I know something of how it is when he is making tough, tough decisions regarding the life of somebody else's son and daughter, and that is all I need to know in selecting the best Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Connie Newman, we all know her, how she served with great distinction in this administration; and a most beloved figure, Joyce Berry. I mentioned Lou, of course. I mentioned Josh for the Commission. But we have got others, Carla Hills, Antonia Novello, Lynn Martin, Bernadine Healy, all women in high-level positions. I am proud of Wayne Budd over at Justice. You talk abut a tough assignment, there is a decent man and a man of honor, fulfilling an extraordinarily tough assignment over at the Department of Justice. My old friend Art Fletcher is head of the Commission. I am not going to let the political diatribes going on out there and attacks coming out of some radical groups diminish the pride I take in having appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. So let others try to smear a decent man. I am standing with him. So we are here to salute all of you -- I came over to do that -- and to thank you, those in Government, for serving and serving with integrity. Our administration has been a clean administration. You look back over your shoulders. We have not had scandals because we have honorable men and women who sacrifice to serve their country. I am proud of each and every one of you. And in terms of those others who are out in the private sector employing people, creating opportunity, living the American dream, I salute you as well. We want to facilitate what you are doing, not get Government in the way and make it tougher. So this is the message we will be taking to the American people, and I believe we are going to get this job done. It has not been a very pleasant political year for Barbara Bush and me; I will have to confess that. Indeed, I have been around the political track for a long time, and I have never seen quite the anger and the ugliness in the political process, the willingness to twist and distort and make things ugly. But it is worth it; you know it. It is worth it because we have accomplished a lot for this country. We have accomplished a lot on the world scene as well.


I do not know about you, but all morning I have been sitting in there watching the sky. I heard early predictions of rain; we will have to get this over with. But I thank you all very much, and it is always a pleasure to welcome the business men and women of America to the White House. I am delighted to take part in celebrating World Trade Week, which reaffirms the importance to our well-being of trade and recognizes the need for increased export efforts. America's future growth and prosperity depend on how well we develop and compete in foreign markets. One in eight manufacturing jobs is related to exports, and 25 percent of our farmers' cash receipts come from exports. In fact, exports account for 25 percent of the total value of all goods produced in this country. Exports mean jobs for our people, profits for our businesses, and growth for our economy. And that is why it is going to be a pleasure to present the well-deserved E and E Star Awards for excellence in exporting. But let me begin by pointing out the backdrop for export opportunities in the economic climate here at home. I know you are all familiar with the dramatic turnaround that has been accomplished. We are in the midst of a wonderful economic expansion, and I believe we have a lot to be proud of. Our growth is helping to pull the rest of the free world out of recession, and this will increase demand for American exports. But occasionally the interests of diplomacy and the interests of American industry seem to conflict. Well, our administration sees it as our job to reconcile the two and make it easier for American business to open up new markets on a fair footing. And we are working hard in that direction. In 1982 we passed the Export Trading Company Act aimed at opening foreign trade opportunities for medium- and small-sized companies. The bill removed impediments to trade, permitting companies to sell American products overseas more efficiently and more effectively. We are also implementing an international investment policy to reduce the number of government measures that distort or impede the flow of international investment. Our trade missions have been to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, seeking to develop new export opportunities. Now, these are just several of the efforts. We are going to do everything we can to get government out of the way to make sure that you have the opportunity to compete effectively in world markets. Last November 1 visited Japan and Korea. I am beginning to feel a little like an export product myself.

Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the President's E and E Star Awards


And I am very honored, Mr. President, that you would present this to me. I am also honored to be here with you in this beautiful place. I came a little earlier than the audience may have known, and I was pleased to watch the absolutely delightful and memorable television spots that remind all of us who are members of families what our duties are, to hear the Primary Children's Chorus singing I Am a Child of God, to hear the Lamanite Generation, Native Americans, singing Go, My Son, and then, of course, to come in and meet the Osmond family, which is a very famous and admirable group in our Nation. It is a pleasure for me to receive this award, representing a typical American family, and I want to thank you for it. As a matter of fact, I had my typical American family this past weekend at Camp David, 30 of the members of my family. After 2 or 3 intense days of negotiation, I think we reached a framework for peace among ourselves. It was nice to keep my family out of the news for a few days. It was one of the most delightful experiences in many years for me. We have a large family, a close family, an exciting family, and one which has given one another great help and support and encouragement in times of difficulty or excitement or joy or achievement or sorrow. There is nothing that gives me more pleasure, even as President of the United States, than to have Amy come to me in the evening, when I am tired and concerned and worried, and put her arms around my neck and give me a kiss. And she now is proud to call herself a double-digit preteenager. She is a great young lady and the joy of our lives. And I was able to have with me in the last few days my two grandsons. And we are expecting, I hope, a new granddaughter in just a few days from now. When I was invited to come here for this special observance of the family-what it means under the guidance of Jesus Christ and the great Nation of the United States of America, supported and strengthened by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, publicized and promoted by this special week I wondered what I wanted to say to you. I thought about the early Mormons coming across this country, singing a famous hymn, I think, that originated in England, Come, Come Ye Saints.

Salt Lake City, Utah Remarks at Mormon Church Ceremonies Honoring Family Unity.


I thought about the times of trial in our country, a time when strength was demanded of all of us, a time when we sometimes feel alone. Only a deep faith could let the words of that song, All Is Well, ring out. In times when you and your forefathers were persecuted, driven one from another, crossed this land looking for freedom, a chance to worship in your own way, when perhaps you knew that you were about to die, when drought and thirst afflicted you and still the song rang out All Is Well. This is indeed a demonstration of an act of faith and a reaffirmation of hope. I come here as President of a great country. And in that same act of faith and in affirmation of hope, I tell you that our Nation can say all is well. And even the American family can be characterized by the same phrase, all is well. Because as was your early church in the minds and hearts of your own forefathers, so is our Nation and the family so precious, so dear, so innately good and right and decent and strong, that challenges to us, to our Nation, to the American family can successfully be withstood. I grew up in an isolated place, 3 miles west of Plains, Georgia, on a farm, where a family was indeed a self-contained community, where every member of the family felt wanted and loved and secure. Some plowed a mule; some carried and dropped a seed or fertilizer; some hoed out weeds; some carried water to the field for the others to drink; some took care of the hogs or the cows or the chickens; some kept the home secure. But in every instance each knew that the other one was contributing, and the children understood the function of the parents, and the parents understood and loved the children. And in our relatively primitive, isolated state of living, we were bound together by love. I first heard the Bible read in my family. I first heard prayer in my family. I learned about God within the family. There, in an embryonic stage of growth, I began to perceive the world around me. And when I had questions, they were answered. When I had doubts, they were resolved. When I had needs, they were met. And there was very little need for services to be derived from government for us.


And since I have served in the State legislature and as Governor of a State and now as President, and participated in international affairs, I have learned more and more that the stronger a family is, the stronger families are, the less role there is to be played by government. Our government spends a great deal of its time and effort, a great deal of your money repairing damages caused by weak or broken families. We have signs of deteriorating family structures in our country that cause us great concern. I agree with a rabbi named Heschel, who said, I have never understood how a father can take care of 12 children, and 12 children cannot take care of 1 father. And sometimes they act in error. When massive programs are put together through government, the individuality of human beings is sometimes forgotten and the sensitivity is lost. Our welfare programs, for instance, in some of their aspects, are antifamily. They function only when a father has actually left a home. And sometimes fathers leave homes temporarily, through subterfuge, sometimes permanently, just so a child can be fed. In our modern, mobile, permissive society, the basic moral strengths that bind families together are sometimes weakened or broken entirely. For every two marriages that took place in the United States last year, there was one divorce. For people born in the early years of this century and later married, only 1 out of 10 marriages resulted in divorce. For Americans born since World War II who married, one out of three marriages results in divorce. Teenage suicide has doubled in the last 10 years, and now the second most prevalent cause of death among male teenagers is suicide. Births out of wedlock are increasing rapidly. But these brutal and disturbing statistics are caused by a lack of strength among family members. Lily Tomlin says as a joke, We are all in this alone. And sometimes we feel that in a fast-moving, modern, technological society that we are alone, not as it was in former generations because of separation of distance because now we can be alone in a crowded apartment building, because our next-door neighbors remain strangers. All of us have weaknesses, faults, fears, yearnings, hopes, dreams, ideals that we cannot realize alone, and the support and the concern and the understanding and the care and, sometimes, the criticism and punishment in a constructive way help to repair our weaknesses. I do not know of any man who is more deeply indebted to one's family than am I.


