[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 39 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[Pages 1841-1842]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 24, 1994

    Good morning. This week I'm in Chicago, where my radio address is 
carried live each week by radio station WMAQ.
    One week ago, America stood ready to use force if necessary to help 
restore the democratically elected government in Haiti. American power 
marshaled in pursuit of our national interest enabled American diplomacy 
to succeed. Haiti's military leaders agreed to leave power no later than 
October 15th. And our troops entered Haiti peacefully and without 
bloodshed, leading an international coalition of 28 nations that will 
work to bring greater security to the people and restore to power 
Haiti's democratically elected government.
    Today, I am pleased to report on the progress of our mission. The 
U.S. contribution to the international coalition will soon be at full 
strength, some 14,000 American service men and women. Our troops include 
nearly 1,000 military police, who are working to help ensure that the 
Haitian police act with restraint toward the Haitian people. Police 
monitors from our coalition partners, Argentina, Jordan, and Bolivia, 
are expected to arrive next week. And the United Nations human rights 
observers expelled from Haiti 2 months ago will soon return. We've also 
have begun programs to confiscate heavy weapons controlled by the 
Haitian military and to buy back light weapons from the militia and 
civilians.
    Our presence, in short, is helping to restore civil order in a 
country wracked by violence and instability. Perhaps the best evidence 
of our success is that 200 to 300 Haitian refugees who we sheltered at 
our base in Guantanamo will go home on Monday. And we expect more to 
follow soon.
    This remains a difficult undertaking, as with all military 
operations, and as I speak to you, Secretary of Defense Perry and 
General Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are 
traveling to Haiti to review our progress on the ground. I am proud of 
our troops and their commanders there. They deserve our thanks, our 
prayers, and our praise.
    Our success in Haiti to date shows what the international community 
and American leadership can achieve in helping countries in their 
struggle to build democracy. Our mission, however, is limited. We must 
remember, as I plan to tell the United Nations General Assembly on 
Monday, that it is up to the people in those countries ultimately to 
ensure their own freedom. This is the great challenge and opportunity of 
democracy.
    That's also one of the lessons I hope Americans will learn as 
Russian President Boris Yeltsin and South African President Nelson 
Mandela visit our country in the next 2 weeks. Their visits will be 
occasions to reflect on the remarkable democratic transformations of 
Russia and South Africa, which the United States has done a great deal 
to promote.
    America should be proud of our leadership in helping to build open 
societies around the world. By supporting democracy and promoting 
economic growth, we are actively helping others, but we're helping 
ourselves at the same time.

[[Page 1842]]

    Despite this, some people in our country question the importance of 
American engagement in the post-cold-war world. They say we should hide 
behind the walls of protectionism and isolationism. But they're wrong.
    That's why early next week I'll submit to Congress legislation to 
implement the GATT world trade agreement, the largest trade agreement in 
history. By cutting tariffs around the world, GATT will mean a $36-
billion tax cut for Americans over the coming 10 years. It will also 
generate between 300,000 and 700,000 permanent new jobs in those years 
and in time many, many more for our children. And most of all, it will 
mean that we are facing this moment of decision with the confidence we 
need to meet the challenges of the post-cold-war world, tearing down 
walls that separate nations instead of hiding behind them.
    As we've learned again this week, when we approach our 
responsibilities around the world with the same sense of purpose, we can 
indeed accomplish great goals.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 9:06 a.m. from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in 
Chicago, IL.