4 January 2000
Source: http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=00010403.tlt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml


US Department of State
International Information Programs

Washington File
_________________________________

04 January 2000

Clinton Transmits National Security Strategy Report to Congress

(The report is required annually by the Goldwater-Nichols Act) (990)

President Clinton January 4 transmitted the 1999 National Security
Strategy Report to Congress, as required annually by the
Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986.

The White House statement on the report said that "the three core
objectives of national security strategy are to enhance America's
security, to bolster America's security, to bolster America's economic
prosperity, and to promote democracy abroad. Central to the
President's strategy for achieving these aims is U.S. engagement and
leadership in world affairs."

The statement said that "America has done much over the past seven
years to build a better world: aiding the remarkable transitions to
free-market democracy in Eastern Europe; adapting and enlarging NATO
to strengthen Europe's security; stopping ethnic wars in Bosnia and
Kosovo; working with Russia to deactivate thousands of nuclear weapons
from the former Soviet Union; ratifying START II and the Chemical
Weapons Convention; negotiating the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty and strengthening the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
Treaty; freezing North Korean fissile material production;
facilitating milestone agreements in the Middle East peace process;
standing up to the threat from Saddam Hussein; helping broker peace
accords from Northern Ireland to Sierra Leone to the Peru-Ecuador
border; fostering unprecedented unity, democracy and progress in the
Western Hemisphere; benefiting our economy by reaching over 270 trade
agreements, including the landmark accord to bring China into the
World Trade Organization; reducing Africa's debt through the Cologne
Initiative and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; and
exercising global leadership to help save Mexico from economic
disaster and to reverse the Asian financial crisis."

Following is the White House text of the transmittal statement:

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

January 4, 2000

1999 NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY REPORT

Today President Clinton transmitted the 1999 National Security
Strategy Report to Congress, as required annually by the
Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. The report, entitled "A National
Security Strategy for a New Century," outlines the President's vision
for America's role in the world and discusses the Administration's
international priorities.

The three core objectives of U.S. national security strategy are to
enhance America's security, to bolster America's economic prosperity,
and to promote democracy abroad. Central to the President's strategy
for achieving these aims is U.S. engagement and leadership in world
affairs.

America has done much over the past seven years to build a better
world: aiding the remarkable transitions to free-market democracy in
Eastern Europe; adapting and enlarging NATO to strengthen Europe's
security; stopping ethnic wars in Bosnia and Kosovo; working with
Russia to deactivate thousands of nuclear weapons from the former
Soviet Union; ratifying START II and the Chemical Weapons Convention;
negotiating the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and
strengthening the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty; freezing
North Korean fissile material production; facilitating milestone
agreements in the Middle East peace process; standing up to the threat
from Saddam Hussein; helping broker peace accords from Northern
Ireland to Sierra Leone to the Peru-Ecuador border; fostering
unprecedented unity, democracy and progress in the Western Hemisphere;
benefiting our economy by reaching over 270 trade agreements,
including the landmark accord to bring China into the World Trade
Organization; reducing Africa's debt through the Cologne Initiative
and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; exercising global
leadership to help save Mexico from economic disaster and to reverse
the Asian financial crisis.

Our military is -- and will continue to be -- capable of carrying out
our national strategy by meeting America's defense commitments around
the world. The report describes the Administration's efforts to
preserve and enhance the readiness of our armed forces while pursuing
long-term modernization and providing quality of life improvements for
our troops. To better meet readiness challenges, the President
proposed, and Congress passed, a fiscal year 2000 defense budget that
increased military pay and retirement benefits, and significantly
increased funding for readiness and modernization. The President also
proposed a $112 billion increase across fiscal years 2000 to 2005 --
the first long-term sustained increase in defense spending in over a
decade.

The report also emphasizes that we must sustain our commitment to
America's diplomacy. Every dollar we devote to preventing conflicts,
promoting democracy, opening markets, and fighting disease and hunger
brings a sure return in security and long-term savings. Working with
Congress, we were able to provide enhanced funding for international
affairs efforts and UN arrears, but we need to sustain our commitments
in the years ahead.

The report previews the President's national security agenda for the
coming year, including: forging a lasting peace in the Middle East;
securing the peace in the Balkans and Northern Ireland; helping Russia
strengthen its economy and fight corruption as it heads toward its
first democratic transfer of power; furthering arms control through
discussions with Russia on the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and
deeper reductions in strategic nuclear weapons; implementing China's
entry into the WTO and other global institutions while promoting
freedom and human rights there; easing tensions between India and
Pakistan; building on hopeful developments between Greece and Turkey
to make progress in the Aegean, particularly on Cyprus; securing new
energy routes from the Caspian Sea that will allow newly independent
states in the Caucasus to prosper; supporting democratic transitions
from Nigeria to Indonesia; helping Colombia defeat the drug
traffickers who threaten its democracy; fighting weapons
proliferation, terrorism and the nexus between them; restraining North
Korea's and Iran's missile programs; maintaining vigilance against
Iraq and working to bring about a change in regime; consolidating
reforms to the world's financial architecture as the basis for
sustained economic growth; advancing global trade; enacting
legislation to promote trade with Africa and the Caribbean; pressing
ahead with debt relief for countries fighting poverty and embracing
good government; reversing global climate change.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State.)