I have had great political ambitions. And my family has always gone a second mile in giving me their love and their actual support. Never once have I asked my mother, my brother, my sisters, my children, my wife to give me their help or their confidence when they said, Your ambitions are too great. I have got my own life to live. I'd rather not give you my help. Your great church epitomizes to me what a family ought to be a church that believes, through moral imperative, in strong families, in individualism, the right to be different, but the opportunity and even duty to grow as a human being, to prepare oneself for greater service. The relief society organized by your church has brought blessings to tens of thousands of people, not in a highly publicized way, but in a quiet and effective way. And when your forebears first reached this valley, in less than 3 years there was a new college. At that time there was a common belief in our Nation that women could not stand the rigors of college life, but you knew different. And now this State has the highest educational level of any State in the Nation. The State constitution recognized in 1896 that women and men should have the same civil, political, religious rights and privileges. And we are trying now to spread that same commitment throughout our entire Nation. But a commitment of one person to another to realize that great potential is an element sometimes missing in our modern society. There is a Yiddish proverb, a religious proverb, that says, God gave burdens, also shoulders. A simple proverb it does not say God gave us burdens, but he gave us shoulders strong enough to bear them, it just says, God gave burdens, also shoulders. We not only have our own shoulders to carry burdens, but we have others to help, not just to carry burdens but, sometimes, shoulders to cry on. Those shoulders let us bear the burdens of life. And with each generation comes a tremendous challenge, difficulties, and most of those challenges and difficulties are derived from mandatory change. We tend to think the changes that take place in our own life are the greatest that have ever afflicted any generation, but this is not true. Our early forebears in this Nation offered their lives, all their belongings, even their family security, to achieve freedom, liberty. Later, our Nation was torn by a War Between the States.


It is manifestly my duty to bring to your attention the industrial situation which confronts the country. The situation growing out of the prevailing railway and coal-mining strikes is so serious, so menacing to the nation's welfare, that I should be remiss if I failed frankly to lay the matter before you and at the same time acquaint you and the whole people with such efforts as the executive branch of the Government has made by the voluntary exercise of its good offices to effect a settlement. The suspension of the coal industry dates back to last April 1, when the working agreement between mine operators and the United Mine Workers came to an end. Anticipating that expiration of contract, which was negotiated with the Government's sanction in 1920, the present administration sought, as early as last October, conferences between the operators and miners in order to facilitate either a new or extended agreement in order to avoid any suspension of production when April 1 arrived. At that time the mine workers declined to confer, though the operators were agreeable, the mine workers excusing their declination on the ground that the union officials could have no authority to negotiate until after their annual convention. A short time prior to the expiration of the working agreement the mine workers invited a conference with the operators in the central competitive field, covering the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and in spite of the union declination of the Government's informal suggestion for the conference, five months before, the Government, informally but sincerely, commended the conference, but it was declined by certain groups of operators, and the coal-mining controversy ended in the strike of April 1. It was instantly made nation-wide, so far as the organized mine workers could control, and included many districts in the bituminous field where there was neither grievance nor dispute, and effected a complete tie-up of the production in the anthracite field. It is to be noted that when the suspension began large stocks of coal were on hand, mined at wages higher than those paid during the war, there was only the buying impelled by necessity, and there was a belief that coal must yield to the postwar readjustment. When the stocks on hand began to reach such diminution as to menace industry and hinder transportation, approximately June 1, overtures were initiated by the Government in the hope of expediting settlement. None of these availed.

Address to Congress on Railroad and Coal Strikes


Individual and district tenders of settlement on the part of operators-in some instances appeals for settlement-were wholly unavailing. The dominant groups among the operators were insistent on having district agreements; the dominant mine workers were demanding a nation-wide settlement. The Government being without authority to enforce a strike settlement in the coal industry, could only volunteer its good offices in finding a way of adjustment. Accordingly, a conference of the coal operators' associations and the general and district officials of the United Mine Workers was called, to meet in Washington on July 1. The designation of representation was left to the officials of the various organizations, and there was nation-wide representation, except from the nonunion fields of the country. Before the joint meeting I expressed the deep concern of the country and invited them to meet at a conference table and end the disputes between them. The conference did not develop even a hope. The operators were asking for their district or territorial conferences; the workers demanded national settlement on old bases. Appraising correctly the hopelessness of the situation, I again invited both operators and workers to meet with me, and tendered a means of settlement so justly inspired that it was difficult to see how anyone believing in industrial peace and justice to all concerned could decline it. In substance, it called on the operators to open their mines, on the mine workers to resume work at the same pay and under the same working conditions as prevailed at the time the strike began. In turn, the Government was to create at once a coal commission, or two of them, if preferred by all parties to the dispute, so that one could deal with the bituminous situation, the other with the problems in the anthracite field. The commission was to be instructed to direct its first inquiry to the rate of wage to be paid for the period ending next April 1, and then to enter upon a fact-finding inquiry into every phase of the industry, and point the way to avoid future suspensions in production. The disputants all indorsed the suggestion of a fact-finding commission. The anthracite operators promptly accepted the entire proposal. The mine workers refused to resume work under the arbitration plan. The majority of the bituminous operators filed an acceptance, but a considerable minority declined the proposal.


Under these circumstances, having no authority to demand compliance, the Government had no other course than to invite a resumption of production under the rights of all parties to the controversy, with assurance of Government protection of each and every one in his lawful pursuits. This fact was communicated to the governors of all coal-producing states, and with two exceptions assurances of maintained law and order were promptly given. In some instances concrete proof of effective readiness to protect all men, strikers and nonstriking workmen alike, was promptly given. The simple but significant truth was revealed that, except for such coal as comes from the districts worked by nonorganized miners, the country is at the mercy of the United Mine Workers. Governors in various states reported that their operators and miners had no dispute and were eager to resume production. District leaders informed me that their workmen were anxious to return to their jobs but that they were not permitted to do so. Hundreds of wives of workmen have addressed the White House, beseeching a settlement, alleging that they know no grievance, and there is an unending story of appeals for relief where necessity or suffering were impelling, where a mere expression of need ought to find ready compliance. At every stage, the Government has been a just neutral regarding wage scales and working contracts. There are fundamental evils in our present system of producing and distribution which make the wage problem difficult. In the bituminous coal fields are vastly more miners than are requisite to the country's needs, and there are 200,000 more mine workers than are needed to produce in continuous employment the country's normal requirements. By continuous employment I mean approximately 280 working-days in the year. In many instances last year men were employed less than 150 days, in some cases much fewer than that. In the overmanned sections men divide the working time, and high wages are necessary to meet the cost of the barest living. Interrupted transportation, sorely broken employment, the failure to develop storage against enlarged demands and inadequate carrying-all these present problems bear on righteous wage adjustment and demand constructive solution.


Because of these things, because of the impressions of many cases of unjustifiable profits in the industry, and because public interest demands investigation, and demands the finding of facts be given to the public, I am asking at your hands the authority to create a commission to make a searching investigation into the whole coal industry, with provision for its lawful activities and the bestowal of authority to reveal every phase of coal production, sale, and distribution. I am speaking now on behalf of mine workers, mine operators, and the American public. It will bring protection to all and point the way to continuity of production and the better economic functioning of the industry in the future. The necessity for such a searching national investigation with constructive recommendation is imperative. At the moment the coal skies are clearing, but unless we find a cure for the economic ills which affect the industry and therein find a basis for righteous relationship, we shall be faced with a like menacing situation on next April 1 on the expiration of the wage contracts which are now being made. The need for such investigation and independent consideration is revealed by both operators and mine workers in the provision in the Cleveland agreement so recently made. The Government will gladly cooperate with the industry in this program so far as it is the public interest so to do, but I have an unalterable conviction that no lasting satisfaction or worth-while results will ensue unless we may have a Government commission, independent of the industry, clothed with authority by the Congress to search deeply, so that it may advise as to fair wages and as to conditions of labor and recommend the enactment of laws to protect the public in the future. The almost total exhaustion of stocks of coal, the crippled condition of the railways, the distressed situation that has arisen and might grow worse in our great cities due to the shortage of anthracite, the suffering which might arise in the Northwest through failure to meet the winter needs by lake transportation, all these added to the possibility of outrageous price demands, in spite of the most zealous voluntary efforts of the Government to restrain them, make it necessary to ask you to consider at once some form of temporary control of distribution and prices. The administration earnestly has sought to restrain profiteering and to secure the rightful distribution of such coal as has been available in this emergency. I rejoice to make grateful acknowledgment to those who preferred to contribute to national welfare rather than profit by a nation's distress.


