[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 50 (Monday, December 20, 1999)]
[Pages 2622-2623]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Action by Germany To Compensate Nazi Regime Victims of Forced 
Labor and an Exchange With Reporters

December 15, 1999

    The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I want to make 
a statement about the very important work that Stu Eizenstat has been 
involved with. I have just received a letter from Chancellor Schroeder 
confirming that the German Government and German industry are prepared 
to commit 10 billion deutsche marks, the equivalent of more than $5 
billion, to a fund for those who were slave and forced laborers and 
suffered other injuries under the Nazi regime.
    We believe this satisfies the requirements of those representing the 
victims. We close the 20th century with an extraordinary achievement 
that will bring an added measure of material and moral justice to the 
victims of this century's most terrible crime. It will help us start a 
new millennium on higher ground.
    Those who will benefit are elderly survivors. Sadly, they're passing 
away at a rate of almost 10 percent a year. Some are living here in the 
United States, many are living in central and eastern Europe, double 
victims who endured the Holocaust first and then a half-century of 
communism. They have been waiting a long, long time, and nothing can 
fully compensate their searing loss.
    But we can accept our generation's responsibility to remember and to 
redress the injustices they suffered. We owe that to them and to future 
generations. I've been working with Chancellor Schroeder for some time 
to reach this point. We could not have done this without his truly 
remarkable leadership.
    Germany already has made more than $60 billion in payments to 
Holocaust survivors and to other victims of Nazi persecution. But this 
is the first important gesture made to those who were forced and slave 
laborers working for private industry, to those whose insurance policies 
were not honored, and those whose property was confiscated.
    This was not an easy step for the German Government to take, but it 
reaffirms its commitment to human dignity, reinforces its partnership 
with the United States, and strengthens its ties with neighbors in 
central and eastern Europe. I want to thank the companies involved in 
the settlement for acknowledging their moral and historic 
responsibility.
    I will do everything I can to provide legal finality for them and to 
remove the potential cloud hanging over German companies doing business 
here in the United States. I also

[[Page 2623]]

thank the plaintiffs in this case for their persistence in a just cause 
and their patience in reaching a just solution. Given the age of the 
survivors, it was vital to reach this agreement now rather than wait for 
the outcome of lengthy litigation.
    Finally, let me say I am deeply grateful to Deputy Secretary of the 
Treasury Eizenstat for the truly remarkable job he has done to bring us 
to this day. He has already done so much to help us shed light on this 
cruel period in human history and to bring justice to its victims. I 
know of few people who combine his commitment to doing the right thing 
with his actual skill at getting things done.
    I'm sending Stu and his team to Berlin to meet with all the parties 
to finalize the agreement so that it can be implemented as soon as 
possible. After I complete this statement, he will go to the briefing 
room and answer your questions. Again, my deepest respect and 
appreciation to Chancellor Schroeder and the German Government, as well 
as to Deputy Secretary Eizenstat. This is a very good day for the cause 
of freedom and a good day for the United States.
    Thank you very much.
    Q. Mr. President, what kind of compensation do you think the 
lawyers, if any, deserve who negotiated this deal?
    The President. We're all going to get a cold if we stay out here. 
Stu can answer all those questions. Let's go in the Briefing Room and he 
can answer them. Thank you.

Israel-Syria Talks

    Q. Mr. President, before you go, could you give us a sense of how 
the Mideast talks are going today?
    The President. They're going pretty well. But it's hard going and 
we've got work to do, so I'm going back to work. Thanks.

Note: The President spoke at 1:52 p.m. on the South Grounds at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of 
Germany.