talking about all three Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania,
    and Estonia.
        The President. Well, first of all, in Lithuania, your government,
    the Russian government withdrew the troops because it was satisfied with
    the relationship between the two countries.
        There are still outstanding questions with Estonia and Latvia. An
    international group from the Council on Security and Cooperation in
    Europe, CSCE, is now in Latvia studying the situation. And we have made
    it clear--I have personally met with the leaders of all of the Baltic
    States, and I have said we were for the independence and the freedom of
    the Baltic nations, but we expect the Russian minorities to be
    protected. And if we have evidence that they are being abused, it will
    affect our policies toward them.
        So I assure you, sir, that--I am waiting for the report right now on
    Latvia by the unbiased, sort of third-party source. And if there is
    evidence that they are abusing the rights of the Russian minorities,
    then I will act accordingly.
        I don't think we can have a double standard. We can't have one
    standard for the United States and Russia and say if you're a smaller
    country you can do things that bigger countries shouldn't be permitted
    to do.
        Q. Mr. President, will America give strong financial support to the
    businessman who would like to invest in the economy of Russia?
        The President. We have--where is our support for them, is that what
    you said? We have some institutions, the Export-Import Bank and the
    office of private investment, which help private investors to invest in
    other countries. But the main thing we are trying to do now, we need
    much more--there should be much more American investment in Russia.
        Two of my Cabinet members met with the American business community
    here yesterday morning. And in March the Secretary of Commerce is coming
    here with a large group of American businessmen to encourage them to
    invest. We have also taken all the duties, all the extra taxes off of
    nearly 5,000 Russian products which can now be sold without handicap
    into the United States.
        So we are trying to figure out not only how we can invest more here
    but how we can buy more of your products. And in the end, that is much
    more important to your economic future than any direct government aid,
    because in our economy, there is so much more money in the private
    sector than in the government sector. So we are working on that. And I
    hope in March when the American Investment and Trade Mission comes here,
    it gets a lot of publicity and that they get a chance to meet a lot of
    people and to learn a lot about how we can do that.

    [[Page 76]]

        If they need help with the financing for investment, we actually
    have institutions to do that also to help them move----
        Q. In your speech you mentioned about your intention to support, to
    protect full Russian democracy. Is it the same for you, Russian
    democracy and the President Boris Yeltsin? That's the first part of the
    question. And the second one: How far the United States is going to go
    to protect Russian democracy?
        The President. The answer to your first question is that--is Russian
    democracy the same thing as Boris Yeltsin? No. Not now, because you also
    have a democratic constitution that the people have voted for and a
    democratically elected Parliament that the people have voted for. But
    before the last election, you only had one person who had ever been
    voted on in a free election by all of the people of Russia, the
    President.
        Now, do I intend to work with President Yeltsin as long as he
    embodies Russian democracy and as long as he is the choice of the
    majority of the people of Russia to be the President? Of course, there
    is no other President. There may be some people in Russia who wish
    someone else were the President of the United States, but I'm the only
    U.S. President you have right now. You see? That's not the same thing as
    saying that I'm all there is to American democracy; I'm not.
        So what we wish to do--yesterday evening, Ambassador Pickering, our
    American Ambassador, and Mrs. Pickering were both here, held a reception
    for me at the American Ambassador's residence, Spaso House, and we had a
    lot of the leaders of Parliament, a lot of the leaders of the regional
    political groups, a lot of people from the private sector, some of whom
    are from different political groups, there to meet me. Because now,
    democracy is three things: It's the elected President, the constitution,
    and the Parliament, plus people who have been elected in various ways
    throughout the country, plus people who are in free associations, like
    labor movements.
        Now, one thing democracy is, beyond majority rule, is respect for
    minority rights, for individual freedoms, like the freedom of speech and
    the right to vote, even if you don't vote the way people like. So when
    you said, how far would I go to protect Russian democracy, I want an
    equal partnership here. I don't want to have any dictatorial or control
    in Russia. I just want to be an equal partner with a strong partner. And
    I will be an equal partner as long as there is democracy, which is,
    majority rule under the constitution, and respect for minority rights
    and minority interests.
        Q. Mr. President, what do you think is the main difference between
    Russia and the United States?
        The President. I think the main difference between Russia and the
    United States today is that we are the oldest, now the longest lasting
    continuous democracy on the face of the Earth, and you are one of the
    youngest. We have now been a free democracy for over 200 years. And that
    affects the way we are and the way we deal with things.
        On the other hand, we have a lot of problems in common, and we have
    a lot of good things in common. We are much more--our people have deep
    roots in the soil. We're much more likely to be much more sort of open
    and friendly and gregarious in a certain way than many people in other
    countries. We also, unfortunately, have a lot of the same problems that
    you are now dealing with, a crime problem, and my country has one of the
    worst crime problems in the world.
        So we have a lot in common, our two peoples do. And we have always
    pretty much gotten along, except for the tensions caused when we had
    different political systems before and after World War II. But I would
    say the biggest difference flows out of the fact that we have had the
    benefit of being a democracy for 200 years, and you are one of the
    youngest.
        Q. We welcome you here in the Kremlin. I would like to tell you
    briefly about the history of my city. This is one of the largest
    industrial cities, but unfortunately, there is a major military industry
    here, and this is the place where academician Sakharov was exiled. At
    the same time we're one of the focal points of the reform. And I can
    judge about that just by looking at the people who are next to me.
    Around me are people who are helping along to reform.