If it may have your approval, I recommend immediate provision for a temporary national coal agency, with needed capital, to purchase, sell, and distribute coal which is carried in interstate shipment. I do not mean that all interstate coal shall be handled by such a federal organization; perhaps none will be necessary; but it will restore its capital to the Public Treasury and will be the instrumentality of guarding the public interest where private conscience is insensible to a public need. This proposal does not relate to any possible employment in intrastate shipments. Price restraint and equitable distribution in intrastate shipments is a responsibility of the state's own government. In such voluntary activities as have been carried on thus far the federal Government has endeavored to reestablish the authority and responsibility in the states which was undermined in the necessary centralization of authority during the World War. The public menace in the coal situation was made more acute and more serious at the beginning of July by the strike of the Federated Shop Crafts in the railroad service-a strike against a wage decision made by the Railroad Labor Board, directly affecting approximately 400,000 men. The justice of the decision is not for discussion here. The decision has been lost sight of in subsequent developments. In any event, it was always possible to appeal for rehearing and the submission of new evidence, and it is always a safe assumption that a Government agency of adjustment deciding unjustly will be quick to make right any wrong. The Railroad Labor Board was created by Congress for the express purpose of hearing and deciding disputes between the carriers and their employees, so that no controversy need lead to an interruption in interstate transportation. Wages had, mounted upward, necessarily and justly, during the war upheaval, likewise the cost of transportation, so that the higher wages might be paid. It only held that the Labor Board was the lawful agency of the Government to hear and decide disputes, and its authority must be sustained, as the law contemplates. This must be so, whether the carriers or the employees ignore its decisions. Unhappily a number of decisions of this board had been ignored by the carriers. In only one instance, however, had a decision, challenged by a carrier, been brought to the attention of the Department of Justice, and this decision was promptly carried to the courts and has recently been sustained in the federal Court of Appeals. The public or the Executive had no knowledge of the ignored decisions in other cases, because they did not hinder transportation.


When these failures of many of the carriers to abide by decisions of the board were brought to my attention, I could more fairly appraise the feelings of the strikers, though they had a remedy without seeking to paralyze interstate commerce. The law creating the Railroad Labor Board is inadequate. Contrary to popular impression, it has little or no power to enforce its decisions. It can impose no penalties on either party disregarding its decisions. It cannot halt a strike, and manifestly Congress deliberately omitted the enactment of compulsory arbitration. The decisions of the board must be made enforceable and effective against carriers and employees alike. But the law is new, and no perfection of it by Congress at this moment could be helpful in the present threatened paralysis of transportation. Happily it is always lawful and ofttimes possible to settle disputes outside of court, so, in a desire to serve public welfare, I ventured upon an attempt at mediation. Those who had preceded me in attempted settlements had made some progress. I submitted to the officials of the striking employees and the chairman of the Association of Railway Executives, in writing, on the same day, a tentative proposal for settlement. Knowing that some of the carriers had offended by ignoring the decisions of the board, and the employees had struck when they had a remedy without the strike, I felt it was best to start all over again, resume work, all to agree to abide faithfully by the board's decisions, make it a real tribunal of peace in transportation, and everybody serve the public. The barrier to be surmounted was the question of seniority. By the workmen these rights are held to be sacred, and unsurrendered by a strike. By the carriers the preservation of seniority is the weapon of discipline on the one hand and the reward of faithful employees on the other. In the tentative proposal which I sponsored it was provided that everybody should go to work, with seniority rights unimpaired, that there should be no discrimination by either workmen or carriers against workmen who did or did not strike. I realized that the proposal must carry a disappointment to employees who had inherited promotion by staying loyally on the job, and to such new men as had sought jobs looking to permanent employment, but I wanted the fresh start and maintained transportation service, and I appraised the disappointment of the few to be less important than the impending misfortune to the nation.


It was not what I would ask ordinarily to be considered or conceded, but at that moment of deep anxiety, with the coal shortage gravely menacing, I was thinking of the pressing demands of the welfare of the whole people. I believed the sacrifice brought to the men involved could be amply compensated for by the carriers in practical ways. I believed that the matter of transcendent importance was the acceptance of the proposal to respect the Labor Board's decisions on the questions which formed the issue at the time of the strike. The public compensation would be complete in guarding by law against recurrence. The proposal was rejected by the carriers. Though the rejection did not end all negotiation, it left the Government only, one course- to call the striking workmen to return to work, to call the carriers to assign them to work, and leave the dispute about seniority to the Labor Board for decision. When negotiation or mediation fails, this is the course contemplated by the law and the Government can have no chart for its course except the law. To this call a majority of the carriers responded favorably, proposing to reemploy all strikers except those guilty of violence against workmen or property, to restore the striking workmen to their old positions where vacant, or to like positions where vacancies are filled; questions of seniority which can not be settled between the employer and employees to go to the Labor Board for decision. The minority of the carriers proposed to assign jobs to workmen on strike only where the positions were vacant. Thus the narrative brings us to the present moment, but it has not included the developments which have heightened the Government's concern. Sympathetic strikes have developed here and there, seriously impairing interstate commerce. Deserted transcontinental trains in the desert regions of the Southwest have revealed the cruelty and contempt for law on the part of some railway employees, who have con-spired to paralyze transportation, and lawlessness and violence in a hundred places have revealed the failure of the striking unions to hold their forces to law observance. Men who refused to strike and who have braved insult and assault and risked their lives to serve the public need have been cruelly attacked and wounded or killed. Men seeking work and guards attempting to protect lives and property, even officers of the federal Government, have been assaulted, humiliated, and hindered in their duties. Strikers have armed themselves and gathered in mobs about railroad shops to offer armed violence to any man attempting to go to work.


At no time has the federal Government been unready or unwilling to give its support to maintain law and order and restrain violence, but in no case has state authority confessed its inability to cope with the situation and asked for federal assistance. Under these conditions of hindrance and intimidation there has been such a lack of care of motive power that the deterioration of locomotives and the noncompliance with the safety requirements of the law are threatening the breakdown of transportation. This very serious menace is magnified by the millions of losses to fruit growers and other producers of perishable foodstuffs, and comparable losses to farmers who depend on transportation to market their grains at harvest time. Even worse, it is hindering the transport of available coal when industry is on the verge of paralysis because of coal shortage, and life and health are menaced by coal famine in the great centers of population. Surely the threatening conditions must impress the Congress and the country that no body of men, whether limited in numbers and responsible for railway management or powerful in numbers and the necessary forces in railroad operation, shall be permitted to choose a course which so imperils public welfare. Neither organizations of employers nor workingmen's unions may escape responsibility. When related to a public service the mere fact of organization magnifies that responsibility and public interest transcends that of either grouped capital or organized labor. Another development is so significant that the hardships of the moment may well be endured to rivet popular attention to necessary settlement. It is fundamental to all freedom that all men have unquestioned rights to lawful pursuits, to work and to live and choose their own lawful ways to happiness. In these strikes these rights have been denied by assault and violence, by armed lawlessness. In many communities the municipal authorities have winked at these violations, until liberty is a mockery and the law a matter of community contempt. It is fair to say that the great mass of organized workmen do not approve, but they seem helpless to hinder. These conditions can not remain in free America. If free men can not toil according to their own lawful choosing, all our constitutional guaranties born of democracy are surrendered to mobocracy and the freedom of a hundred millions is surrendered to the small minority which would have no law. It is not my thought to ask Congress to deal with these fundamental problems at this time. No hasty action would contribute to the solution of the present critical situation.


It is my purpose to invoke these laws, civil and criminal, against all offenders alike. The legal safeguarding against like menaces in the future must be worked out when no passion sways, when no prejudice influences, when the whole problem may be appraised, and the public welfare may be asserted against any and every interest which assumes authority beyond that of the Government itself. One specific thing I must ask at your hands at the earliest possible moment. It is a measure, in short, to create a jurisdiction for the federal courts through which the national Government will have appropriate power to protect aliens in the rights secured to them under treaties and to deal with crimes which affect our foreign relations. The matter has been before Congress on many previous occasions. President Tyler, in his first annual message, advised Congress that inasmuch as the Government is charged with the maintenance of peace and the preservation of amicable relations with the nations of the earth, it ought to possess without question all the reasonable and proper means of maintaining the one and preserving the other. President Harrison asked for the same bestowal of jurisdiction, having encountered deep embarrassment which grew out of the lynching of eleven aliens in New Orleans in 1891. President McKinley, dealing with a like problem in 1899, asked the conferring upon federal courts jurisdiction in that class of international cases where the ultimate responsibility of the federal Government may be involved. President Roosevelt uttered a like request to Congress in 1906, and President Taft pointed out the defect in the present federal jurisdiction when he made his inaugural address in 1909. He declared that it puts our Government in a pusillanimous position to make definite engagement to protect aliens and then to excuse the failure to perform these engagements by an explanation that the duty to keep them is in states or cities not within our control. If we would promise, we must put ourselves in a position to perform our promise. We can not permit the possible failure of justice, due to local prejudice in any state or municipal government, to expose us to the risk of war which might be avoided if federal jurisdiction were asserted by suitable legislation by Congress. My renewal of this oft-made recommendation is impelled by a pitiable sense of federal impotence to deal with the shocking crime at Herrin, Illinois, which so recently shamed and horrified the country. In that butchery of human beings, wrought in madness, it is alleged that two aliens were murdered.


