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.
................
END 10:48 A.M. EDT