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- [#364-5790]
fax at home → fax to Podesta at home
1/29/00 3:00 p.m.
Orzulak
# PRESIDENT WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON
## VIDEO REMARKS TO THE
## PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO
## CONCERNING NAVY TRAINING ON VIEQUES
## JANUARY 31, 2000
My fellow citizens: last April, there was a tragic accident at the Navy range on Vieques. I mourned the loss to the family of David Sanes (SAN-ness), and the suffering of the others injured that day.
That terrible accident focused attention on the longstanding concerns of the island about training operations there. For many residents, it re-opened old wounds about the effect that training was having on quality of life. These concerns cover a wide range of issues – from safety and health to the economy and the environment. They reflect a distrust that, unfortunately, has been building for decades.
The accident led to a strong view in the Commonwealth that the Navy should end its training operations in Vieques. I understand that view.
At the same time, as Commander in Chief, I cannot send our servicemen and women into harm's way if they have not been adequately trained. I know that Puerto Rico understands that as well as anybody. Puerto Rico has a proud heritage of sending its sons and daughters to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States. You have never turned your back on your duty to share in the burden of defending our country. Some of you have even trained on Vieques.
Since 1941, every action that our Atlantic fleet has been involved in started with Vieques training. It's no accident that our nation lost no pilots in Kosovo. The training they received helped save lives. The reason this is such a difficult issue is because right now, some of this training can only be done on Vieques. There is no comparable alternative.
At the request of Governor Rosello and Resident Commissioner Romero-Barcello, last year I asked Defense Secretary Cohen to convene a panel and come up with recommendations for the future of Vieques. That panel found that we have not always been good neighbors on Vieques and recommended that we work toward replacing the island as a training site.
One voice that has not been heard from completely in this process are the people most directly affected by this decision – the people of Vieques itself. That changes right now.
Today, I am announcing a course of action that will resolve the impasse over Vieques. This course of action will not come from the top-down, but from the bottom-up. Ultimately, it will be for you to decide for yourselves the course of action to take.
By the first day of March in 2002, Vieques will hold a vote. In that vote, you will be presented with one of two alternatives. If you choose one alternative, the Navy will cease all training on Vieques by May 1, 2003. If you choose the other, training will continue on Vieques, including
> → must ensure our service is not met
> → just very best training possible
> → south like - here we no alternative. Sikes that give training comparable to Vieques
> → this is the path to only give right to people of Vieques, or right to determine while in the interior we are
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