News

May 22, 1998

[EXCERPTS] REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT





                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                           May 22, 1998     

	     
                      REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
           AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT
	     
	     
                     United States Naval Academy
                        Annapolis, Maryland  			     
	     


10:22 A.M. EDT
	     
................
	     
	     
	     Just last week, India conducted a series of nuclear 
explosive tests, reminding us that technology is not always a force 
for good.  India's action threatens the stability of Asia and 
challenges the firm international consensus to stop all nuclear 
testing.  So again I ask India to halt its nuclear weapons program 
and join the 149 other nations that have already signed the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.  And I ask Pakistan to exercise 
restraint, to avoid a perilous nuclear arms race. 
	     
	     This specter of a dangerous rivalry in South Asia is but 
one of the many signs that we must remain strong and vigilant against 
the kinds of threats we have seen already throughout the 20th century 
-- regional aggression and competition, bloody civil wars, efforts to 
overthrow democracies.
	     
	     But also, our security is challenged increasingly by 
non-traditional threats, from adversaries both old and new -- not 
only hostile regimes, but also terrorists and international 
criminals, who cannot defeat us in traditional theaters of battle, 
but search instead for new ways to attack, by exploiting new 
technologies and the world's increasing openness.
	     
	     As we approach the 21st century, our foes have extended 
the fields of battle -- from physical space to cyberspace; from the 
world's vast bodies of water to the complex workings of our own human 
bodies.  Rather than invading our beaches or launching bombers, these 
adversaries may attempt cyberattacks against our critical military 
systems and our economic base.  Or they may deploy compact and 
relatively cheap weapons of mass destruction -- not just nuclear, but 
also chemical or biological, to use disease as a weapon of war.  
Sometimes the terrorists and criminals act alone.  But increasingly, 
they are interconnected, and sometimes supported by hostile 
countries.
	     
	     If our children are to grow up safe and free, we must 
approach these new 21st century threats with the same rigor and 
determination we applied to the toughest security challenges of this 
century.  We are taking strong steps against these threats today.  
We've improved antiterrorism cooperation with other countries; 
tightened security for our troops, our diplomats, our air travelers; 
strengthened sanctions on nations that support terrorists; given our 
law enforcement agencies new tools.  We broke up terrorist rings 
before they could attack New York's Holland Tunnel, the United 
Nations, and our airlines.  We have captured and brought to justice 
many of the offenders.
	     
	     But we must do more.  Last week, I announced America's 
first comprehensive strategy to control international crime and bring 
criminals, terrorists and money launderers to justice.  Today, I come 
before you to announce three new initiatives -- the first broadly 
directed at combatting terrorism; the other two addressing two 
potential threats from terrorists and hostile nations, attacks on our 
computer networks and other critical systems upon which our society 
depends, and attacks using biological weapons.  On all of these 
efforts, we will need the help of the Navy and the Marines.  Your 
service will be critical in combatting these new challenges.
	     
	     To make these three initiatives work we must have the 
concerted efforts of a whole range of federal agencies -- from the 
Armed Forces to law enforcement to intelligence to public health.  I 
am appointing a National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure 
Protection, and Counterterrorism, to bring the full force of all our 
resources to bear swiftly and effectively. 
	     
	     First, we will use our new integrated approach to 
intensify the fight against all forms of terrorism -- to capture 
terrorists, no matter where they hide; to work with other nations to 
eliminate terrorist sanctuaries overseas; to respond rapidly and 
effectively to protect Americans from terrorism at home and abroad.
	     
	     Second, we will launch a comprehensive plan to detect, 
deter, and defend against attacks on our critical infrastructures 
--our power systems, water supplies, police, fire, and medical 
services, air traffic control, financial services, telephone systems, 
and computer networks.  
	     
	     Just 15 years ago, these infrastructures -- some within 
government, some in the private sector -- were separate and distinct.  
Now, they are linked together over vast computer-electronic networks, 
greatly increasing our productivity, but also making us much more 
vulnerable to disruption.  Three days ago, we saw the enormous impact 
of a single failed electronic link when a satellite malfunction 
disabled pagers, ATMs, credit card systems, and TV and radio networks 
all around the world.  Beyond such accidents, intentional attacks 
against our critical systems already are underway.  Hackers break 
into government and business computers.  They can raid banks, run up 
credit card charges, extort money by threats to unleash computer 
viruses.
	     