This act adds to the outraged sense of American justice the humiliation which lies in the federal Government's confessed lack of authority to punish that unutterable crime. Had it happened in any other land than our own, and the wrath of righteous justice were not effectively expressed, we should have pitied the civilization that would tolerate and sorrow for the Government unwilling or unable to mete out just punishment. I have felt the deep current of popular resentment that the federal Government has not sought to efface this blot from our national shield, that the federal Government has been tolerant of the mockery of local inquiry and the failure of justice in Illinois. It is the regrettable truth that the federal Government can not act under the law. But the bestowal of the jurisdiction necessary to enable federal courts to act appropriately will open the way to punish barbarity and butchery at Herrin or elsewhere, no matter in whose name or for what purpose the insufferable outrage is committed. It is deplorable that there are or can be American communities where even there are citizens, not to speak of public officials, who believe mob warfare is admissible to cure any situation. It is terrorizing to know that such madness may be directed against men merely for choosing to accept lawful employment. I wish the federal Government to be able to put an end to such crimes against civilization and punish those who sanction them. In the weeks of patient conference and attempts at settlement I have come to appraise another element in the engrossing industrial dispute of which it is only fair to take cognizance. It is in some degree responsible for the strikes and has hindered attempts at adjustments. I refer to the warfare on the unions of labor. The Government has no sympathy or approval for this element of discord in the ranks of industry. Any legislation in the future must be as free from this element of trouble making as it is from labor extremists who strive for class domination. We recognize these organizations in the law, and we must accredit them with incalculable contribution to labor's uplift. It is of public interest to preserve them and profit by the good that is in them, but we must check the abuses and the excesses which conflict with public interest, precisely as we have been progressively legislating to prevent capitalistic, corporate, or managerial domination which is contrary to public welfare.


Tony Lake and I are glad to be here and always seemed to me I ought to visit the CIA on a snowy day. I wanted to come here today for two reasons, first, to meet you and to thank you, those of you who work for the Central Intelligence Agency who devote your lives and your skills to the service of our country. The second thing I wanted to do is to commemorate those who have given their lives in the service of the country through the Central Intelligence Agency. Nobody knows that better than those of us who have the honor to serve in the Oval Office. When President Truman autographed the photo of himself that hangs in this building, he wrote, To the CIA, a necessity to ENTITY of the United States from one who knows. Every morning ENTITY begins the day asking, What happened overnight? What do we know? How do we know it? Like my predecessors, I have to look to the intelligence community for the answers to those questions. I look to you to warn me and, through me, our Nation of the threats, to spotlight the important trends in the world, to describe dynamics that could affect our interests around the world. The end of the cold war increases our security in many ways. You helped to win that cold war, and it is fitting that a piece of the Berlin Wall stands here on these grounds. But even now, this new world remains dangerous and, in many ways, more complex and more difficult to fathom. We need to understand more than we do about the challenges of ethnic conflict, militant nationalism, terrorism, and the proliferation of all kinds of weapons. Accurate, reliable intelligence is the key to understanding each of these challenges. And without it, it is difficult to make good decisions in a crisis or in the long-term. I know that working in the intelligence community places special demands on each and every one of you. It means you cannot talk freely about much of your work with your family and your friends. For some, it means spending a lot of time far away from home. For others, it is meant serving in situations of significant personal danger. While much of your work is sensitive and cannot be discussed publicly, I know what you do. I value it, and I respect you for doing it. And I wanted to come here to say thank you. The 56 stars carved into the wall here in this lobby remind each who passes by this place of the ultimate risks of intelligence work. Each star memorializes a vibrant life given in the service of our Nation.

Remarks to Central Intelligence Agency Employees in Langley, Virginia


I love you back! To Joe Solmonese, who is doing an outstanding job on behalf of HRC; to my great friend and supporter Terry Bean, cofounder of HRC; Representative Patrick Kennedy; David Huebner, the Ambassador-designee to New Zealand and Samoa; John Berry, our Director of OPM, who is doing a great job; Nancy Sutley, chairman of Council on Environmental Quality; Fred Hochberg, chairman of Export-Import Bank; and my dear friend Tipper Gore, who is in the house. It is a privilege to be here tonight to open for Lady Gaga I have made it. I want to thank the Human Rights Campaign for inviting me to speak and for the work you do every day in pursuit of equality on behalf of the millions of people in this country who work hard in their jobs and care deeply about their families and who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. For nearly 30 years, you have advocated on behalf of those without a voice. For despite the real gains that we have made, there is still laws to change, and there is still hearts to open. There are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors, even loved ones, good and decent people, who hold fast to outworn arguments and old attitudes, who fail to see your families like their families, who would deny you the rights most Americans take for granted. And yet you continue, leading by the force of the arguments you make and by the power of the example that you set in your own lives as parents and friends, as PTA members and church members, as advocates and leaders in your communities. And you are making a difference. That is the story of the movement for fairness and equality and not just for those who are gay, but for all those in our history who've been denied the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, for all who've been told that the full blessings and opportunities of this country were closed to them. It is the story of progress sought by those with little influence or power, by men and women who brought about change through quiet, personal acts of compassion and defiance wherever and whenever they could. It is the story of the Stonewall protests, when a group of citizens with a few options when a group of citizens with few options and fewer supporters stood up against discrimination and helped to inspire a movement.

Remarks at the Human Rights Campaign Annual Dinner


It is the story of an epidemic that decimated a community and the gay men and women who came to support one another and save one another, who continue to fight this scourge, who have demonstrated before the world that different kinds of families can show the same compassion in a time of need. And it is the story of the Human Rights Campaign and the fights you have fought for nearly 30 years, helping to elect candidates who share your values, standing against those who would enshrine discrimination into our Constitution, advocating on behalf of those living with ENTITY/ENTITY, and fighting for progress in our Capital and across America. I am here with you in that fight. For even as we face extraordinary challenges as a nation, we cannot and we will not put aside issues of basic equality. I greatly appreciate the support I have received from many in this room. I also appreciate that many of you do not believe progress has come fast enough. I want to be honest about that, because it is important to be honest among friends. It is not for me to tell you to be patient, any more than it was for others to counsel patience to African Americans petitioning for equal rights half a century ago. We have made progress, and we will make more. And I think it is important to remember that there is not a single issue that my administration deals with on a daily basis that does not touch on the lives of the LGBT community. We all have a stake in reviving this economy. We all have a stake in putting people back to work. We all have a stake in improving our schools and achieving quality, affordable health care. We all have a stake in meeting the difficult challenges we face in Iraq and Afghanistan. For while some may wish to define you solely by your sexual orientation or gender identity alone, you know and I know that none of us wants to be defined by just one part of what makes us whole. You are also parents worried about your children's futures. You are spouses who fear that you or the person you love will lose a job. You are workers worried about the rising cost of health insurance. And most importantly, you are Americans who care deeply about this country and its future. So I know you want me working on jobs and the economy and all the other issues that we are dealing with. But my commitment to you is unwavering, even as we wrestle with these enormous problems.


And while progress may be taking longer than you'd like as a result of all that we face, and that is the truth, do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach. My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians, whether in the office or on the battlefield. You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman. You will see a nation that is valuing and cherishing these families, as we build a more perfect union, a union in which gay Americans are an important part. I am committed to these goals, and my administration will continue fighting to achieve them. And there is no more poignant or painful reminder of how important it is that we do so than the loss experienced by Dennis and Judy Shepard, whose son Matthew was stolen in a terrible act of violence 11 years ago. In May, I met with Judy who is here tonight with her husband I met her in the Oval Office, and I promised her that we were going to pass an inclusive hate crimes bill, a bill named for her son. Time and again we faced opposition. They turned tragedy into an unshakeable commitment. You held vigils; you spoke out, year after year, Congress after Congress. The House passed the bill again this week. And I can announce that after more than a decade, this bill is set to pass, and I will sign it into law. It is a testament to the decade-long struggle of Judy and Dennis, who tonight will receive a tribute named for somebody who inspired so many of us named for Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought tirelessly for this legislation. And it is a testament to the Human Rights Campaign and those who organized and advocated. And it is a testament to Matthew and to others who've been the victims of attacks not just meant to break bones, but to break spirits; not meant just to inflict harm, but to instill fear. Together, we will have moved closer to that day when no one has to be afraid to be gay in America, when no one has to fear walking down the street holding the hand of the person they love. We are pushing hard to pass an inclusive employee nondiscrimination bill.


