[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 17 (Monday, May 1, 2000)]
[Page 922]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Legislation To Encourage Free and Fair Elections in 
Peru

April 25, 2000

    Today I have signed into law S.J.Res. 43, expressing the sense of 
the Congress on the importance of free, fair, and democratic elections 
in Peru. Transparent elections are the foundation of a democratic 
society.
    The people of Peru will go to the polls in the near future for a 
second and final round to choose their president. I urge that the 
concerns about the electoral process underscored by the Organization of 
American States mission to Peru, and by the U.S. Congress in this 
resolution, be fully addressed in preparations for the second round. The 
democratic countries of this hemisphere are united in our hope that the 
election be conducted in a transparent, peaceful, and statesmanlike 
manner. Democracy is strengthened when all Peruvians have the 
opportunity to debate and determine the future of Peru.
    The people of the United States look forward to continuing the 
excellent relationship we have enjoyed with the Peruvian people and 
their democratically elected leaders and to strengthening the bonds that 
unite our countries.
                                            William J. Clinton
 The White House,
 April 25, 2000.

Note: S.J. Res. 43, approved April 25, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
186.