[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 4 (Monday, February 1, 1999)]
[Pages 134-135]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Telephone Remarks Announcing a New Partnership To Restore Pacific 
Coastal Salmon

January 27, 1999

    The President. Thank you very much. And I want to say to all of you 
on the phone and, obviously, our friends from Washington here in the 
Oval Office, that I am very, very grateful to all of you and to others 
in your States and in the tribes who have made a priority of preserving 
the salmon. And I'm grateful to you for making sure that those of us who 
do not hail from the Pacific Northwest understood the gravity and the 
urgency of the issue.
    We want to help you bring the salmon back. And the Vice President 
and I today are announcing, as a part of my fiscal year 2000 budget, a 
new $100 million fund to help States and tribes restore coastal salmon. 
The funds can be used up and down coastal rivers and streams to rebuild 
habitat, restore spawning grounds, give salmon a new lease on life. And 
if we work together, I'm sure that we can succeed in restoring this 
symbol of your region's heritage and ensure that for all time to come 
the salmon will still be thriving.
    I want to thank again all of you for what you have done. We can't 
succeed here without your energy, your vision, your determination. And I 
know how passionate folks out there are about their salmon, and I'm 
confident we can succeed, and I believe this $100 million will help.
    Governor Locke, I'd like to call on you first. And tell Mona I said 
hello and Hillary and I are thinking about her and you, and we look 
forward to another beautiful baby. I'd like for you to speak and then 
maybe Governor Knowles, Chairman Billy Frank, and Governor Kitzhaber.

[At this point, the teleconference continued.]

    The President. Thank you very much. I know you're all busy and have 
many other things to do. I just want to thank you for what I said 
earlier. You brought this to our attention; you asked us to do 
something.

[[Page 135]]

We're committed to this; we have to pass this now. But this needs to be 
a long-term commitment to partnership on the part of the Federal 
Government. And I want you to help us pass it in Congress. I want you to 
help us work with you to implement it. And I want you to continue to 
make sure that we are aware of exactly what's happening in your 
backyard.
    I think this is very important to the future of the entire country, 
that we prove we can do this together. And this is something that every 
single one of you will always be proud of having taken a leadership role 
in.
    Thank you very much, and goodbye.

Note: The President spoke at approximately 1:15 p.m. from the Oval 
Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Gary 
Locke of Washington and his wife, Mona Lee. The transcript made 
available by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks 
of Vice President Al Gore; Governors John A. Kitzhaber of Oregon, Gary 
Locke of Washington, and Tony Knowles of Alaska; Representative Norman 
D. Dicks; California State Secretary of Resources Mary D. Nichols; 
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank, Jr.; County 
Executive Ron Sims, of King County, WA; and Mayor Paul Schell of 
Seattle, WA.