For the first time ever, an administration official testified in Congress in favor of this law. Nobody in America should be fired because they are gay, despite doing a great job and meeting their responsibilities. It is not fair, it is not right, we are going to put a stop to it. And it is for this reason that if any of my nominees are attacked, not for what they believe, but for who they are, I will not waver in my support, because I will not waver in my commitment to ending discrimination in all its forms. We are reinvigorating our response to ENTITY/ENTITY here at home and around the world. We are working closely with the Congress to renew the Ryan White Program, and I look forward to signing it into law in the very near future. We are rescinding the discriminatory ban on entry to the United States based on ENTITY status. The regulatory process to enact this important change is already underway. And we also know that ENTITY/ENTITY continues to be a public health threat in many communities, including right here in the District of Columbia. Jeffrey Crowley, the Director of the Office of National ENTITY Policy, recently held a forum in Washington, DC, and is holding forums across the country to seek input as we craft a national strategy to address this crisis. We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve this country. We should be celebrating their willingness to show such courage and selflessness on behalf of their fellow citizens, especially when we are fighting two wars. We cannot afford to cut from our ranks people with the critical skills we need to fight any more than we can afford, for our military's integrity, to force those willing to do so into careers encumbered and compromised by having to live a lie. So I am working with the Pentagon, its leadership, and the Members of the House and Senate on ending this policy. Legislation has been introduced in the House to make this happen. That is my commitment to you. It is no secret that issues of great concern to gays and lesbians are ones that raise a great deal of emotion in this country. We can see that with the time and dedication it took to pass hate crimes legislation. But these issues also go to the heart of who we are as a people. Are we a nation that can transcend old attitudes and worn divides? Can we embrace our differences and look to the hopes and dreams that we share?


Will we uphold the ideals on which this Nation was founded, that all of us are equal, that all of us deserve the same opportunity to live our lives freely and pursue our chance at happiness? And that is why that is why I support ensuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country. I believe strongly in stopping laws designed to take rights away and passing laws that extend equal rights to gay couples. I have required all agencies in the Federal Government to extend as many Federal benefits as possible to LGBT families as the current law allows. And I have called on Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act. And we must all stand together against divisive and deceptive efforts to feed people's lingering fears for political and ideological gain. For the struggle waged by the Human Rights Campaign is about more than any policy we can enshrine into law. It is about our capacity to love and commit to one another. It is about whether or not we value as a society that love and commitment. It is about our common humanity and our willingness to walk in someone else's shoes, to imagine losing a job not because of your performance at work but because of your relationship at home, to imagine worrying about a spouse in the hospital with the added fear that you will have to produce a legal document just to comfort the person you love, to imagine the pain of losing a partner of decades and then discovering that the law treats you like a stranger. If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that there are too many who do not yet know in their lives or feel in their hearts the urgency of this struggle. That is why I continue to speak about the importance of equality for LGBT families, and not just in front of gay audiences. That is why Michelle and I have invited LGBT families to the White House to participate in events like the Easter Egg Roll, because we want to send a message. And that is why it is so important that you continue to speak out, that you continue to set an example, that you continue to pressure leaders, including me, and to make the case all across America. So tonight I am hopeful because of the activism I see in this room, because of the compassion I have seen all across America, and because of the progress we have made throughout our history, including the history of the movement for LGBT equality.


Soon after the protests at Stonewall 40 years ago, the phone rang in the home of a soft-spoken elementary school teacher named Jeanne Manford. It was one in the morning, and it was the police. Now, her son Morty had been at the Stonewall the night of the raids. Ever since, he had felt within him a new sense of purpose. So, when the officer told Jeanne that her son had been arrested, which was happening often to gay protesters, she was not entirely caught off guard. And you know, he is homosexual. Why are you bothering him? And not long after, Jeanne would be marching side by side with her son through the streets of New York. She carried a sign that stated her support. Young men and women ran up to her, kissed her, and asked her to talk to their parents. And this gave Jeanne and Morty an idea. And so, after that march on the anniversary of the Stonewall protests, amidst the violence and the vitriol of a difficult time for our Nation, Jeanne and her husband Jules, two parents who loved their son deeply, formed a group to support other parents and, in turn, to support their children, as well. At the first meeting Jeanne held in 1973, about 20 people showed up. Morty's life tragically was cut short by ENTITY, but the cause endured. Today, the organization they founded for parents, families, and friends of lesbians and gays has more than 200,000 members and supporters. It is made a difference for countless families across America. I did not even cross the street against the light. But I was not going to let anybody walk over Morty. of ordinary citizens organizing, agitating, and advocating for change; of hope stronger than hate; of love more powerful than any insult or injury; of Americans fighting to build for themselves and their families a nation in which no one is a second-class citizen, in which no one is denied their basic rights, in which all of us are free to live and love as we see fit. And tonight, somewhere in America, a young person, let us say a young man, will struggle to fall to sleep, wrestling alone with a secret he is held as long as he can remember. Soon, perhaps, he will decide it is time to let that secret out. What happens next depends on him, his family, as well as his friends and his teachers and his community.


It is wonderful to see all of you, all of the service personnel, all of your families, all the kids who are here. I thank you for coming. And I just want you to know I kept the rain away. They thanked me at the Air Force Academy, and I said, You know, when you are President, you get blamed for so many things you did not do; it is okay to take credit for a thing or two you did not do, either. But I am very, very glad to be here, glad to see all of you. I want to thank Chief Master Sergeant Sue Turner for her introduction. If she were running for office, she'd get a lot of votes just on being brief, I think. And I thank her for what she said. I am glad to be here with your Governor, Roy Romer, General Ashy, and others. Earlier this month I want to say something serious, if I might, for a moment our Nation lost six patriotic reservists of the 302d Airlift Wing based here at Peterson. Today, I, as their President, just want to remember them with my respects, my gratitude, my thanks. And I'd like to ask if we could all just have a brief moment of silence in their memory, please. Like the Rockies, the men and women here of Peterson stand tall and strong and proud. You are the sentinels of our air sovereignty. You are the home base for our Space Command and for NORAD. You are our eyes in space. I did a couple of interviews yesterday with some Colorado newspapers, and one of them asked me if we still needed eyes in space since the cold war was over. And I said, the last time I checked we had more stuff up in space every day; I thought we needed more eyes, not fewer. I thank you for what you are doing. And as we face the new challenges of the 21st century, you know as well as I do that the American military will continue to play a vital role, not only in the defense of our freedom and our security but also in advancing the cause of democracy and freedom throughout the world. We have seen painfully in the United States in the last several months, first at the World Trade Center and then at the awful incident at Oklahoma City, that our security can be threatened in a global economy with open borders and lots of personal freedom here at home as well as beyond our borders.

William J. Clinton Remarks to the Community at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs


One of them occurred from people I believe were deeply disturbed and way off track within our country; another occurred because this is a free country and people can come and go here, and people who bore us ill will and wanted to destroy a symbol of American democracy came into this country and set that bomb at the World Trade Center. I am also happy to tell you that other sentinels of freedom working to thwart terrorism stopped two terrible incidents that were planned, one to blow up another bomb in New York and another that was designed to take some aircraft out of the air, flying out of the West Coast going over the Pacific. But we now know that the security threats we will face in the future, rooted in terrorism and organized crime and drug trafficking, are closely tied to things the military has had to work on for years, trying to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, stand up to rogue states, and protect our security interests around the world. We are going to have to fight on all these fronts, and you are going to have to continue to be the best trained, best equipped, best motivated, most flexible military in the world for us to succeed. I am committed to making sure that you always are that and to doing whatever we have to do to improve the quality of life and the conditions of living, so that the best people in America want to be in the military and want to stay in the military. Since I have been President, I have twice had to go back to Congress to ask for large appropriations totaling over $35 billion to help to maintain our training, our readiness, and our quality of life. And this year I asked the Congress for a supplemental appropriation to cover contingencies in the Defense Department so we could fund a pay increase at the maximum legal level allowable and continue to make improvements in readiness and the quality of life. We are going to continue to do that. If you are committed to serving America, the people who make the decisions about investments in your future should be committed to making sure that you can serve and succeed, that you can have good families and a good life in the United States military. And we are very grateful to you for that. Let me say, what I most wanted to do was to have a chance to say thank you personally and to go down the row and shake hands with the children. And while I am very good at stopping the rain, I am not good at keeping it away forever.