    [[Page 77]]

        This is the Mayor. He is welcoming you now. We have a twin city in
    the United States, which is Philadelphia. This is one of our businessmen
    who owns a joint venture with an American partner. This is an ordinary
    citizen of our city, who is now holding a famous festival. One of them
    has been attended by Rostropovich. And we have many many students who
    have studied in the United States.
        We had just one question. Right next to me is a teacher. She is
    running student exchange programs.
        Q. I've been doing this for a long time. But usually these are one-
    sided exchanges. Does Mr. President think that American students would
    have something to learn from Russia, as well?
        The President. Absolutely. Yes. First of all, I'm glad you have a
    sister city relationship with Philadelphia. It is a wonderful, wonderful
    city. They also voted for me for President. But the answer to your
    question is, definitely. I came here in the first week of 1970 as a
    student, on my own when I was living in England because I wanted to
    learn about this country and because I believed that we ought to be
    friends and because I was so worried about what then seemed to be the
    differences between our two nations and the fact that we could blow up
    the world almost by accident. So yes, I think we should send large
    numbers of American students here. I think we have a lot to learn.
        Keep in mind, if we were having this--if Boris Yeltsin came to the
    United States and did what I'm doing here, very few of the students
    could stand up and speak to him in Russian as you are speaking to me in
    English. We have a lot to learn from you, and I would like more of our
    students to come here.
        Yes. Yes. This is your youngest questioner so far. How old are you,
    young man?
        Q. I'm 13 years old.
        The President. Thirteen, not 30. [Laughter]
        Q. I saw your picture shaking hands with President Kennedy, and I'd
    like to ask you how old were you and when you got your idea to become a
    President of the United States.
        The President. Come here. Come up here. Come shake hands with me,
    and maybe you'll be President of Russia some day.
        I was 16 when I shook hands with President Kennedy, and it was about
    that time that I knew I wanted to go into public service. But of course,
    at that time I had no idea that I could ever be elected President or
    that I would ever have a chance to. But sometime when I was a fairly
    young man, I decided that I would work hard and that if I ever got an
    opportunity that I would try to become President.
        Probably our greatest President was Abraham Lincoln, who was the
    President of the United States during the Civil War in the mid-1800's.
    And when he was a young man, Abraham Lincoln wrote in his diary, ``I
    will work and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.'' I say that
    to you.
        And one thing we do have in common that I have always admired about
    your country is many of the leaders of your country, like me, have come
    from basically quite humble circumstances, have been working people. And
    that's a great thing for a nation, to make it possible to cast the net
    for talent very wide so that anybody has a chance to rise to the top if
    he or she has the ability and the good fortune to do so. So good luck to
    you.
        Q. Thank you.
        Q. Mr. President, I have two questions for you today. You stated
    that you have your idea of what democracy is, and that is quite natural.
    It has three component parts, but don't you feel that in England there
    is a completely different democracy as there is in France? When you do
    visits around the world and say this sort of democracy is the very best
    model--in other words, ``Okay, Russians, follow us, follow our model.''
    I think this isn't quite correct. I have another question if I can ask
    this one?
        The President. May I answer that one first? Let me answer this one
    first.
        I perfectly agree with that. I think you could have a system, a
    democratic system like the British, like the French, like the Italians,
    like--you name it, but they all have certain things in common. They all
    have opportunities for the people to vote and a system for them to have
    elected representatives who themselves get to vote on which laws govern

