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(4) has agreed to distribute developmentalassistance on the basis of need without re-gard to political affiliation, geographic loca-tion, or the ethnic, tribal, or religious iden-tity of the recipient.

You are authorized and directed to reportthis determination and certification to theCongress and to publish it in the FederalRegister.

GEORGE BUSH

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Reg-ister, 11:54 a.m., June 10, 1992]

Note: This memorandum was released bythe Office of the Press Secretary on May27.

Presidential Determination No. 9228Memorandum on ArmsExports to the Comoros

May 26, 1992Memorandum for the Secretary of StateSubject: Eligibility of the Comoros to beFurnished Defense Articles and ServicesUnder the Foreign Assistance Act and theArms Export Control Act

Pursuant to the authority vested in meby section 503(a) of the Foreign AssistanceAct of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C.2311(a)), and section 3(a)(1) of the ArmsExport Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2753(a)(1)),I hereby find and determine that the fur-nishing of defense articles and services tothe Government of the Comoros will

strengthen the security of the United Statesand promote world peace.You are authorized and directed to report

this determination to the Congress and topublish it in the Federal Register.

GEORGE BUSH

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Reg-ister, 11:55 a.m., June 10, 1992]

Note: This memorandum was released bythe Office of the Press Secretary on May27.

Remarks at the United States Naval Academy CommencementCeremony in Annapolis, MarylandMay 27, 1992

Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and thank allof you. Thank you, Larry Garrett. Pleasebe seated. And may I salute our great CNO,Admiral Kelso, whos with us today, and ourSuperintendent, Admiral Lynch, the severalMembers of the United States Congressthat are here today. I want to single outthe Navy band, thank the Academy band;and Captain Bill Hines, the Senior Chap-

lain; and Midshipmen First Class JoeLienert and Melissa Miceli for leading usin the national anthem. Officers, membersof the faculty, friends, parents, the brigade,and of course, the class of 1992. As I saidthat, the sun came out. [Laughter] Now,thank you for this warm welcome. Let meadd a special salute to an honorary class-

mate of the class of 92, Midshipman RobBoehning, a model of courage to his class-mates.

Now, the real reason I came here today:I just wanted to salute the class that finallycaptured the Army mules. And to show youthat I took Larry Garretts remarks to heart,I will now tell you my favorite Billy Grahamstory about the guy, the graduation speaker,goes on and on and on. A guy sitting overhere picks up the gavel, heaves it at him,misses, hits a woman in the front row. Andshe said, Hit me again. I can still hearhim. [Laughter] Look what youre in for.[Laughter] No, theyre double-spaced.

As President, Ive made it my mission to

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preserve three legacies of concern to allAmericans. I spoke a few days ago at South-ern Methodist University about the neweconomic realities, about the promising jobopportunities that were going to have inthe next century. At Notre Dame, my focuswas the family because the first lessons infaith and character are learned at home. Buttoday I want to speak about the great mis-sion youve taken up as your own: preserv-ing freedom, keeping the peace.

You take up your watch at a watershedmoment, as old orders give way to new.Just think of the changes, the remarkablechanges that have taken place since you first

came to Annapolis 4 years ago, for plebesummer way back in 1988. That was a dif-ferent era, another world, literally. Europewas a continent divided, East from West.From Central America to the Horn of Afri-ca to Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, theU.S. faced Soviet expansionism. Today, allthat has changed. Today, the dominoesfall in democracys direction. Today, theWall, the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet empire,even the Soviet Union itself, all are gone,swept away by the most powerful ideaknown to man: the undeniable desire ofevery individual to be free.

We must recognize these events for whatthey were: a vindication of our ideals, a tes-tament to faith, but also a victory for themen and women who fought for freedom.Because this triumph didnt just happen.Imperial communism didnt just fall. It waspushed.

Your generation will be the first to enjoythe fruits of that victory. Today, the threatof a lightning strike across the fields of Eu-rope has vanished with the Warsaw Pact.The threat of nuclear war is more distantthan at any time in the past four decades.As Commander in Chief, I think back oftento the day I did what so many of my prede-cessors must have longed to do, to give theorder for many of our nuclear forces to

stand down from alert. Last week in Lisbon,we reached agreement with four of the newnations of the old Soviet empire, Russia,Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Byelarus, to makegood on the great promise of the STARTTreaty that we signed just a year ago.

