[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 28 (Monday, July 14, 1997)]
[Pages 1036-1037]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the American Community at the United States Embassy in Madrid

July 8, 1997

    Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. I thank all of 
you for being here, for all the service that you have given either 
through this Embassy or through our NATO mission. Whether you are an 
American working for some branch of the United States Government or a 
foreign national who has contributed to our success here, we're very 
grateful to you.
    And I thank those of you who have brought your children. I thank you 
for doing that because, after all, what we are celebrating today are 
actions taken to make the future of these children more secure, more 
rich, more full of promise, more dependent upon their own abilities and 
not the whims of some dictator who would seek to advance the cause of 
his or her power at the expense of their dreams. So I'm very, very glad 
to see all of you here today.
    Let me begin by thanking our delegation. I thank Secretary Albright 
for bringing her personal life story and her vision into her work every 
day. I thank Secretary Cohen for his leadership at the Defense 
Department and for helping us to prove that our politics can still stop 
at the water's edge and we can work across party lines to do what's 
right for America.
    I thank the members of this distinguished congressional delegation: 
the chairman of the delegation, Senator Roth, who spoke today on behalf 
of parliamentarians in all the NATO countries; Senator Biden, who had to 
leave; Senator Mikulski; Senator Smith; and Congressmen Gilman, Solomon, 
Gejdenson and Sisisky. I thank them for coming, Members of both parties 
in both Houses of Congress, proving that we are united on this issue.
    Let me also say a special word of thanks to our distinguished 
Ambassador, Dick Gardner, for the fine job he has done here for the last 
4 years. He and Danielle have done very well, and we will always be 
grateful for their service. I also thank them for their astonishing 
hospitality to me, to Hillary, to our family, and to many others who 
have come to Spain in search of peace and beauty--and just being happy 
tourists. We're very grateful to you for all that you've done.
    I want to say a special word of thanks to Ambassador Hunter and the 
NATO mission for all they have done to make this a success. All of you 
know what happened today. We bridged a chasm in history and began a 
journey to a new Europe and a new century by

[[Page 1037]]

inviting Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to join NATO and making 
clear that the door is open for others to follow.
    We have taken a giant stride in our efforts to create a Europe that 
is undivided, democratic, and at peace literally for the first time 
since the rise of the nation-state on the European continent. There has 
never been a time when the entire continent was not divided, was 
democratic, and was at peace. All three conditions have never prevailed 
on this continent at the same time. We have a chance to make it so now. 
It's a result of hard work by all the members of the alliance. This is 
not an American achievement; this is a NATO achievement. Every country 
had its say. The statement we released today and the decision we made 
was a genuine consensus effort. And I am profoundly grateful to all of 
my fellow world leaders who are part of NATO.
    I also would say to the people of Poland and Hungary and the Czech 
Republic, your heroism made this day possible. Through long years of 
darkness, you kept alive the hope of freedom. I still remember the 
Hungarian Uprising of 1956, the Prague Spring of 1968, the Gdansk 
Shipyards in 1981. But we also appreciate the fact that when these three 
nations threw off the shackles of tyranny, they embraced democracy and 
tolerance. They devoted themselves to reforming their economies and 
their societies, to settling age-old disputes with their neighbors. They 
have done the hard work of freedom now for over 7 years, and they have 
proved that they are ready to share in the full responsibility of NATO 
membership.
    They have also set an extraordinary example for the other new 
democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. From the northwest to the 
southeast corner of Europe, we see other countries now engaged in 
partnerships with us through the Partnership For Peace, also interested 
in being considered for NATO membership. These three nations have paved 
the way for others to follow. They have paved the way by showing that 
with a long-term commitment to strengthening democracy and reforming an 
economy, to settling ancient quarrels, a nation can become a full 
partner in that free, peaceful, undivided Europe. And I am very 
grateful.
    We actually did three things here. First, we made NATO stronger by 
taking in new members and making clear that others will be allowed to 
come in the future. And we will continue to work to make sure we can 
meet the challenges of tomorrow. Second, we're working to adapt NATO 
internally to meet the new challenges of tomorrow, not the old ones of 
yesterday. And there will be more responsibility for Europeans in a 
separate security defense initiative. The third thing we're doing is 
reaching out to have more partners. You know we signed this historic 
agreement with Russia. Tomorrow there will be another historic signing 
with Ukraine. We have over two dozen countries in the Partnership For 
Peace that are working with us in Bosnia and in other ways, and they 
will be permitted to have a political arm through a partnership council 
that will give them a greater say over decisions that they will be 
expected to participate in.
    This is a very great day, not only for Europe and the United States, 
not simply for NATO but, indeed, for the cause of freedom in the 
aftermath of the cold war. And every one of you who had anything to do 
with it, and every one of you who has a child with a big stake in it, 
should be very happy and very proud.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:05 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
U.S. Ambassador to Spain Richard N. Gardner and his wife, Danielle; and 
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Robert E. Hunter.