[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 47 (Monday, November 27, 2000)]
[Pages 2903-2904]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Remarks on Demining in Hanoi, Vietnam

November 18, 2000

    Ambassador Peterson, Ambassador Le Bang, Mr. Khoan; my good friend 
Representative Snyder and the other Members of Congress and our American 
delegation. I want to say most of all how much I appreciate the work 
that all of you who are engaged in demining are doing.
    I thank the Vietnamese people who are doing this, the members of the 
NGO's. And I'd also like to especially thank the American veterans who 
have been involved in this endeavor.
    The problem of landmines is a global tragedy, and 90 percent of the 
victims of war are civilians, mostly because of landmines. In all 
probability, landmines kill more children than soldiers, and they keep 
killing long after wars are over. This is the tragedy of war for which 
peace provides no answer.
    Vietnam has about 3.5 million mines in its soil and about 300,000 
tons of unexploded ordnance. Each year some 2,000 Vietnamese are killed 
or injured as they go about their daily lives. This year, at Vietnam's 
request, we began providing assistance to the humanitarian demining 
efforts. Since June, we provided over $3 million to purchase equipment 
and help survey the countryside.
    I am happy to announce that we will also be working with Vietnam to 
develop a computer system and a database to help pinpoint the location 
of mines and ordnance used here during the war. We have also worked for 
some years with NGO's such as the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation 
to fund rehabilitation services for victims of landmines, an effort that 
owes so much to the leadership of Senator Pat Leahy. Today our Defense 
Department is donating more than $700,000 in hospital supplies to Quang 
Tri Province for the same purpose.
    Finally, we support efforts by organizations such as PeaceTrees and 
Catholic Relief Services to educate local communities on how to avoid 
landmines. The children's paintings we saw over here are part of that 
effort, and again I'd like to thank those four beautiful young boys for 
being here and for

[[Page 2904]]

having the courage to help all the rest of us deal with this problem.
    Since I became President, the United States has spent about $350 
million around the world to pull the hidden killers out of the earth, 
the landmines, to deal with the unexploded ordnance. We usually spend 
slightly more than half of all the money spent in the world on this 
every year. But I think we should do more.
    I am thankful for all the work the organizations are doing here. I 
am grateful for the request that the Government of Vietnam gave, that 
gave us the opportunity to be involved here. But I hope we will all 
remember these children who had the courage to come here and share their 
artwork and who want to give the rest of the children of Vietnam and the 
world a better future.
    There are millions of these bombs in the ground in Africa, millions 
more in the Balkans. They are the curse of innocent children all over 
the world. I hope that tomorrow all over the world, people will see 
these children and their drawings, and it will enable us to get even 
more support for the work you were doing in Vietnam and the work that 
must be done like this in other countries. You will have America's 
support until you have found every landmine and every piece of 
unexploded ordnance.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:50 p.m. at the International Trade 
Center. In his remarks, he referred to U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Pete 
Peterson; Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Le Van Bang; and Minister of 
Trade Vu Khoan of Vietnam. A tape was not available for verification of 
the content of these remarks.