*EPF313 05/22/2002
Transcript: U.S. Congratulates East Timor on Its Independence
(U.S. Presidential Delegation at celebrations May 19) (2220)

Representing President Bush and the United States, former President Clinton congratulated the new government of East Timor at its independence celebrations May 19.

Clinton acknowledged the suffering inflicted on East Timor by Indonesia, but noted that "(i)t is important that we take President Megawati's visit as a positive sign that the future will be different from the past."

The former president also said that the attendance at the independence celebrations by the Portuguese president and prime minister helps to "focus on the future and make sure that the tomorrows are different from the yesterdays."

"The government and the people of the United States supported East Timor when I was President and President Bush and the American people support East Timor today and in the future," Clinton said.

Following is a transcript of the event:

(begin transcript)

United States Presidential Delegation to the
Independence Celebrations for East Timor
May 19, 2002

Shari Villarosa: Hello, thank you all for coming today, this afternoon. I am Shari Villarosa, soon to become the Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy here in Dili. I am very proud to introduce our delegation. Our former president the Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, the Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Jim Kelly, the former Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, the Director for Asian Affairs of the National Security Council, Karen Brooks, Brigadier General John Castellaw of Marine Forces Pacific Command. And we have a special guest Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta.

Former President Clinton: Thank you very much. I have a relatively brief statement I would like to read. First of all, I am glad to be here with our delegation representing President Bush and the American people at the birth of the first new nation of the 21st century. East Timor has fought a long, difficult, and historic struggle. It is a tribute to the persistence and resilience of the people of East Timor and to their leaders. I am very honored to be on your soil today and to be here with my friend Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, whom I admire very much.

The government and the people of the United States supported East Timor when I was President and President Bush and the American people support East Timor today and in the future. Briefly, I would like to offer my thanks on behalf of the government and the people of the United States and to many others who have contributed to this, the United Nations, and especially to the representative here who met us outside and I am very grateful to him. I thank the ASEAN nations. I think it is a very good thing that President Megawati is coming here. I thank the Carter Center for what they have done. I am glad that the Prime Minister and the President of Portugal are coming. This all represents a marked departure from the centuries of difficulties the people of East Timor have faced.

Tonight at midnight the dream of freedom for the people of East Timor becomes a reality. Tomorrow, the hard work of a free people facing daunting challenges begins. The world, including the World Bank, East Timor's neighbors, and the United States must help in facing those challenges. But, the people of East Timor will forge their own future. We celebrate this great day in a world that is beset by conflicts in every region. Rooted in religion and race, in tribe and ethnic differences. We have seen it and I have lived with it, from the Middle East to the Balkans, the Northern Ireland situation, and in my own neighborhood in Haiti and Columbia. And everywhere the question ultimately is the same: Will people allow their people to be dominated by yesterday's differences or will they give their children different tomorrows?

President Xanana has said over and over again that he wants East Timor to have a future in which all the people can behold, that he admires President Mandela, and the enormous difficult work that he did in South Africa. Now I say President Mandela and all of us admire him and all the leaders that have fought this long struggle. In the end, all of the world's challenges will be determined by how we answer a simple question: Which is more important, our differences or our common humanity? The world will not be saved by people that think they can find their redemption in the destruction of others. But it can not be saved if countries like ours believe we can claim for ourselves the opportunities of the modern world we deny to others.

So we come here today representing the President, the government, and the people of the United States. I am proud of the role that we played, and I would especially like to thank my good friend Ambassador Holbrooke for the work he did in the United Nations, and the military for the work we did in helping the Australians and the ASEAN nations to come into East Timor. But mostly, I want to thank the leaders and the people of East Timor for giving all of us the chance to remember that freedom is precious. And that your freedom was paid for by blood and sacrifice. It took too long to come. Now that it is here, I hope that we can all make the most of it. Thank you very much.

Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta: Yesterday before arriving I asked our good friend President Clinton where is Chelsea?

Former President Clinton: Do you want to explain that? I am the second most favorite member of my family to Mr. Horta, and my daughter could not come. So he is actually disappointed to see me. But I am doing the best I can to make up.

Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta: I sent an email message to President Clinton asking to bring Chelsea, my favorite first daughter in the world. But the President was scared, because the moment he got off the plane he immediately explained why Chelsea was not coming. We accept the apology.