It is indeed a signal honor to welcome to this Capital and to this house Their Majesties the King and Queen of Denmark. It is a country with which we are bound by ties of common ideals and principles, and ties of blood. Many of their people have come to this country and indeed, in their country, they celebrate one of our holidays. It has a long and interesting history. And of course, standing as it does as a buttress between the Baltic and the North Seas, it is not strange that they have had a long maritime history. But in these later days it is one of the key countries in the NATO alliance. Geographically it looks across a very narrow gap to the threatening dictatorship that creates so much tension and indeed so much ill will in this world. So we are proud to call them friend and ally. We need them. We hope that they feel, on their part, a sense of partnership and need for us. Many of you no doubt visited the Castle of Hamlet, and for my part at least, I was astonished to find out that Hamlet never lived in Denmark. It is a country of people calm and serene; they seem never to be startled, never to be hysterical. they were always hysterical in victory and panicky in defeat. I think the people of Denmark would be the last people that you could say that about, if you went there and wanted to make a generalization. In any event, it is a great country a prosperous country and above all, one with us, believing in the dignity of man and ready to put everything on the line; to risk even their existence in the defense of these values that free men feel are above all else in life. So you can realize that it is with a great sense of distinction that I ask you all to rise with me to drink to Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Denmark. The Queen and I are deeply moved by the kind words you have addressed to us and by the hearty welcome which you and Mrs. Eisenhower as well as the inhabitants of this beautiful city of Washington have given us. The kind hospitality with which we have been met by everybody during this first part of our stay in the United States has made a great impression on us and will always be kept in grateful memory by the Queen and myself. We have been looking forward with great expectations to this visit which I am sure will contribute to further strengthening of the ties of friendship which so happily unite our two countries.

Toasts of the President and King Frederik of Denmark


Twenty-one years have elapsed since in 1939 we had the opportunity of paying our first visit to the United States a tour of which we retain the most happy memories 21 years full of dramatic historic events. A world war with its terror and suffering for millions of people lies between then and now. During the dark years of war our two countries each with the means at her disposal aimed at promoting a common cause. We Danes realize how much we owe to the United States, to the courage and sacrifice of the American people, to the indomitable leadership of outstanding individuals as your memorable predecessors and you yourself, Mr. President, and to the dedicated efforts of the United States to achieve a peace based .on freedom and justice for all nations. I wish to take this opportunity to express on behalf of all my countrymen our gratitude towards the United States for their share in the liberation of our country. When peace had been achieved, we were faced with a series of new problems. As a result of the war the economy of my country like that of most other European countries had suffered severe setbacks. The rebuilding and expansion of our means of production and our merchant fleet and the revival of our commerce would not have been completed today had not the United States Government carried out their large-scale aid programs. Through this assistance the United States significantly helped the cause of economic integration in Western Europe. Your country thereby made an inestimable contribution to the unity of the states in our region. It is in my view a major interest, not only of Western Europe, but also of its friends in this hemisphere, that the cause of ever closer cooperation between European nations should enjoy the sympathy and active support of the United States of America. At the same time dark and menacing clouds were again gathering on the international horizon and prevented the peoples of the world from enjoying the peace for which they had fought so bitterly. Certainly those clouds still darken the sun, but thanks to inspiration and support from the United States the free nations of the Western World have joined their efforts to avert the threats to their national existence and their free way of life. Our country and yours are united in NATO. During the past 11 years we have had ample proof of the solidarity of the United States with NATO. We have benefited from the magnanimous aid which has enabled Denmark to build up a defense system without endangering the economic and social stability which are also important links in total defense.


The contribution of Denmark to the defense of the whole NATO area is, of course, bound to be on a moderate scale. However, we are fully aware that solidarity with our allies is a necessity if the alliance is to fulfill its mission. The establishment of common defense areas in Greenland, upon which Denmark and the United States agreed in 1951, is one of the Danish contributions to that end. During our recent visit to Greenland the Queen and I had the pleasure to visit one of these areas and to inspect the forces stationed there. The high efficiency of these forces gained and deserved our sincere admiration. While both of us see in the alliance which unites us a purely defensive instrument and a successful means to avert the horrors of a new war, we are not closing our eyes to, but indeed seeking, all possible means to diminish the present tension in the world. We are grateful to you, Mr. President, for your untiring, personal efforts in the cause of peace and good will. They are the ultimate proof of the peaceful aims to which the policy of the United States as well as Denmark are dedicated. The close cooperation between our two countries in the United Nations and other international organizations is based on an identity of views with respect to the fundamental elements of life and stamped by mutual respect and sympathy. To this contribute in no slight degree the ties which unite many Americans of Danish origin with the land of their ancestors. for centuries Danes have gone to the United States to work and study. Many of them stayed on and founded their new homes in their country of adoption; we are happy to meet them here as esteemed and mostly prosperous citizens of this great country. New bonds of friendship have been created by the ever increasing numbers of American visitors coming to Denmark and Danes going to the United States. A most useful and ever increasing exchange of scientists, students, teachers, etc., has developed since the war thanks to American generosity and planning. This constitutes an essential factor in the cultural relations between our two countries. Tourist travel also is becoming possible for wider and wider groups of our citizens, thanks to the rising standards of living and the progress in the means of transportation. We Danes have always been proud of our merchant marine. In the field of air transportation we have by pooling our resources with our sister nations, Norway and Sweden significantly assisted in making connections between your country and Scandinavia easier and closer. These personal links across oceans and borders bear evidence of the freedom reigning in our countries.


January is the time of year when many of us make New Year's resolutions and work hard to keep them. making sure women and men get the health care they need to have strong children and healthy families. First, our administration has worked hard to make sure all women have access to prenatal care. We know when women get medical attention before a baby is born, that child is much more likely to be born healthy. And good health is the most precious gift we can offer a child or a family. Second, we worked with Congress to make sure that every woman covered by Federal Government health insurance has reproductive health care coverage, including prescription contraceptives. That was a significant step for more than a million American women, and it set a standard for insurance coverage around the country. Third, when I took office, we faced an epidemic of teen pregnancy-children having children. Over the last 7 years, we have reached out to community groups, schools, and health professionals working in an amazing network of American citizens from all walks of life. And together, the American people have cut teen pregnancy by 15 percent. Fourth, we have made a broad range of family planning and sex education programs more widely available for all Americans. And by making sure women have family planning choices, we are helping to make abortion more rare. Today I am glad to announce we will be increasing funds for family planning and reproductive health care by $35 million next year. My budget for 2001 will include $274 million in grants for clinics and community-based health services that reach more than 5 million women and families. It will fund counseling for teenagers and support educational programs that encourage young people to postpone sexual activity. It will help more than 4,600 clinics screen for cancer, ENTITY, and other diseases. And it will fund partnerships with community organizations and health care professionals who are reaching out to teenagers and others at risk. These services make a critical difference in people's lives. They help working women who otherwise could not afford medical tests that may save their lives. They help ENTITY patients who desperately need counseling and assistance. They provide support and information to young people who may not know the basics of caring for a newborn child. They give women access to the full range of reproductive health care before and during pregnancy. It is in the interest of every American that no one miss out on this kind of care and that no child miss the chance for a healthy start. America has also been a leader in providing health and family planning assistance for women and families in developing countries.

The President's Radio Address


As I have said before, the United States does not take a position on these competing sovereignty claims, but we do take a position on the conduct of the claimants who must resolve their disputes peacefully, without intimidation, without coercion, and in accordance with international law. Do you have a reaction to the election in India? First of all, we congratulate India and the people of India on an historic national election, which saw more voters cast their ballots freely and fairly than in any election in human history. We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in this historic election. Once the government is formed, we look forward to working closely with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to advance our strong bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values. We would also like to thank Prime Minister Singh for the role he played in transforming our strategic partnership during his 10 years in office. Narendra Modi was banned the U.S. visa for the last 10 years. Do you think that was a step which could not have been taken -- was not the right step in the direction at the time? I am sorry, the question -- I understand about the visa, but what is the question? Do you think that was a wrong step taken by the previous administration, or do you stand by that? Well, I would refer you to the State Department for general answers to questions about the issuance of visas. I can tell you that the Prime Minister of India will be welcomed to the United States. And I would also note that U.S. officials, including Ambassador Powell, have met with Mr. Modi so he is certainly not unknown to us. And does the President have any plans to call him? The President does plan to reach out to Mr. Modi, and I am sure we will let you know when that is happened. One -- if the President preparing to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House. And second, if you can confirm if the President has received a farewell letter from outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- Dr. Manmohan Singh. I do not have anything on any correspondence the President may have received, and I think it is a little early to talk about a visit. The President will be reaching out to Mr. Modi and, as I noted, we congratulate him and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in these historic elections.

