[Presidential Decision Directives - PDD]
January 31, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 31, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today, I am announcing a course of action to resolve the impasse over
United States armed forces training on Vieques. This course will give the
people of Vieques the right to determine the future of the island while
assuring that our training needs are met. I have received a letter from
the Governor of Puerto Rico endorsing this course.
I am issuing two directives. They provide that between later this
year and early 2002, there will be a referendum held on Vieques, in which
the people of Vieques will be asked to choose between two alternatives. If
they choose the first alternative, the Navy will cease all training on
Vieques and leave the island by May 1, 2003. If they choose the second,
training will continue on Vieques on terms that will be presented at least
three months before the vote.
During the period leading up to the vote, training done on Vieques
will be limited to non-explosive ordnance -- meaning there will be no live
fire, and the Navy and Marine Corps will cut in half the amount of time
they will spend training, to no more than 90 days per year, which is what
we need to meet our training needs. I will also implement measures to meet
the health, safety, environmental and economic concerns of the people of
Vieques, and I will ask Congress to begin transferring title to land on the
western quarter of the island to Puerto Rico.
I believe this plan will help resolve the impasse over Vieques in the
fairest possible way, because it will meet our training needs while giving
the people most affected by this decision -- the people who actually live
on the island -- the ability to choose for themselves the future of their
island.
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