measured by pepper and grease.

Those little vignettes contribute to my vision, my dream for America's future. I do not assume that only Europeans can play Handel or that only African Americans can make barbecue or that only someone who fought in Vietnam can understand the tragedy of that conflict. I want America to be a nation where individuals can discover their own interests and develop their unique talents, unconstrained by traditional notions of what people of this race or that sex can and cannot achieve.

That

hat's one of the reasons I've taken such pleasure in my association with the armed forces. The U.S. military has taken equal opportunity seriously. Military leaders understand that the very effectiveness of military units — the success of their missions — depends on the ability of people of different backgrounds to work together. Equal opportunity, in other words, is a military necessity.

During her visit to Bosnia, Mrs. Clinton pointed out something else about our armed forces. When the U.S. military, in all its diversity, deploys to some distant trouble spot, its very composition sends a very important message about racial fairness and sexual equity. Sometimes the message isn't entirely welcome; it wasn't appreciated when we initially deployed female soldiers to Saudi Arabia, for example. But our strong belief is that we have the best military on Earth precisely because it was recruited from a richly diverse population. Our armed forces validate that belief every day.

Let me conclude by challenging you to think about the future. What kind of nation do we want our children and grandchildren to live in?

What kind of leaders do we want to have those who

summon the angels of our better nature or those who urge forth the demons of our resentment? I hope that whatever the future holds, it a future that rewards those who bring us together, not those who tear us apart.

We need to come together, think together about where we want to be in 10 or 20 or 50 years.

As the Bible says, where there is no vision, the people perish. If we cannot envision a future different from the past, we cannot achieve a future different from the past. If we cannot chart our own destiny, we will simply be stuck in one of the ruts of history.

All of us must carry a candle of commitment for equal opportunity, for racial justice, for sexual equality. We have a calling, a special duty to ensure that the flame never dies, that the dream lives on.

Let me close by quoting another dreamer, Bobby Kennedy. When asked why he did what he did, he responded, "Some people see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask, why not?”

Friends, sisters, brothers all it's time to dream again!

Published for internal information use by the American Forces Information Service, a field activity of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), Washington, D.C. Parenthetical entries are speaker/author notes; bracketed entries are editorial notes. This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission. Defense Issues is

available on the Internet via the World Wide Web at http://www.dtic.mil/defenselink/pubs/di_index.html.

M

R. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS of the committee, it is with humility that I appear before you today as President Clinton's nominee to be secretary of defense.

For nearly two decades, I was privileged to be involved in national security matters as a senator and member of your committee and during that time,

to have worked with six secretaries of

While there always will be room for legitimate debate on national security issues, partisanship and parochialism should occupy no seat at the table of our deliberations whether within the executive branch, the services or the Congress. We must remain mindful that at the end of every debate stand our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who look to us for leadership, not legerdemain, for support, not political strife.

gained a sense of the enormous responsibilities of the position. But since Dec. 5, [1996] I have acquired a new appreciation of the gravity of these responsibilities and am deeply humbled by the president's trust in

me.

President Clinton's nomination of me to be his secretary of defense is, I believe, a clear signal of his commitment to the principle that the security of our nation is not, and should not be, a partisan matter, a principle that I have sought to uphold throughout my public career. Among my most satisfying experiences as a legislator were those when I was able to help to achieve consensus for strong, coherent, sustainable defense policies to protect and promote America's global interests.

It is with pride that I recall legislative initiatives in which I have been involved with members of this committee and other members of Congress: the Montgomery GI Bill; the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act; the creation of the Special Operations Command; numerous bills to reform government acquisition and management; and bills to strengthen intelligence oversight and to overhaul counterintelligence programs. Each of these was the product of bipartisan cooperation, and each was much more effective because of it.

For while the threat of nuclear holocaust has been significantly reduced, the world remains a very unsettled and dangerous place. Hostile regimes and instability threaten our interests in key regions such as Southwest Asia and Northeast Asia. Instability, nationalism and ethnic tensions pose dangers in Europe. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction threaten our interests, our forces and even our homeland. And the threats of terrorism, international organized crime and drug trafficking remain unabated. Moreover, we need not revisit ancient history to remind ourselves that dangerous threats can arise suddenly and unpredictably.

P

olitically, economically and technologically the world is changing at an unprecedented and sometimes alarming pace. Technology is miniaturizing the globe, binding our destiny ever more closely to that of our allies and economic partners around the world.

This works to our advantage as we seek to promote free markets and the principles of democracy. Yet it increases the degree to which we are affected by developments overseas. Even if we so desired, we could not insulate ourselves from the forces sweeping the globe.

While we are not and cannot become the world's policeman, neither can we become a prisoner of world events, isolated and tucked safely away in a continental cocoon.