Barack Obama Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney


So, again, this is an important relationship, a strong, bilateral partnership, and the President looks forward to building on the progress we have made with Prime Minister Singh in our relationship, in our bilateral relationship with the next Prime Minister. And finally, the entire President's administration, all these eight years, Mr. Modi was banned from coming to the U.S. -- because there were several occasions when he was going to attend several functions in the U.S. Do you think there is a bitterness there between the two countries because of this? What is the future of the U.S.-India relationship? We have long said that we look forward to working with whomever the Indian people choose in these elections. And the U.S.-India partnership enjoys broad support across party lines in both of our countries. And I am confident that we will continue our successful and productive partnership with the new Indian government. The President looks forward to speaking with Mr. Modi and to working with the new government once it is formed. Let me get to -- I promise I will get to you. I am just wondering where the White House stands now on the issue in what is acceptable and what is not. Is it essential still to the White House that whatever finally emerges from Congress include a path to citizenship? It is elemental to the principles that he put forward. It is reflected in the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate. And the President strongly believes that it needs to be a part of comprehensive immigration reform. We have long said that the House would necessarily pursue its own path in the construction of an immigration reform package, but comprehensive immigration reform is essential because the whole works together in a way that achieves all of the important benefits to the economy and to the country that we are looking for with the passage of this legislation. So I am not going to get into a lot of parsing of what ifs because we have not seen a thing out of the House yet, and we are looking forward to the House acting on the urges we have heard expressed and the interest and desire that we have heard expressed by Republicans, including Republican leaders on this matter. And we want to see comprehensive immigration reform. We want to see comprehensive immigration reform that meets the test set by the President when he laid out his principles a number of years ago. And those principles are reflected in the Senate bill, as I have said many times.


That bill does not exactly mirror what the President would have written if he were to write a bill and see it pass through Congress, and he does not expect that what emerges from the House, if the House has the courage to act on this, to match word for word what he would prefer. But what he does insist is that comprehensive immigration reform adhere to the principles he laid out in the beginning. So whatever the legislative process, not parsing that, the final bill that he would sign into law must include a path to citizenship? We have said all along that comprehensive immigration reform needs to include a path to citizenship. And he will not sign a law that is short of that? He will not sign a bill that does not include a path to citizenship -- that is my question. He signs a lot of bills that do not include paths to citizenship. You know what I mean. I know what you mean, too, but what I am not going to do is -- So you are saying -- so he is open to signing an immigration bill that falls short of a path to citizenship? His position, unlike the position of others, has been absolutely consistent from beginning to end -- or to this point. Unfortunately, we are not at the end yet, and I do not expect it to change. And then on the VA, I have heard you and I have heard others at the White House talk about the VA as having a good record on dealing with the backlog of claims and actually praising the VA on this issue. In light of the way this -- as we learn more about problems and not just in the Arizona office, but in other parts of the country, are you still saying you think that the Veterans Administration has done a good job in dealing with the backlog of claims? I mean, are you still going to say that? I appreciate the question, ENTITY, and I think it is important to note -- and I tried to the other day when this came up -- you are conflating two separate things. The disability claims, the backlog and disability claims -- this is a specific problem and challenge that the VA and the White House and others in the administration have been aggressively attacking. And that is where you have seen a 50 percent reduction in the size of the backlog year over year, from this point to a year ago.


And the size of that backlog increased significantly when this administration, because our veterans deserve it, made the decision that there would be a presumption of acceptance of a claim if you were a veteran claiming problems associated with exposure to Agent Orange. That is the first time that is ever been done; that is what this administration did. If you were a veteran of the first Gulf War and you felt that you were a victim of problems associated with exposure in that war, and if you were a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan and you experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, again, your claim would clear a hurdle automatically under this process that we established in this administration because we believe our veterans deserve it. That immediately increased the population of people who had disability claims added to the backlog, and that backlog has been a focus of intense work and attention by the VA and the administration in general. On the matter of the absolute requirement that our veterans get the health care and services that they deserve and they get that in a timely fashion, the revelations or at least the allegations that have emerged from the situation in Phoenix I think have been greeted, in terms of reaction in the manner that Secretary Shinseki suggested yesterday, with a great deal of anger and frustration. But these are matters -- and other issues that have been discussed in the wake of those allegations -- that are properly under review at the order of Secretary Shinseki, under investigation at the recommendation of Secretary Shinseki by the independent inspector general. And as you know, the President and Chief of Staff here have responded to Secretary Shinseki's recommendation by sending one of the President's most trusted aides over to VA to help with that review, to work with Secretary Shinseki on that review. So I think that reflects the seriousness with which we approach this matter, our concern about some of the allegations that have been made. But I just wanted to make sure that it was understood that there is a -- that the disability claims issue is not the same issue that is being discussed when we talk about the allegations in Phoenix. I think part of the confusion is when you and others have been asked about the problems in terms of veterans getting the health care that they need and deserve, you have answered with talking points on the disability claim backlog. So are you really -- I mean, are you suggesting that this is a problem that is limited to the Phoenix office?


I think that there is an active review, as well as an investigation by the IG that will determine both what happened in Phoenix and, I am sure, what happened elsewhere if some of the other allegations that we have seen merit investigation. What I have been saying is that under Secretary Shinseki's leadership there has been a firm dedication to providing the kind of services that our veterans deserve. It is reflected in some of the decisions that were made to increase access to disability claims and to health care. We have under his leadership reduced veterans homelessness by 24 percent. We have provided Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits to more than 1 million students. And we have decreased the disability claims. My point is that when I talk about the progress that has been made, I have been referring to questions about Secretary Shinseki and his leadership of the Veterans Affairs Department, and that progress has come on his watch and he certainly deserves credit for it. Do you think it sounds strange, though, that given the evidence that we are seeing coming out and suggestions that veterans have actually died waiting to get health services -- I think the word you used is essential because you said the suggestion. And this matter is under investigation -- I would point you to what the IG said yesterday. But here you are praising the VA for all the things that have been done under Shinseki's leadership. Let me just explain the way you just asked that question. You are saying there is a suggestion that something terrible happened in Phoenix -- and that is under investigation. But you do not think there is evidence that there has been a real problem with the quality of health care that our veterans are getting? You do not think that this is going to be -- we still need to study this further? You do not think there is enough to act on right now to say that our veterans are not getting the care that they need? you are going to investigate more? We should just accept allegations as true without investigating them? Meanwhile, we are moving aggressively in a host of areas to ensure that our veterans are getting the services and the care that they deserve. And that is reflected not least in the fact that the President has requested increases in the budget for the VA every year he has been in office in a time of very tight budgets. And he has insisted when it came to the serious matter of the disability backlog that we attack that problem with aggression and with substantial resources, and that is resulted in the reduction in the backlog.


And that reduction needs to be eliminated -- I mean, the backlog has been reduced, but it needs to be eliminated, and that is an important part of making sure that our veterans are being taken care of. To follow-up on what ENTITY was asking, if General Shinseki is mad as hell about what went on, why is it the White House position that it is just allegations and suggestions? It seems to me he has made a conclusion in his mind that something bad happened. I think I would refer you to his testimony. And that is an opinion shared by the President, by Secretary Shinseki, and I think everyone else who has looked at this matter and works on these issues. Why has not he expressed it? The President was asked about the allegations and answered forthrightly and expressed his concern about it. The actions that we have taken reflect the concern that we have about it. And the fact that he has sent one of his most trusted and top aides from the White House over to the VA to assist the Secretary in his review reflects the seriousness with which we take this matter. But, again, I would simply say that it stands to reason that when allegations are made, it is important that they are investigated to find out the truth behind the matter before we just assume that what happened or what is said to have happened is true. I am not in any way prejudging, because I do not think we ought to prejudge. I do think that it is a matter of enough concern that the actions that Secretary Shinseki has taken and the actions that the President and the White House have taken are merited, and we will continue to aggressively tackle this problem. Should the American people be able to trust -- the President says he is -- you said the President is sending over one of his most trusted aides to oversee this. Wasn't General Shinseki one of his most trusted aides? Why should the American public look at that and say, well, that is the right thing to do instead of bringing somebody in from the outside perhaps to look at what is going on at the VA? ENTITY, what I can tell you is the President has confidence in Secretary Shinseki, someone with an incredibly admirable record in the military and in service to our veterans.