	     If we fail to take strong action, then terrorists, 
criminals and hostile regimes could invade and paralyze these vital 
systems, disrupting commerce, threatening health, weakening our 
capacity to function in a crisis.  In response to these concerns, I 
established a commission chaired by Retired General Tom Marsh, to 
assist the vulnerability of our critical infrastructures.  They 
returned with a pointed conclusion:  our vulnerability, particularly 
to cyberattacks, is real and growing.  And they made important 
recommendations that we will now implement to put us ahead of the 
danger curve.	  
	     
	     We have the best trained, best equipped best prepared 
Armed Forces in history.  But, as ever, we must be ready to fight the 
next war, not the last one.  And our military, as strong as it is, 
cannot meet these challenges alone.  Because so many key components 
of our society are operated by the private sector, we must create a 
genuine public-private partnership to protect America in the 21st 
century.  Together, we can find and reduce the vulnerabilities to 
attack in all critical sectors, develop warning systems including a 
national center to alert us to attacks, increase our cooperation with 
friendly nations, and create the means to minimize damage and rapidly 
recover in the event attacks occur.  We can -- and we must -- make 
these critical systems more secure, so that we can be more secure.
	     
	     Third, we will undertake a concerted effort to prevent 
the spread and use of biological weapons, and to protect our people 
in the event these terrible weapons are ever unleashed by a rogue 
state, a terrorist group or an international criminal organization.  
Conventional military force will continue to be crucial to curbing 
weapons of mass destruction.  In the confrontation against Iraq, 
deployment of our Navy and Marine forces has played a key role in 
helping to convince Saddam Hussein to accept United Nations 
inspections of his weapons facilities.
	     
	     But we must pursue the fight against biological weapons 
on many fronts.  We must strengthen the international Biological 
Weapons Convention with a strong system of inspections to detect and 
prevent cheating.  This is a major priority.  It was part of my State 
of the Union address earlier this year, and we are working with other 
nations and our industries to make it happen.
	     
	     Because our troops serve on the front line of freedom, 
we must take special care to protect them.  So we have been working 
on vaccinating them against biological threats, and now we will 
inoculate all our Armed Forces, active duty and reserves, against 
deadly anthrax bacteria.
	     
	     Finally, we must do more to protect our civilian 
population from biological weapons.  The Defense Department has been 
teaching state and local officials to respond if the weapons are 
brandished or used.  Today it is announcing plans to train National 
Guard and reserve elements in every region to address this challenge.  
But, again, we must do more to protect our people.  We must be able 
to recognize a biological attack quickly in order to stop its spread. 

	     We will work to upgrade our public health systems for 
detection and warning, to aid our preparedness against terrorism, and 
to help us cope with infectious diseases that arise in nature.  We 
will train and equip local authorities throughout the nation to deal 
with an emergency involving weapons of mass destruction, creating 
stockpiles of medicines and vaccines to protect our civilian 
population against the kind of biological agents our adversaries are 
most likely to obtain or develop.  And we will pursue research and 
development to create the next generation of vaccines, medicines and 
diagnostic tools.  The Human Genome Project will be very, very 
important in this regard.  And again, it will aid us also in fighting 
infectious diseases.  
	     
	     We must not cede the cutting edge of biotechnology to 
those who would do us harm.  Working with the Congress, America must 
maintain its leadership in research and development.  It is critical 
to our national security.  
	     
	     In our efforts to battle terrorism and cyberattacks and 
biological weapons, all of us must be extremely aggressive.  But we 
must also be careful to uphold privacy rights and other 
constitutional protections.  We do not ever undermine freedom in the 
name of freedom.
	     
	     To the men and women of this class of 1998, over four 
years you have become part of an institution -- the Navy -- that has 
repeatedly risen to the challenges of battle and of changing 
technology.  In the Spanish-American War, 100 years ago, our Navy won 
the key confrontations at Manila Bay and off Cuba.  In the years 
between the world wars, the Navy made tremendous innovations with 
respect to aircraft carriers and amphibious operations.  In the 
decisive battle in the Pacific in World War II at Midway, our 
communications experts and code breakers obtained, and Admiral Nimitz 
seized on, crucial information about the enemy fleet that secured 
victory against overwhelming odds.  
	     
	     

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             END                          10:48 A.M. EDT