With this in mind, the president and Secretary (of Defense William J.] Perry have pursued national security policies designed not merely to meet to this changing environment but to shape it in ways favorable to our interests. They can be proud of their accomplishments in ending the legacy of the Cold War by reducing the nuclear threat from the former Soviet Union, building the Partnership for Peace

and what Secretary Perry has termed a pragmatic partnership with Russia, and setting NATO on the course toward enlargement, as well as strengthening our alliance with Japan and developing military-to-military ties with China.

If confirmed, I intend to continue these efforts and build upon them as our focus shifts from dealing with the end of one era to shaping the next era.

After a century one and a Cold War divided it for more

fter a century in which two world wars ignited in the

than four decades, we approach a new century with a real prospect for finally overcoming the division of Europe. Before President Clinton's second term is complete, NATO will have admitted its first round of new members and Partnership for Peace program will have been further enhanced. The pragmatic partnership with Russia will be pursued through the effort to negotiate a NATO-Russia charter, strengthened U.S.-Russian military-to-military cooperation, continuation of Cooperative Threat Reduction activities and action on our arms control agenda.

I intend to give new focus to our security relations in the Asia-Pacific region. As the center of gravity of the world economy has shifted to the Pacific, our increasing economic integration with Asia's dynamic economies has

created enormous opportunities for

American businesses and workers. Beyond the near-term threat from North Korea, our interests are potentially jeopardized by the danger of instability and rivalry among major regional powers. Maintaining our in-theater force presence and expanding our security engagement in the region are indispensable to preserving stability, gaining diplomatic and economic cooperation and

of the international scene require that our people be more adaptable and agile than ever.

Ensuring high levels of readiness must also be a priority so that our forces are able to respond to crises whenever and wherever necessary. I would add that I share Secretary Perry's view that a key element of readiness is the quality of our personnel and therefore the quality of life we provide them and their families, including their pay, compensation, housing and medical benefits.

A third priority is modernization of the force, which is essential to our military readiness of tomorrow. The massive reduction in force structure following the end of the Cold War allowed us to terminate or defer a multitude of programs within acceptable risks. But this trend must now be reversed.

Also of priority will be modernizing the support elements of DoD, in which I include each matters as making continued progress in acquisition reform, addressing questions of remaining excess infrastructure and adopting best business prac

tices.

Achieving a proper match of strategy, programs and resources to meet our security needs of the present and the future poses a major challenge. This is now under review by the Defense Department as it conducts the Quadrennial Defense Review and will also be reviewed by the National Defense Panel.

I take the QDR process seriously and if confirmed, will expect all elements of the department to take it equally seriously. We should be under no illusions. The reductions of recent years have exhausted all the easy options and if done properly, the QDR will present difficult

there.

And I will continue the efforts of my predecessors to protect our interests in Southwest Asia, whose energy resources will also remain critical to the world economy. We must remain vigilant to the threats that both Iraq and Iran pose.

Getting it right on these key components of the international security agenda- Europe, Russia, East Asia and Southwest Asia — is critical to protecting and promoting America's interests in the new century and will facilitate our efforts in other areas as well. Getting it right depends not only on pursuing the proper policies, but backing those policies up with military strength.

The United States today has the finest military in our nation's history, the finest the world has ever seen.

My first priority is to continue to attract and retain the high quality of personnel necessary to preserve U.S. military superiority. The increasing complexity of technology, the quickening pace of warfare and growing unpredictability

coming back to this committee to seek support for the tough but necessary decisions I will make based on the recommendations of the QDR.

As we go through this process, we must not lose sight of the fact that its purpose is to ensure that our armed forces can fight and win the nation's wars.

Advising the president on the use of force is the gravest

responsibility a secretary of defense holds. As a senator, I was mindful of this when I traveled to the Saudi desert to meet with troops preparing to reverse Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and more recently when I visited our brave men and women serving in Bosnia and had the privilege of pinning the Purple Heart on a valiant young soldier from Maine. As secretary-designate, I pledge to you and our men and women in uniform to do my very best to merit this most solemn trust.

For as the president has said, while we should not fear to use force wisely, the courage, loyalty and willingness of

especially, the sense that peace is natural and war an aberration has led to a failure in peacetime to consider the possibility of another war, which in turn, has prevented the efforts needed to preserve the peace."

The president recognizes that the preservation of peace requires active efforts, planning and sacrifice. I am deeply honored that be has asked me to serve as his secretary of defense to assist him in the planning and effort that will be required.

The objectives I have outlined represent substantial challenges, but our economy is strong, our notion is at peace, and the Department of Defense enjoys enormous reservoirs of talent and ability in its military and civilian employees. Working together in behalf of the American people,

we can and will meet these challenges.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate having the opportunity to testify today, and I look forward to answering any questions you or other members of the committee may have.

Published for internal information use by the American Forces Information Service, a field activity of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs), Washington, D.C. Parenthetical entries are speaker/author notes; bracketed entries are editorial notes. This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission. Defense Issues is available on the Internet via the World Wide Web at http://www.dtic.mil/defenselink/pubs/di_index.html.