There remains a lot of work to do when it comes to making sure that our veterans get the services and care that they deserve, but Secretary Shinseki is aggressively tackling the challenges that we face on these matters. And when we see revelations like or accusations like what we have seen with regards to the office in Phoenix, it was certainly our view when Secretary Shinseki suggested it to our Chief of Staff that it was the right thing to do to add capacity, if you will, in order to make the effort more intense and more rapid to Secretary Shinseki's team by sending Rob Nabors over to the VA. ENTITY, on that point about the President speaking out -- today, for the second time this week alone, he talked about transportation funding, infrastructure funding because it is a priority for him. If fixing this VA problem is a priority for him, why have we not heard from him since April 28th? A lot has happened since he spoke out at that news conference. The Veterans Affairs administration has responded to those allegations by launching a review and suggesting and recommending and soliciting that the independent IG investigate. The President has asked his Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, one of his most trusted advisors, to temporarily take an assignment over at the VA to assist Secretary Shinseki in that effort. And Secretary Shinseki, as you know, was testifying on Capitol Hill just yesterday about this. This is something that, again, the President cares deeply about when it comes to our veterans and ensuring that we provide for them in a way that honors the service they provided us. Why is he not speaking directly to veterans on this and saying, this is how much it matters and we are going to fix it? Your words are important, but if you are -- on transportation funding, for example, he does not just have you do it; he gets out there and says, Congress has to move on this. Why is he not out directing veterans on this? Well, again, he is taking action, Ed. He has responded to this. He has spoken about it. I am sure there will be an opportunity for him to speak about it again. I think you would be the first to say that if -- and maybe you would, since Congress is not acting yet on transportation -- that speaking alone does not get the job done; acting gets the job done. When it comes to transportation -- Sure, but you push them along. But he pushes them along.


If I may, Ed, when it comes to transportation funding, that requires action by Congress so to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Americans are not thrown off the job come August. When it comes to taking the actions that we have taken as an administration in response to allegations, that is something we can do and that is something that the President is directing. How do you react directly to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor? He put out a statement yesterday saying he believes there is a pattern at the White House where the Cabinet Secretaries take all the heat and the President ultimately is just not held accountable. I think that in the time that since those allegations emerged in the press, the President has given four or five press conferences, so I think he has had the opportunity to address this and has been asked about it. I think there will be other opportunities for him to address this. But what he has also done is acted on it and so has Secretary Shinseki. Last one is -- you were talking about immigration earlier and that the clock is ticking, and minimum wage, a lot of other important priorities that the President has been pushing -- transportation funding as well. Is there any fear at all with Congress having hearings, that IG is having an investigation, there was talk yesterday that the FBI may get involved because there may be criminal charges in the VA scandal if, in fact, people did die because of this. My question being is there any fear that this is a big -- I struggle to use the word distraction because it is an important issue that veterans get their health care, but is this something that overshadows the attention of Congress right now so you cannot get immigration and other stuff done? I would simply say that it is an important matter and that the resources necessary to tackle it so that we are providing the services and benefits that veterans deserve are merited, and the attention that is paid to it by those who are concerned about the problem as opposed to politics is absolutely appropriate. That is how the President views it. Does the government have any confidence, this administration have any confidence that the Nigerians can ever retrieve the young women, particularly in light of today's news that President Jonathan was supposed to go to the village from which they were kidnapped and decided at the last minute not to go? Well, I would say that, first of all, a couple of things. There is no question that the Nigerian people, the Nigerians face a real threat in Boko Haram.


Boko Haram has demonstrated it has no regard for human life and it has demonstrated an increased ability to conduct attacks, and those attacks have increased in frequency and lethality. So this organization poses a serious threat in that country. When it comes to the efforts undertaken by the Nigerian government to find these girls, we have made clear that, in our view, time is of the essence and that we can and are assisting the Nigerian government in the search, but the Nigerian government has the lead and needs to act accordingly. But they do not seem to be making any progress. No, signs from Nigeria are not encouraging. Well, I think a circumstance -- I mean, I think that it was important -- and I tried to do this when we first started talking about the assistance the United States was going to provide -- to understand that despite the expertise we have, the capacities we have, and the kind of assets that we can bring to bear in this, that this is a tremendous challenge. We are talking about fewer than 300 people who are being searched for in an area at least the size of West Virginia, portions of which are very densely forested, as I understand it. And, again, this is a population of kidnapped girls that we hope remains intact and together, but obviously if they have been separated that makes the challenge even greater -- which does not mean that we will not provide all the assistance and assets that we can in that effort in helping Nigeria conduct this search, but it is certainly a challenge. But the security situation is apparently so bad that the President of the country cancelled a visit to the area today. I think the fact that the security situation, because of Boko Haram, is real is one that is self-evident and which I discussed moments ago. But that does not mean that we cannot and that they cannot conduct a search, and that is certainly what is happening. We have already, as I discussed earlier this week, launched both manned and unmanned aircraft as part of the reconnaissance effort, and we have a team of personnel assisting the Nigerian government in a variety of ways. Other nations have lent their support to the effort and we hope that it will bear fruit and we will find the girls. ENTITY, has President Obama spoken to President Goodluck Jonathan, or does he plan to? I do not have any conversations to read out. Did he have a reaction to canceling his trip? I have not spoken to him about it.


And Nigerian officials, U.S. officials, officials from Britain and France are going to meet over the weekend and discuss their strategy moving forward. What is the anticipation on the part of this White House about the tangibles that might come out of that meeting -- the series of meetings? I think that we are focused on assisting the Nigerians in developing a concrete plan and a concrete approach to finding out where the girls are and recovering them so that they can be returned to their families. And that requires coordination and it requires strategy. And I assume that these conversations will be focused on that effort. Going back to ENTITY's line of questioning, you have Alice Friend, who is the Director of African Affairs, talking about some of her frustrations, frustrations on the part of the United States with the Nigerian government's slow to adapt with new strategies and new tactics. Can you flesh out what some of the other frustrations are that the U.S. feels in terms of working with the government of Nigeria? Well, look, I think that the challenge that Nigeria faces from this group is a serious one, and there are all sorts of issues that she and others have identified that make the challenge even greater and that we try to address as a friend of Nigeria in the assistance that we provide. That is why we provide security assistance, to increase Nigeria's capacity to meet the threat, including by helping professionalize its military and helping it carry out responsible counterterrorism operations. It is why we provide law enforcement assistance, to help Nigeria bring those responsible for attacks on civilians to justice. It is why we support programs and initiatives that are aimed at combating violent extremist ideology, including by creating economic alternatives for those vulnerable to being recruited by terrorist organizations. So we have a coordinated effort that is designed to help strengthen Nigeria's ability to respond responsibly and effectively to these challenges in a way that ensures civilians are protected and human rights are respected. And responding responsibly and effectively is important because that is , in effect, how you provide support for and reassurance to the population that is also having to deal with the threat posed by an organization like Boko Haram. Is there a timeline for the review that he is conducting? For questions like that, I would refer you to the VA. They are obviously conducting the review.


So I do not have a timeline on Rob's stay over at the VA except to say that it is temporary and he will be coming back and returning to his responsibilities as Deputy Chief of Staff here when that assignment is finished. The White House has repeatedly expressed confidence in Shinseki's leadership, progress under his watch. But the way that this all came out -- even if you are going to keep calling them all allegations and they seem to be more widespread than one hospital -- does not that in itself indicate a major shortfall in his oversight and leadership of the administration? Michelle, I think I have addressed this question. What we have seen in response to the allegations that have been reported is a review instigated by the Secretary, one that we are now providing a senior White House official to assist -- My question is the way it came out, that this was all -- all of these problems that have been built up and widespread, it all came out through reporting by the press, that some of this was not even known about. So does not that, in and of itself, indicate a major shortfall there? Well, I'd say a couple of things about that. First of all, there are active reviews and investigations into what happened, and I think, again, I am not going to pass judgment on what happened until we have seen the conclusion of an investigation. Separately, should some of these allegations prove to be true, Secretary Shinseki has made clear that he would be outraged by that and angry by that -- the President certainly would be -- and he would expect people to be held accountable. On the role of the press, I think the press, in general -- and again, I am not going to pass judgment on whether or not the allegations are true because we do not know, but the role of the press is important in general as a -- on matters like this and in so many other areas. So I would not sell the press short when it comes to the important role they play. And on Iran, these reports that have come out this week that Iran is actively pursuing ballistic missiles, what is the White House's view of that and the possibility of eventually reaching a nuclear deal? Well, on the question of ballistic missiles, we have made clear that all issues of concern are on the table during the P5-plus-1 negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement.