    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 3 (Monday, January 24, 1994)]
    [Pages 56-57]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a Reception in Moscow, Russia

    January 13, 1994

        Thank you very much. I want to begin by thanking Ambassador and Mrs.
    Pickering for having us here tonight and for giving us all a chance to
    meet and to visit in what I imagine is an extraordinary and
    unprecedented gathering, not only of Americans but of Russians who come
    from different political perspectives. I am told that 60 years ago at a

    [[Page 57]]

    Christmas Eve party here, three trained seals went crazy in the
    ballroom. Now, in the United States, when people from different
    political parties get together, they sometimes behave the same way.
    [Laughter] So I'm glad to see you all getting along so well tonight.
        It is a great honor for me and the Secretary of State, the Secretary
    of Treasury, and all the other members of our party to be here with so
    many representatives of the new Russia. Each of you who have
    participated in this new democratic process have my respect, my
    admiration, and my pledge of equal partnership. It is difficult for most
    Americans to even imagine the size and scope of the changes going on in
    your nation now. When I leave you, I am going home to attempt to reform
    our Nation's health care system. It is a very big job. It comprises one-
    seventh of our entire economy. You are in the process of transforming
    your entire economy while you develop a new constitutional democracy as
    well. It boggles the mind, and you have my respect for the effort.
        Over the years, over the centuries, the Russian people have shown
    their greatness in many ways: in culture, on the battlefield, in
    government, in space. And now on the brink of the 21st century, this
    great nation is being called upon to redefine its greatness again in
    terms that will enable your nation to be strong and vital and alive for
    hundreds of years into the future.
        We live in a curious time where modern revolutions are transforming
    life for the better, revolutions in communications, in technology, and
    in many other areas. And yet the oldest of society's demons plague us
    still, the hatreds of people for one another based on their race, their
    ethnic group, their religion, even the piece of ground they happen to
    have been born on. In the midst of this conflict of historic
    proportions, I believe that greatness of nations in the 21st century
    will be defined by how successful they are in providing the opportunity
    for every man and woman, every boy and girl living within the nation's
    borders to live up to the fullest of their natural capacity.
        If we are to have any chance at all to realize that future in the
    world, I believe this nation must be strong democratically and strong
    economically. And I believe we will have to write a new future for all
    of Europe and create a future which, for the first time in history,
    Europe is not divided by some political line which leads to war or which
    is the product of a destructive isolationism born of past divisions.
        So as I look around this room at the faces of tomorrow's Russia--
    people from different political parties, people who are members of the
    Duma and people who are governors and people who represent local
    government, people who are in private enterprises--I say to you there is
    lots of room for difference of opinion. Indeed, the world we are living
    in and the world we are moving toward is so complicated and changes so
    fast, all of us desperately need to listen to one another's opinions.
    But if we are to realize the measure of the true greatness in your
    nation and in mine, we must keep our devotion to democracy, to a certain
    freedom in our economic affairs, and to a respect for one another's
    neighbors. For greatness in the next century will be defined not by how
    far we can reach but by how well we do by the people who live within our
    borders.
        I came here as a friend and supporter of the democratic changes
    going on in this country. I hope that together we can make a positive
    difference in a genuine and equal partnership. But in the end, you will
    have to decide your future. American support can certainly not make all
    the difference, and American direction is unwarranted. The future is for
    you to write and for you to make. But I come to say, from the bottom of
    my heart, the people of the United States and the President of the
    United States wish to be your partners and your friends.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:28 p.m. at Spaso House. This item was not
    received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.