[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 44 (Monday, November 7, 1994)]
[Pages 2210-2211]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing California Desert Protection Legislation

October 31, 1994

    I take great pleasure in signing into law S. 21, the ``California 
Desert Protection Act,'' an Act to preserve for the American people a 
resource of extraordinary and inestimable value.
    The Act designates as wilderness approximately 7.7 million acres of 
Federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the 
National Park Service. The Act adds approximately 3 million acres to the 
National Park System, including magnificent lands adjacent to the Death 
Valley and Joshua Tree National Monuments, which are redesignated as 
National Parks. It also establishes the Mojave National Preserve as a 
new unit of the National Park System.
    Few Presidents have the opportunity to preserve so valuable a piece 
of this Nation's heritage. I exercise this opportunity with enthusiasm 
and gratitude. I am enthusiastic because this is the first time since 
1980 that the United States has set aside so rich and vast an area. The 
broad vistas, the rugged mountain ranges, and the evidence of the human 
past are treasures that merit protection on behalf of the American 
people. I am grateful because we have successfully concluded the long 
struggle to conserve these lands.
    I also note that the Act establishes the New Orleans Jazz National 
Historical Park. Jazz is among our country's most widely recognized 
indigenous music and art forms. The creation of this park is very timely 
given that next May is the 100th anniversary of the formation of the 
Buddy Bolden in New Orleans, an event many see as the birth of jazz in 
America.
    Senators Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Bennett Johnston, and 
George Mitchell, and Congressmen George Miller, Richard Lehman, and 
Bruce Vento deserve our thanks for their leadership and persistence in 
passing this legislation. I also want to thank Interior Secretary Bruce 
Babbitt and his staff for their tireless efforts on behalf of this 
Administration priority. This achievement is a tribute to the many 
citizens who worked with congressional leaders and the Administration to 
ensure the protection of these desert gems.
    This Act is proof that the common good and the will of the people 
can prevail. Today, as I sign this bill, I am pleased to contribute my 
part to the preservation of the California Desert for the enjoyment of 
generations to come.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
October 31, 1994.

[[Page 2211]]

Note: S. 21, approved October 31, was assigned Public Law No. 103-433.