MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATION

	May 31, 1999
	Excerpts from President Clinton's speech at Arlington Cemetery.

MARGARET WARNER: President Clinton commemorated Memorial Day with a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. Here are excerpts of what he said. PRESIDENT CLINTON: On the eve of a new millennium, we can see clearly how closely the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform in the 20th century are linked to the yearning for freedom that gave birth to our nation over 200 years ago, a yearning based on the then radical premise that we are all inherently equal, fully able to govern ourselves and endowed with a God-given right to liberty. That is our history, a history that beckons us especially on this Memorial Day, and especially here at Arlington. The most powerful evidence we now have that our country has accepted consistently the old adage that much is expected from those to whom much is given. From Concord to Corregadar, from Korea to Caisson, from Kuwait to Kosovo, our entire history is written in this ground. Today there is a new challenge before us in Kosovo. It is a very small province and a small country. But it is a big test of what we believe in. Our commitment to leave the our children a world where people are not uprooted and ravaged and slaughtered en masse because of their race, their ethnicity or their religion, our fundamental interest in building a lasting peace and an undivided and free Europe, a place which saw two world wars when that dream failed in the 20th century. Every morning on Memorial Day, I have a breakfast for leaders of the veterans community at the White House. And I stand there with eager anticipation as people who have fought or whose relatives have fought and often died in our wars come through the line. I noticed them today. There were Irish Americans and Italian Americans. There were Arab Americans and Jewish Americans. There were Catholic Americans and Protestant Americans. There were African Americans. There were Hispanic Americans. There were Asian Americans. Just look around here today at the kinds of people who are wearing the evidence of their service to our country. We are a stronger country because we respect our differences, and we are united by our common humanity. Now, we cannot expect everybody to follow our lead, and we haven't gotten it entirely right now. We don't expect everybody to get along all the time. But we can say no to ethnic cleansing. We can say no to mass slaughter of people because of the way they worship God and because of whom their parents were. We can say no to that, and we should. (Applause) It is important that you know that in Kosovo, the world has said no. I know that many Americans believe that this is not our fight. But remember why many of the people are laying in these graves out here -- because of what happened in Europe and because of what was allowed to go on too long before people intervened. What we are doing today will save lives, including American lives in the future. And it will give our children the better, safer world to live in. In this military campaign, the United States has borne a large share of the burden -- as we must -- because we have a greater capacity to bear that burden. But all Americans should know that we have been strongly supported by our European allies; that when the peacekeeping force goes in there, the overwhelming majority of people will be Europeans and that when the reconstruction begins, the overwhelming amount of investment will be European. This is something we have done together. And I ask you in the days and nights ahead to remember our brave pilots and crews flying over Serbia, to keep their families in our thoughts, and in the bright new century ahead, those who live free with pride in and without fear of their heritage or their fate will be very grateful to today's men and women in uniform. I thank you all. God bless you, and God bless America.