[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 16 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Pages 674-676]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the 7th Fleet on Board The U.S.S. Independence in Yokosuka, 
Japan

April 17, 1996

    The President. Thank you. Thank you very much.
    Audience members. We love you, Mr. President!
    The President. Thank you. Thank you, Admiral Ellis, General Myers, 
Admiral Clemins, General Freeman, Admiral Tobin. Captain Polatty, I'm 
delighted to be here

[[Page 675]]

with you. Master Chief Dwiggins; to the members of the Japanese Self-
Defense Forces, and to the sailors and families of the U.S.S. 
Independence and the 7th Fleet; to the children from the Sullivan School 
back there and their proud parents over here, I gather, and the other 
schools that are here, I want to thank you for this wonderful welcome.
    The First Lady and I are delighted to be here, along with the 
Secretary of State, Ambassador and Mrs. Mondale, my Chief of Staff, Mr. 
Panetta, and Mr. Lake, the National Security Adviser. I should tell you 
that this is a particularly emotional moment for the Secretary of State 
because 51 years ago this September he came here to this very harbor as 
a 19-year-old ensign. So think what you might have ahead of you, all of 
you in the Navy. You may be Secretary of State some day.
    I'm glad to be here on the U.S.S. Independence and with the 7th 
Fleet. I know there are others represented here--I hope, from the Mobile 
Bay and the Bunker Hill, from the Blue Ridge and the McCluskey, the 
O'Brien and the Hewitt, the Asheville, and the Curtz--one enthusiastic 
sailor here--[laughter]--the I-5 Team.
    You know, for almost as long as there has been a United States there 
has been a ship called Independence. To you, the latest in the line of 
America's finest sailors, to all the United States Armed Forces in 
Japan, I bring a heartfelt message from every American back home: Thank 
you for your skill, your sacrifice, and your service. Thank you, and God 
bless you all.
    Way back in 1959, when the Indy slipped down the ways, President 
Eisenhower was in office, the cold war was at its peak, and most of you 
weren't even born yet. But because the Indy was there, along with 
millions of brave men and women, we won that long cold war struggle.
    Time after time, the sailors of the Independence stood up for 
freedom and stood down freedom's enemies. In the Cuban missile crisis, 
Indy was there. In Vietnam and Lebanon and Grenada, Indy was there. When 
Iraq invaded Kuwait, you were the first carrier on the scene. You 
delivered our answer up close and personal. In peacetime and war, this 
great ship and its battle group have been there as America's shield and 
America's sword.
    Your last deployment off Taiwan helped to calm a rising storm. 
Without firing a single shot, you reassured nations all around the 
Pacific. With the quiet power of your example, you gave the world 
another example of America's power and America's character. And I thank 
you especially for that.
    Through you, the United States is in the Western Pacific. We fought 
three wars in Asia in this century and sacrificed some of our finest 
Americans in every single one. With your strong presence here we are 
preventing war's return and preserving stability for a remarkable region 
that is growing so fast it buys enough American products and services to 
support the jobs of 3 million of your countrymen and women back home in 
the United States.
    Make no mistake, there is still a threat that war could return. 
Without you, the stability and prosperity of Asia could be in danger, 
and, therefore, so could America's. Old rivalries could break out again. 
A rouge state could get the wrong idea. A changing region could become 
unstable. But with you here, Asia is more secure, and so is America. 
Halfway around the world, your loved ones are safer because you are here 
at your stations, keeping the peace in a time of change and challenge.
    I applaud the job you have done in building an alliance with the 
Japanese Self-Defense Forces. And I salute the officers and crew of the 
Myoko who honor us with their presence here today.
    Fifty years ago no one would have believed that an American carrier 
and a Japanese cruiser could be berthed side by side, that our forces 
would work shoulder to shoulder day-in and day-out. But today, Prime 
Minister Hashimoto and I have signed a Joint Security Declaration to 
strengthen our alliance and prepare it for the challenges of the 21st 
century, together. We can do this because you are here, backing our 
commitments with your power.
    America won the cold war, but now we are about the business of 
securing the peace, thanks to your dedication and your excellence. Let 
me say that I am well aware that

[[Page 676]]

we see that excellence every day in so many ways, here, from the pilots 
and everyone on the flight deck to the boiler technicians, from the mess 
cooks to the storekeepers, to the officers on the bridge. It takes every 
single one of you, working together as a team, to keep this ship on the 
flight line, to land some of the best aircraft in the world on what 
looks to their pilots like a postage stamp in the sea.
    Your teamwork has notched record after record, including the mark 
among active ships for arrested landings, 343,000 of them. 
Congratulations. As someone said to me as the helicopter was setting 
down, that's a lot of nonskid. [Laughter]
    As the oldest ship in the Navy, you do fly this remarkable ensign 
behind me that says, ``Don't Tread On Me.'' And as was said earlier in 
the introduction by the Admiral, this week, this very week is the 221st 
anniversary of the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord, 
the first in America's long struggle for independence. I hope you will 
think about that, each and every one of you, this week. I hope you will 
imagine what it might have been like so many years ago, over 200 years 
ago, for those young people embarking on their struggle, risking their 
lives for what was then nothing more than a dream.
    Now, more than 200 years later, you represent in your uniforms the 
oldest democracy in human history. Thanks to you and those who came 
before you, your skill and professionalism, not only does the oldest 
fighting ship in the Fleet inspire the same respect as we have for our 
early patriots but thanks to you and the people who came before you, we 
are still here.
    As you keep it that way, on freedom's flagship, remember that 221 
years of people like you have made America what it is today and make 
possible this remarkable partnership we celebrate with the Japanese and 
make possible the guarantee of freedom for your children and your 
grandchildren and people throughout the world. I thank you for that.
    I also want to say a special word of thanks to the families of the 
7th Fleet for their support. Our military families bear such a heavy 
burden of America's leadership, especially those stationed at Yokosuka 
and other bases so far from home; those who have to cope with the extra 
strain of long periods when ships are at sea, when one parent has to 
carry the full load to run a household and raise the children. We ask so 
much of our families, but again and again, they deliver. Our Nation is 
grateful to you, as well, for our security depends upon you, as well.
    To the men and women of the 7th Fleet, you must know that you 
represent the very best of America. Over and over again, you have proved 
your excellence. Thanks to you, the world knows now that the United 
States will stand firm in Asia. Thanks to you, we can make this new 
Security Declaration with Japan. And everybody knows that we mean it and 
that we can mean it. We can stand firm for peace and security, for 
democracy and freedom, for a good and decent future for the children of 
this region and the children of the United States, thanks to you.
    Our Nation is in your debt now and forever. God bless you, and God 
bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 3:35 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Rear Adm. James Ellis, USN, Cammander, Carrier Group 5; Lt. Gen. Richard 
Myers, USAF, Commander, U.S. Forces Japan; Vice Adm. Archie Clemins, 
USN, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet; Maj. Gen. Waldo Freeman, USA, Commanding 
General, U.S. Army Japan; Rear Adm. Byron Tobin, USN, Commander, U.S. 
Naval Forces Japan; Capt. David Polatty, Commanding Officer, and MMCM 
Ashley Dwiggins, Command Master Chief, U.S.S. Independence; and Joan 
Mondale, wife of Ambassador Walter Mondale. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.