On behalf of President Xanana, who can not be here right now because he is welcoming President Sampaio of Portugal, we want to thank you, President Clinton, for the many years of your support, and thank the administration and your people. Please convey to President George W. Bush our thanks for the continuing support that the United States has provided us. Come as often as you can. As you all know, besides having a great daughter, he is the best saxophone player in the world. I invited Paul McCartney to come but he could not come, but we have an even better one here. Thank you.

Former President Clinton: I see that you have now become a politician and not just a freedom fighter. Thank you.

Question: (In Portuguese language) How do you feel about the relationship between East Timor and Indonesia, and when will the United States provide training to the East Timorese forces.

Former President Clinton: I do not think I am qualified to answer the question you asked about the defense forces. Perhaps Secretary Kelly or General Castellaw would like to answer that question. I think the fact that President Megawati is coming here is a good sign. I think it is an indication that she is willing to have the future that I think you must have, which is one of cooperation and mutual respect. After all, this is a small country that can do well and make a lot of progress if you are on good terms with your neighbors and good things happen. You were unfairly punished for a long time because you were not well treated. First by Indonesia and then because of the lack of concern by others. That is all changed now and I think the fact that President Megawati is here is a very positive thing and I hope that we can build on it to have some positive results.

Let me just say that Prime Minister Howard is also coming and again I want to say that I am very grateful, General Castellaw, for all the wonderful work the military has done here. Basically, what we did was to help organize the logistics so that the Australians could come in and play the lead role, and then a very large number of the ASEAN countries came. I think that is a good signal that your neighbors want you to do well and are prepared to do their part.

Question: You asked about the conference in your statement. Obviously, that democratization process and what is happening here tonight in East Timor may have an impact on what is going to happen in Burma.

Former President Clinton: Let me say I know that I can speak for President Bush in this, we were elated when Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her long arrest. I personally advocated her cause as best I could during the entire time I was president. Of course what happens in Burma will largely be determined by the Burmese leaders, but I am hopeful that this celebration and her release will bring a whole new wind of freedom and cooperation to this part of the world. The United States will support that.

Question: The Philippine government said that they passed on information in 1995 to the U.S. government of a terrorist plot to train suicide pilots, hijack commercial planes, and ram them into building. The U.S. law enforcement officials have acknowledged they received information. Did that ever reach your desk and what was done with that information.

Former President Clinton: Let me say I am here representing the President and the government of the United States for this important day. I answered questions about all these things in Hawaii yesterday, but I think it would be inappropriate for me to say or do anything that would take away from the focus that I believe we should all have on this day. We can deal with all this the day after tomorrow, after these two days are finished.

Question: Mr. Clinton what about all the military equipment given by the American governments, including your administration, to the Indonesians which enabled the genocide of these East Timorese people to be carried out? Do you have a guilty conscience about that?

Question: And the fact that the U.S. wants to restart military aid to the Indonesian government?

Former President Clinton: That is something that someone else would have to answer because that is beyond my competence. I am not in the government anymore, so I would not know. I feel very strongly, that if you look at our record, I did everything that I could to dissuade the Indonesians, under previous governments, from doing things that I thought were wrong here. My conscience on that is quite clear. I did everything I could to support the creation of this nation when the people of East Timor made their views clear. Ambassador Holbrooke and in her previous incarnation Karen Brooks, who is now at President Bush's National Security Council but was previously in the State Department, and all of us did what we could to make this moment of justice come about. So I feel very strongly that we did the right thing. Indonesia is a very large and very great nation and the future of Indonesia is important to the world as well as East Timor. I think it is important that we take President Megawati's visit as a positive sign that the future will be different from the past. I do not think anybody is particularly proud of the way the people of East Timor were treated in the past, but I think the fact that the Portuguese President and Prime Minister are coming, the fact that so many nations bound together to make this transition successful, and the fact that the UN played a very positive role, all of this should, I hope, get us to focus on the future and make sure that the tomorrows are different from the yesterdays.

Question: Mr. Clinton, your reaction to the Bush administration's decision to withdraw the presence of the United States military here in East Timor if there is no immunity from international prosecutions? And just a quick follow up, how does it feel to be back on the world stage representing the United States government?

Former President Clinton: I think we are going to support the continued presence here and I believe that was worked out and that we had a positive vote in the United Nations from the United States. So the internal debates that go on in the administration are beyond my reach, but I think that they did vote in the right way and took the right position in the end. I think that is what you should feel good about. I am very honored to be here because we were so involved in the struggle of the people of East Timor and so supportive of this day and I am grateful that President Bush asked me to do it. It is nice to be here and to stand up for the people of East Timor and their leaders. Thank you very much.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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