News

May 12, 1998

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON INTERNATIONAL CRIME ENFORCEMENT





                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                           May 12, 1998     

	     
                      REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                 ON INTERNATIONAL CRIME ENFORCEMENT
	     
               Room 450 Old Executive Office Building		     

                                  


10:22 A.M. EDT


	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Mary, for your 
remarks and your work.  Thank you, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 
Cabinet and Congress, Mayor Barry, Members of the City Council and to 
all the law enforcement officials who are here.  We are here to talk 
about building a safer world for the 21st Century.  
	     
	     So before I begin my remarks about the subject of the 
day, I want to make it very, very clear that I am deeply disturbed by 
the nuclear tests which India has conducted, and I do not believe it 
contributes to building a safer 21st Century.  The United States 
strongly opposes any new nuclear testing.  This action by India not 
only threatens the stability of the region, it directly challenges 
the firm international consensus to stop the proliferation of weapons 
of mass destruction.  I call on India to announce that it will 
conduct no further tests and that it will sign the Comprehensive Test 
Ban Treaty now and without conditions.  I also urge India's neighbors 
not to follow suit, not to follow down the path of a dangerous arms 
race.  As most of you know, our laws have very stringent provisions, 
signed into law by me in 1994, in response to nuclear tests by 
non-nuclear weapons states, and I intend to implement them fully.
	     
	     Now, in a few hours I will be leaving to travel to 
Europe, to meet with the leaders of other industrial democracies in a 
time of great hope -- because of what is happening in Bosnia and 
Ireland.  It is clear that if we work together, the 21st Century can 
be a time of unprecedented democracy, prosperity and peace.
But it is equally clear that there are threats to our common future 
that -- across national lines.  Today, I want to announce new plans 
to address the growing problem of international crime.
	     
	     We all know the globe is shrinking every day with global 
TV networks, instantaneous communications over the Internet, 
increasing world travel.  European nations have adopted completely 
opened borders and many of them have already voted to create a common 
currency. 
	     
	     The American people, in general, benefit greatly from 
the process of globalization -- with more economic opportunities and 
more opportunities to become enriched through contact with different 
cultures.  Our values -- democracy, human rights, the rule of law 
--will ultimately prevail when there is free trade in ideas.  
	     	  
	     But more porous borders, more affordable travel, more 
powerful communications, increasingly also give criminals the 
opportunity to reach across borders -- physically and electronically 
-- to commit crimes and then retreat before they can be caught and 
punished.  Many Americans really don't realize the extent to which 
international crime affects their daily lives, which is why we were 
so pleased to have Agent Riley with us today.
	     

	     Con artists, operating overseas, mail phony financial 
offers and then disappear with investor dollars -- hundreds of 
millions of dollars' worth.  Sometimes they lure citizens abroad and 
use violence to get what they want. 
	     
	     Car theft rings move stolen vehicles across the 
border -- 200,000 a year, worth about $1 billion -- resulting in 
higher insurance costs for all Americans.
	     
	     As Agent Riley's remarks suggest, cyber-criminals can 
use computers to raid our banks, run up charges on our credit cards, 
extort money by threats to unleash computer viruses. 
	     
	     Smugglers engage in port running -- speeding vehicles 
past our border points -- putting people in danger and aiding the 
thriving trade in gangs, drugs and guns.  Others smuggle people 
across our border for prostitution and jobs in illegal sweatshops.
	     
	     Two-thirds of counterfeit U.S. money -- two-thirds, is 
printed overseas.  Illegal copying of our products costs us jobs and 
tens of billions in revenue.  Spies seek important industrial secrets 
-- and worse, materials to make nuclear, chemical and biological 
weapons.  Up to $500 billion in criminal proceeds every single 
year -- more than the GNP of most nations -- is laundered, disguised 
as legitimate revenue, and much of it moves across our borders. 
International crime rings intimidate weak governments and threaten 
democracy.  They murder judges, journalists, witnesses, and 
kidnappers and terrorists have attacked Americans abroad, and even at 
home with brutal acts like the World Trade Center bombing.
	     
	     Wrongdoing flows two ways.  U.S. criminals also operate 
across borders, victimizing people in other nations.  All these 
activities threaten our common safety and prosperity.  To combat 
them, we must act broadly, decisively, consistent with our 
constitutional values to leave criminals no place to run, no place to 
hide.
	     
	     The job of law enforcement officials behind me -- from 
12 different agencies -- is to protect the American people from 
crime.  But the job of our Congress -- and my job -- is to give these 
officers the tools they need to do the job.
	     
	     Therefore, today, I announce for the first time a 
comprehensive international crime control strategy for America.  At 
its core is a simple but compelling truth:  International crime 
requires an international response.  America is prepared to act alone 
when it must, but no nation can control crime by itself anymore. We 
must create a global community of crime-fighters, dedicated to 
protecting the innocent, and to bringing to justice the offenders.
	     
	     This week, nations at the G-8 summit will announce 
significant new joint anticrime activities.  But let me tell you what 
I plan to do already -- by taking better advantage of existing laws 
and asking Congress for new legislation. 
	     
	     First, we will work with other nations to create a 
worldwide dragnet capability to promptly arrest and extradite 
fugitives from justice.  Our bill asks for wider authority so America 
can extradite more suspected criminals.  We will also press for 
international cooperations so criminals will forfeit their ill-gotten 
gains.
	     
	     Second, because none of us is safe if criminals find 
safe havens abroad, we will work to ensure other nations are also 
ready to fight international crime -- with global standards and 
goals, training and technical aid, and programs to modernize criminal 
laws elsewhere.  
	     	  

	     Third, we will work with our allies to share information 
on growing crime syndicates, to better derail their schemes.  And we 
will work with industries to protect against computer crime.
	     
	     Fourth, we will put more law enforcement personnel 
abroad, to aid our embassies in identifying criminals before they 
attack Americans.  And I'm seeking new authority to prosecute more 
violent offenses against Americans overseas.
	     
	     Fifth, we will strengthen border security -- with 1000 
new Border Patrol agents, new technologies, and stiffer penalties 
--to put more smuggling rings out of business.  I also want tough new 
sentences for port runners and for smugglers who refuse to stop for 
our Coast Guard.
	     
	     Sixth, I will ask Congress to enact strict provisions to 
bar drug and arms traffickers and fugitives from justice from 
entering our country -- and to expel them if they do come here.
	     
	     Finally, I will seek new authority to fight 
money-laundering and freeze the U.S. assets of people arrested 
abroad.  And we'll improve enforcement of existing laws against 
counterfeiting and industrial espionage.  
	     
	     To focus our efforts, we will complete within six months 
a comprehensive analysis of the threat Americans face from 
international crime.  I've asked Vice President Gore to organize a 
global meeting to set a common agenda for fighting corruption and 
strengthening the rule of law.  Some of the criminals have 
sophisticated tools, so ours must be also.  They can form temporary 
cross-border alliances, based on greed and self-interest.  So we must 
strengthen the community of nations based on a community of values.
	     
	     They care about no one but themselves, while we care so 
deeply about our children and their future.  It is our most profound 
strength -- the strength that will allow us to prevail.  For we 
cannot, we must not, we will not, accept a world in which American 
children and children abroad grow up paralyzed by crime, fear and 
violence.  
	     
	     Together, America and our allies can attack this scourge 
and build a secure and prosperous future for all our people.  Again, 
let me say to all of you -- especially to law enforcement officers 
here -- I thank you very, very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
	     
	     
             END                          10:30 A.M. EDT