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    "ocrText": "FOIA Number:\n2006-1733-F\nFOIA\nMARKER\nThis is not a textual record. This is used as an\nadministrative marker by the William J. Clinton\nPresidential Library Staff.\nCollection/Record Group:\nClinton Presidential Records\nSubgroup/Office of Origin:\nFirst Lady's Office\nSeries/Staff Member:\nSpeechwriting\nSubseries:\nLaura Schiller: HRC Speeches 11/94 - 8/95\nOA/ID Number:\n24624\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\nHRC Foreign Speeches 1994-97: [9/7/95 National University of Mongolia]\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n61\n2\n2\n2\nUniv. Mongolia\n9/7/95\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Press Secretary\nFor Immediate Release\nSeptember 7, 1995\nFIRST LADY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON\nREMARKS TO THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MONGOLIA\nULAN BATOR, MONGOLIA\nMRS. CLINTON: Thank you very much and Sain Bayn Uu [which\nmeans hello]. I want to thank Mrs. Tesvelmaa for her warm\nwelcome and hospitality. Ambassador Johnson, thank you for your\nenergetic and wise representation of our nation in Mongolia.\nProfessor Dorj, faculty, students, and other guests, thank\nyou for inviting me here today. It is a great honor to be with\nyou, and I want you to know that I bring with me very special\ngreetings from the President and the people of the United States\nof America.\nI hope that in the years ahead many more Americans will be\nable to travel here and experience first-hand the great beauty of\nyour country, the vitality and strength of the Mongolian people,\nas well as the respect you show for your natural surroundings,\nthe pride you have in your children, and the value you place on\neducation.\nIn America we have had the opportunity recently to learn\nmore about the rich culture and long history of Mongolia through\nthe most important exhibit of Mongolian art ever to be shown in\nthe United States. The exhibit, called \"Mongolia: The Legacy of\nChinggis Khan\", opened at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco\nin July, and will travel to several other cities, including our\nnation's capital.\nI have come here to express in very strong terms America's\nsupport for Mongolian democracy, independence, and prosperity.\nAnd I think it is wonderfully appropriate for us to be meeting at\na university, because the opportunity for citizens to pursue an\neducation is so essential to the growth and success of any\ndemocracy.\nI also am very pleased to learn that so many women are\nstudents here. In many parts of the world, women are not afforded\nthe opportunity of higher education, or even the chance to\nacquire basic literacy. Mongolia is an exception.\n1\nAs you may know, I spent the past few days before coming to\nMongolia at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women\nin Beijing. The purpose of the conference was to bring together\nwomen and men from around the world who are dedicated to\nadvancing the interests of women, children, and families.\nAbout 185 nations, including Mongolia, sent delegates who\nare focusing their energies on the issues that matter most to\nwomen and their families: access to education, health care, jobs\nand credit, safety from violence in and out of their homes, and\nthe chance to participate fully in the political life of their\ncountries.\nI mention this because so many of the ideals and values at\nwork at the UN conference are the ideals and values at work in\nyour new democracy.\nEarlier today, I had a chance to meet with a group of\nMongolian women, several of whom, including your First Lady,\nparticipated in the women's conference. And I think we are all\naware that no matter what country we live in, as women we share\nmany of the same aspirations and concerns.\nWe are living in a time of momentous change around the\nworld. It is a time when dictatorships and tyrannies are giving\nway to more open and tolerant societies -- and new respect for\nhuman rights, free elections and free markets is emerging in many\nplaces.\nYet it is also a time of growing global competition, scarcer\nresources and unpredictability about the future. So along with a\nwave of democracy, we also see the resurfacing of ugly ethnic,\ntribal and religious conflict and the violence that often\naccompanies those rivalries.\nIn the face of such rapid change, there may be a tendency to\nassume that education, health care, economic opportunity and\npersonal freedom have little to do with the economic and social\nprogress of a nation.\nThe whole point of the conference in China -- and what we\nare learning in country after country around the world, including\nhere in Mongolia -- is that investing in human beings and their\npotential to improve their own lives and the lives of their\nfamilies is as important to a nation's progress as investments in\nthe marketplace.\nAlong with access to schooling, health care and jobs, men\nand women must be permitted to take part in the decisions that\nwill affect their futures.\n2\nIt takes great courage on the part of many people to build a\ndemocracy, as we have seen from India to South Africa to\nMongolia.\nThere are some who claim that freedom and democracy are\nWestern concepts and that Asians prefer authoritarian rule.\nI say: Let them come to Mongolia.