[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 24 (Monday, June 19, 2000)]
[Page 1352]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Agreement for Redress to Victims of Nazi Slave
and Forced Labor

June 12, 2000

    I am very pleased that a major hurdle to agreement on the historic 
German initiative dealing with wrongs arising from World War II has now 
been overcome. I am pleased to announce that there is now agreement on 
the mechanism for providing enduring and all-encompassing legal peace 
for German companies. This is an important day for those victims of 
Nazi-era wrongs who have waited 50 years for justice. It is also an 
important day for Chancellor Schroeder and German companies. They have 
shown remarkable leadership in trying to rectify the wrongs committed 
during the Nazi era.
    I hope the German Parliament, whose leaders have been involved in 
these negotiations, will be able to complete their work on legislation 
expeditiously so that payments to the victims can begin this year.
    German-American relations are based on our common commitment to 
human dignity coming from a shared history of democracy for over 50 
years. This unique German initiative, reaching out to victims of the 
20th century's most horrible tragedy, will convey dramatically to the 
entire world Germany's commitment to justice and human rights. Our 
countries are entering the new millennium together determined to protect 
the inviolability of human dignity.