The end of the cold war, it means newopportunities for global prosperity. Free

market reform is now sweeping away thedead hand of state socialism. Capitalism isrecognized the world over as the engine ofprosperity and social progress. And nationsare reorganizing themselves to unleash thelimitless potential of the individual.

Governments can help foster free enter-prise, or they can put obstacles in its path.There is no question what course we musttake. The United States will remain a force-ful advocate for free trade. But the promiseof new prosperity must not blind us to thenew challenges of new economic realities.Nations that lack the confidence to competewill be tempted to seek refuge behind the

walls of protectionism. We must fight theprotectionist impulse here at home, and wemust work with our partners for trade thatis free, fair, and open.

Beyond this economic challenge, we mustsee clearly the dangers that remain. Andyes, since the day you came to Annapolis,we have made great gains for freedom. Butwe have not yet entered an era of perpetualpeace.

Some see the great triumph I mentioneda moment ago not simply as cause for cele-bration but as proof that Americas workin the world is finished, is done. The factis, never in the long history of man has

the world been a benign place. It will takehard efforts to make and keep it a betterplace, and there is no substitute in this ef-fort for Americas strength and sense of pur-pose. When other nations look to theUnited States, they see a nation that com-bines economic and military might with amoral force thats born of its foundingideals.

Even in our new world, as old threatsrecede, new ones emerge. With the end ofthe East-West standoff, ideology has givenway to ethnicity as a key factor for conflict.Ancient hatreds, ethnic rivalries frozen intime, threaten to revive themselves and

to re-ignite. We see it now in the war-rav-aged Balkans, in tensions within and amongsome of the new nations of the old Sovietempire. For all the overwhelmingly hopefulaspects of the new nationalism we see inthe world, for all the proud history and her-itage we see reclaimed, for all the captivenations now free, we must guard

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against those who would turn the noble im-pulse of nationalism to negative ends.

We will face new challenges in the realmof diplomacy. Where in the past weve re-lied almost entirely on established, formalalliances, the future may require us to turnmore often to coalitions built to respondto the needs of the moment. Where in thepast, international organizations like theU.N., the United Nations, had been para-lyzed by cold war conflict, we will see afuture where they can now be a force forpeace. Where in the past, many times theheaviest burdens of leadership fell to ourNation, we will now see more efforts made

to seek consensus and concerted action.The United States will never rely on othernations to defend its interests, but we canand will seek to act in concert with the com-munity of nations to defend common inter-ests and ideals. We saw a glimpse of thatfuture in the Persian Gulf. Such a worldputs a premium on nations certain of theirinterests, faithful to their ideals, and onleaders ready to act.

We will face new challenges that take usbeyond containment to a key role in helpingforge a democratic peace. In the weeksahead, Congress will be considering whatwe call the FREEDOM Support Act, topromote democratic reform in Russia andthe other Commonwealth States. For all thepressure to focus our energies on needshere at home, and for all that we must doand will do to open new opportunities toevery American here at home, we cannotfail in this critical mission.

When we think of the world you and yourchildren will inherit, no single factor willshape their future more than this: whetherthe lands of the old Soviet empire moveforward into democracy or slide back intoanarchy or authoritarianism. The outcomeof this great transition will affect everythingfrom the amount of resources Governmentmust devote to defense instead of domestic

needs to a future for our children free fromfear.

And yes, the aid that I have requestedfrom the Congress is significant, but it isalso a tiny fraction of the $4 trillion thatthis Nation spent to wage and win the coldwar. We owe it to those who began thetask as well as those who will come up after-

ward to finish the great work that we havebegun.

But if we hope to remain free and atpeace in the world, a world that still holdsdangers, we must maintain defenses ade-quate to the task. This defense rests on fourkey elements.

First, we must maintain a strong strategicdeterrent. And yes, our nuclear forces canand will be smaller in the future. But evenin the aftermath of the cold war, Russiaretains its nuclear arsenal. We learned inDesert Storm about the progress that Iraqhad made toward building nuclear weaponsof its own. We must heed the lessons

learned in the Gulf war, when a single Scudmissile took the lives of more Americansthan any other combat action in that war.We cannot count on deterrence to stop amadman with missiles. We must deploy adefense against ballistic missile attack.

