[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 20 (Monday, May 20, 1996)]
[Pages 869-870]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Antipersonnel Landmines Initiative

May 16, 1996

Death of Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda

    The President. Thank you very much. Please sit down. I want to thank 
the members of the veterans organizations who are here. General Jones, 
thank you for your presence. All the members of the administration and, 
especially, I'd like to thank Secretary Perry and the Joint Chiefs who 
are here, not only for their presence and their help on this policy but 
for their determination to go forward with this announcement on this 
very difficult afternoon for all of us.
    I want to begin with a word about Admiral Mike Boorda, our Chief of 
Naval Operations, who died this afternoon. His death is a great loss, 
not just for the Navy and our Armed Forces but for our entire country. 
Mike Boorda was the very first enlisted man in the history of our 
country to rise to become Chief of Naval Operations. He brought 
extraordinary energy and dedication and good humor to every post he held 
in a long and distinguished career. From Southeast Asia to Europe, he 
devoted his life to serving our Nation.
    I am personally grateful for the central role he played in planning 
our mission in Bosnia, both when he commanded our forces in Southeastern 
Europe and later when he came here to Washington. He was known for his 
professionalism and skill. But what distinguished him above all else was 
his unwavering concern for the welfare of the men and women who serve 
the United States in our Navy. We will all remember him for that, and 
much else.
    Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, to his wife, Bettie, 
and his children, David, Edward, Anna, and Robert. And I'd like to ask 
everyone to just join me now in a moment of silence in memory of Admiral 
Mike Boorda.

[At this point, a moment of silence was observed.]

    The President. Amen.

Antipersonnel Landmines

    Today I am launching an international effort to ban antipersonnel 
landmines. For decades the world has been struck with horror at the 
devastations that landmines cause. Boys and girls at play, farmers 
tending their fields, ordinary travelers--in all, more than 25,000 
people a year are maimed or killed by mines left behind when wars ended. 
We must act so that the children of the world can walk without fear on 
the earth beneath them.
    To end this carnage, the United States will seek a worldwide 
agreement as soon as possible to end the use of all antipersonnel 
landmines. The United States will lead a global effort to eliminate 
these terrible weapons and to stop the enormous loss of human life. The 
steps I announced today build on the work we have done to clear mines in 
14 nations, from Bosnia to Afghanistan, from Cambodia to Namibia. They 
build as well on the export moratorium on landmines we have observed for 
4 years, an effort that, thankfully, 32 other nations have joined.
    To pursue our goal of a worldwide ban, today I order several 
unilateral actions. First, I am directing that effective immediately, 
our Armed Forces discontinue the use of all so-called ``dumb'' 
antipersonnel mines. Those which remain active until detonated are 
cleared. The only exception will be for those mines required to defend 
our American troops and our allies from aggression on the Korean 
Peninsula and those needed for training purposes. The rest of these 
mines, more than 4 million in all, will be removed from our arsenals and 
destroyed by 1999.
    Just as the world has a responsibility to see to it that a child in 
Cambodia can walk to school in safety, as Commander in Chief, my 
responsibility is also to safeguard the safety, the lives of our men and 
women in uniform. Because of the continued and unique threat of 
aggression in the Korean Peninsula, I have therefore decided that in any 
negotiations on a ban, the United States will and must protect our 
rights to use the mines there. We will do so until the threat is ended 
or until alternatives to landmines become available.
    Until an international ban takes effect, the United States will 
reserve the right to use

[[Page 870]]

so-called ``smart mines'' or self-destructing mines as necessary, 
because there may be battlefield situations in which these will save 
lives of our soldiers.
    Let me emphasize, these smart mines are not the hidden killers that 
have caused so much suffering around the world. They meet standards set 
by international agreement. They destroy themselves within days, and 
they pose virtually no threat to civilian life once a battle is over. 
But under the comprehensive international ban we seek, use of even these 
smart antipersonnel mines would also be ended.
    We're determined that lands around the world will never again be 
sown with terror. That is why I will propose a resolution at the 51st 
United Nations General Assembly this fall, urging the nations of the 
world to support a worldwide ban on landmines. I have instructed 
Ambassador Albright to begin work now on this resolution.
    Third, while the exceptions I have mentioned are necessary to 
protect American lives, I am determined to end our reliance on these 
weapons completely. Therefore, I am directing the Secretary of Defense 
to begin work immediately on research and development of alternative 
technologies that will not pose new dangers to civilians.
    Fourth, as we move forward to prevent the minefields of the future, 
we must also strengthen the efforts to clear those that still exist 
today. At this moment, unbelievably, some 100 million mines still lie 
just beneath the earth in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, and in Central 
America.
    To help end the anguish they cause, the Department of Defense will 
expand its efforts to develop better mine detection and mine-clearing 
technology for use in the many countries that are still plagued by 
mines. We will also strengthen our programs for training and assisting 
other nations as they strive to rid their territory of these devices. 
For these efforts, as well as those to develop alternatives to 
antipersonnel mines, we will assure sufficient funding. I will 
personally work with Congress on this issue.
    Many have worked to bring us to this moment. I especially want to 
say a word of thanks to Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Although I 
know he has differences with our approach, his dedication and his moral 
leadership on this issue have played a vital role in alerting the 
conscience of our Nation to the suffering that landmines cause. I also 
want to thank the many nongovernmental organizations that have worked so 
hard to put this issue at the top of the international agenda.
    As we turn to the task of achieving a worldwide ban, we must work 
together, and we will be successful. Let me say, again, I greatly 
appreciate the time and the energy that General Shalikashvili and the 
Joint Chiefs have devoted to this important issue over the last few 
months. It may take years before all the peoples of the world feel safe 
as they tread upon the Earth, but we are speeding the arrival of that 
day with the decisions announced today. I will do everything I can to 
implement them all, including the international agreement to ban all 
antipersonnel mines, as quickly as possible.
    Now, I think it is important to turn the microphone over, first to 
Secretary Christopher and then Secretary Perry to finish the 
presentation.

Note: The President spoke at 4:27 p.m. in Room 450 of the Old Executive 
Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. David Jones, USAF 
(Ret.), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.