\nThis country has transformed itself from a one-party\ncommunist dictatorship into a pluralistic political system. You\nhave done so with quiet and courageous determination. Although it\nis not widely known in my country, the Mongolian people yearned\nso strongly for democracy that a movement began with\ndemonstrations in sub-zero temperatures and culminated with the\nresignation of the Politburo, the legalization of other parties,\nand the writing of a new Constitution.\nClearly, the Mongolian people take the privileges of\ndemocracy and freedom seriously. I learned before coming here\nthat about 90 percent of voters cast ballots here, and many have\nto travel great distances to do so. That voting rate is higher\nthan in many older democracies, including my own.\nThere are some who claim that new democracies cannot survive\neconomic hardship and struggle, and that, as a country makes the\ntransition from a planned economy to a market economy, it cannot\nafford democracy.\nI say: Let them come to Mongolia, where the government and\npeople are both moving toward political and economic reform,\neconomic freedom and political freedom.\nYour nation is an inspiration to millions around the world\nwho see the strides you are making in free-market reforms, the\ncreation of an independent judiciary, laws that respect human\nrights and private property, and the doors you have opened to\nwelcome free enterprise and foreign investment\nAll in a\nvery, very short time.\nAt the same time, we know that the creation of any\ndemocratic society requires patience, perseverance, optimism and\nthe willingness to make difficult choices.\nHere in Mongolia, you have experienced the hope, and the\npain, that comes with rapid change. And you have shown great\nresolve in recent years in facing the obstacles you have\nencountered on the road to democracy.\nI am here to tell you, on behalf of the President of the\n3\nUnited States and the American people, that the United States\nwill stand by you as you continue your democratic journey.\nI am proud to say that our support thus far has included\nactivities funded by the United States Agency for International\nDevelopment designed to strengthen parliament, the judiciary and\nnon-governmental organizations -- including several representing\nthe views and interests of Mongolian women.\nWe all recognize that NGOs are key elements in the\ndevelopment and sustenance of a civil society in any country. And\nthey are crucial to the effectiveness and success of any\ndemocracy.\nWe will continue to show our support because we are\nconvinced that a democratic, independent and prosperous Mongolia\nis in our interests as well as yours -- and that it is essential\nto maintaining peace and stability in Asia and throughout the\nworld.\nFrom the outset of Mongolia's transition to democracy, the\nUnited States has recognized the vital connection between\ndemocracy and energy.\nWe appreciate the importance of energy assistance in your\ncapital, particularly during the coldest months (which I know can\nlast for quite some time here).\nIn 1992, we pledged to provide $35 million in U.S. aid to\nthe Government of Mongolia's energy sector. For four winters,\nthis support has helped keep the heat on, and the lights on, in\nthe capital.\nWe intend to fulfill the remainder of this pledge in the\ncoming year.\nWe also understand the Mongolian government's concern for\nthe upcoming winter. Because the situation is so serious, I am\nhappy to announce a new pledge of $3.5 million in additional\nemergency support to get Mongolia through this winter before help\nis available from other donors.\nIt is our hope that this additional support will allow the\nGovernment of Mongolia to focus on further developing the\ncountry's market economy and democratic transition.\nToday I am also pleased to announce that our government,\nthrough USAID, will provide UNICEF with $1 million to support\nimprovement in children's health.\nIt is our hope that this support will help Mongolia make up\n4\nthe ground lost in providing for children's health in recent\nyears. This is particularly urgent because more than half of\nMongolia's population is under 25.\nWe also are involved in other activities in support of\ndemocracy and economic progress. Peace Corps volunteers are\nteaching English to students in Mongolia. Our military's\nhumanitarian program has been active here -- I believe that some\nAmerican military personnel helped build the school for gifted\nmath and science students in Ulan Bator And assistance from our\nDepartment of Agriculture has been used to promote small\nbusiness.\nI believe that the values that our nations share, and our\ncommon belief in the ideals of freedom and democracy, will draw\nus even closer in the years ahead.\nI heard a story earlier today that struck me for two\nreasons: First, it reflects the prominence and respect accorded\nwomen in Mongolian culture.\nIt also reflects the solidarity of the Mongolian people\nover these last five years, and the importance of building\nsolidarity among like-minded nations and peoples.\nIt is the story of Chinggis Khan's mother, who lectured the\nyoung Temujin and his brothers about the importance of staying\nunited. To make her point, she showed them how easily one arrow\ncould be broken, but how hard it is to break five arrows when\nthey are held together.\nOn the eve of a new century, and a new millennium,\ndemocracies must stand together. After my brief stay here, I am\never more confident that our nations will move together along the\npath to a stronger, healthier, and more prosperous future.\nThank you all very much. And good luck both, to you to this\ncountry and many best wishes to our friendship and relationship\nin the years to come.\n###\n5"
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