Second, security means forward deploy-ment. From the 40 years of cold war tothe 40 days of Desert Storm, forward de-ployed forces have contributed to theworlds stability and helped America keepdanger far from its shores. Even in our newworld, with the tremendous political trans-formation weve worked to bring about, thefundamental facts of geopolitics dont

change. Forward deployed forcesIm talk-ing about ground forces, and I am talkingthe United States Navywill keep Americasafe in the century ahead as they have inthe century now coming to a close.

Third, the nature of the challenges weare likely to face will put a premium onrapid response. We live in a day when clearand present dangers are few, when newthreats can emerge with little or no warning.Throughout history, our ability to projectpower has helped us keep the peace, andif need be, to win the war. And this I pledgeas Commander in Chief: Americas forceswill continue to be the best trained, the

best equipped, and most battle-ready forcesanywhere in the entire world. We owe itto the generations coming up.

Fourth, even as we reduce our ArmedForces, we must retain the capability to re-constitute sufficient forces to meet the fu-ture threats that we may face. As we makesignificant cuts in our defense pro-

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curement, weve got to keep in mind thatproduction lines for planes and tanks andships cannot be turned on and off like waterfrom a faucet. Weve got to keep our tech-nological edge, keep our R&D focused onthe next generation of weapons that youllneed to succeed.

In conclusion, I just want to turn nowto a final challenge, one that begins witha hard-won truth that shines through thiscenturys great conflicts: America is safestat home when we stand as a force for stabil-ity in the world. In many respects, reaffirm-ing this truth in our new world may be thegreatest challenge of all because the history

of this century reveals in the American char-acter a desire to see in every hard-won vic-tory a sign that Americas work in the worldis done. Such an urge is not unusual in de-mocracies. Its a trait found in nations moreinterested in the quiet joys of home thanin the glories of conquest abroad. But itcan be devastating in a world that still holdsdangers for our interests and ideals.

Winston Churchill made this point thetheme of the last volume in his epic historyof World War II. He called it, How thegreat democracies triumphed and so wereable to resume the follies which had sonearly cost them their life.Once more, our

challenge is to avoid the folly that Churchillwarned of, to remain engaged in the worldas a force for peace. We will do it withyour help, through the leadership you pro-

vide. Today, John Paul Jones would say,The measure of a ship is not its guns butits courageous men and women. Yourcourage, your integrity, your ability to lead,these are the qualities on which our Na-tions security depends.

More than once this century, America hasproved its mettle. More than once, wevecome late to conflict and turned back mortalthreats to freedom. But as a Nation, wehave yet to prove that we can lead whenthere is no enemy on the doorstep. We haveproved and proved again we can win thewar. Now we must wage the peace.

Once again, to this wonderful graduating

class, I wish you well. I wish you Godspeed.And thank you all for this warm welcome.May I thank the families that have laboredin sweat to provide this wonderful day forthese wonderful midshipmen, now to be en-signs or lieutenants. Welcome, congratula-tions to the class of 1992. And may Godbless the United States of America, thefreest, greatest country on the face of theEarth. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:45 a.m. atthe Navy/Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.In his remarks, he referred to LawrenceGarrett III, Secretary of the Navy; Rear Ad-

miral Thomas C. Lynch, Superintendent ofthe U.S. Naval Academy; and Midshipman1st Class Robert Boehning, an honorarygraduate.

Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion With the Mount ParanChristian School Community in Marietta, GeorgiaMay 27, 1992

The President. Thank you, Dr. Walker,and all of you for taking your time. Butwhat I wanted to do is just say a couple

of brief remarks and then listen to you.Tomorrow theres a report coming out on

the schools. Its an NAEP report. I thinkit will be announced by the Education De-partment. And its got some troubling statis-tics in it, conclusions in it about kids: toomuch television; not enough reading, par-ents reading to the kids, kids doing reading.

And I just wish Barbara were here becauseshe spends a great deal of her life encourag-ing families to read together and teachers

and kids to read together. But this reportis going to say that weve got a long wayto go.

Having said that, I am told that thisschool sets a pretty darn good example forthe rest of the State, community, and Na-tion really in terms of parental involvement,which we think is absolutely funda-