    [[Page 78]]

    the people and some system for the protection of individual rights and
    the rights of minority groups. But how you do that is perfectly up to
    you. There are many different ways you can do it. Yes, the British
    system is different from the French system, and both of them are
    different from our system.
        Interestingly enough, your system is different from ours, too. You
    elect one President and then a Parliament, but the upper chamber of your
    Parliament has more control over the lower chamber than ours does, and
    your President, on paper at least, has more power than I do. I sort of
    like your system. [Laughter]
        No, they should be different. I agree with that.
        Q. I have a second question then. During your election campaign you
    demonstrated how you can play the sax. I wonder if you will demonstrate
    for us here today?
        The President. No. I played for President Yeltsin last night. I have
    a quota, one saxophone play per country. [Laughter] I didn't bring the
    horn today, but I thank you for asking.
        Q. Mr. President, just imagine the situation. You don't have an
    opportunity to speak to this pretty large audience. You don't have the
    opportunity to pop into the bakery, buy some bread and chat with some
    people on the street. You just have an opportunity to choose one person,
    one Russian person and talk only to him. From what social layer would
    you choose this person? Would it be, I don't know, an economist,
    interpreter, student, businessman, politician?
        The President. If I could only speak to one person, I would speak to
    the wisest person I could find in a medium-sized city in Russia that was
    having a difficult time with these economic changes. I would talk to
    someone, regardless of what economic strata they were from, he or she
    was from, had a lot of friends from all walks of life, who could tell me
    how they were viewing what is going on now. I would pick someone from a
    sort of medium- to small-sized town because they would be more likely to
    know all different kinds of people.
        Red Square. We need to take one question from Red Square. Red Square
    can you hear me? I've gone over my time already 10 minutes.
        Q. You have a very educated auditorium here, and I was thinking, I
    wonder if you could gather as many people in the U.S. in one studio who
    would be as fluent in Russian as these people in Ostankino are fluent in
    English.
        Anyway, I am here in Red Square. The people who are here would like
    to ask one question. Mr. President, we're getting an impression that
    you're supporting not so much the reforms in Russia but the personality
    of President Yeltsin. What's this connected to?
        The President. Well, I already answered that question, or I tried
    to, but I will answer it again. Until you had your last election and you
    adopted a new constitution and you elected a new Parliament from people
    with--lots of people from different parties, President Yeltsin was the
    only person who had actually been elected by all the people of Russia in
    a full and free election. Now, you have three sources of democratic
    legitimacy, if you will. You have the Parliament, the President, and the
    constitution. We have no interest in picking favorites or defining
    Russian democracy in terms of anyone. So you have done that, and you
    must do that.
        The second thing I would say, however, is that no country can have
    more than one President at a time. Every nation needs someone who's the
    leader, who then works with the leaders of other nations. And I'm the
    President of the United States. If I want to work with you and help you,
    I should be open to meeting with and listening to all the democratic
    voices in Russia. But in the end, I still have to work with your
    President.
        Q. Mr. President, when you were a student you were in Moscow. And
    now you're the President of your Nation. I'm a law student at the Moscow
    International University. And could you give me some advice how I can
    follow your career path?
        The President. Well, I can tell you this: I came from a family that
    had no money, no influence, and no particular interest in politics. My
    mother got interested in politics after I started running, but not
    before. My advice to you would be two things: One, get the best
    education you can; and two, involve yourself in politics and figure out
    what you

    [[Page 79]]

    believe, which party and group you want to be identified with; work in
    the elections; work on some problem that the people have.
        And then the third thing I would say is this: Try to develop a
    genuine interest if you don't have it in the real problems and hopes of
    ordinary people, because in a democracy, the only way you can really
    keep going throughout all the things that will happen, all the ups and
    downs, is if you really care what happens to other people as well as
    what happens to you in your own career.
        They say we have to stop. I've had a wonderful time. I'm sorry, but
    they're telling me I have to cut off.
        I want to thank you again. Thank you very much for this. Thank you.
    I want to thank you again. I wish we had another hour. I'd like to take
    all the questions, but I have abused the network. We are now 18 minutes
    over time. And if you'll hang around here a little bit after, we'll
    shake hands, and I'll try to answer your questions at least face to
    face. But I have to let the network cut off.
        Thank you, all of you, from our remote sites. Thank all of you for
    being here. And Hillary and I are delighted to be with you. Good luck to
    you. We'll try to be good partners and good friends.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:30 p.m. at the Ostankino TV Station. A
    tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.
    This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate
    issue.