Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 5, 1993 TAG: 9307050017
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Medium
The Liberty Medal was presented to South African President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela. Before the ceremony, Clinton, de Klerk and Mandela posed for photographs in a courtroom in Independence Hall, across from the room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
"This is where the president should be on the Fourth of July, especially with Nelson Mandela and President de Klerk," Clinton said after a ceremonial ringing of the Liberty Bell. "I just think this is a celebration of freedom, not only here but around the world."
In a speech in front of the hall, Clinton said he spoke by telephone with ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide hours after an accord was signed returning Aristide to power by Oct. 30. "He and I agreed we can both wish each other a happy Independence Day," Clinton said.
Clinton said the holiday celebrates "the idea that each of us stands equal before God and therefore must be equal before the law. The idea that our human dignity is given to us not by any government, but by God. The idea that we must be citizens, not subjects."
"It is that which we celebrate and hope for in South Africa, and Haiti and throughout the rest of the world today and that which we must still work to perfect in our own nation today, because even after 217 years no one could say that we have gotten it entirely right yet," Clinton said.
The president summed up the poignant scene in front of Independence Hall. "Here they stand," Clinton said of Mandela and de Klerk, "the head of state and a former political prisoner."
He said Mandela left prison after 27 years "unbowed and unbroken." De Klerk's effort to dismantle apartheid, Clinton said, "is an act of courage we should honor."
Mandela and de Klerk had bickered in the days leading up to Sunday's appearance. A White House picture-taking session with Clinton, de Klerk and Mandela was canceled Friday.
The two old foes - one a vestige of minority white rule, the other a living symbol of an emerging nation - set aside their differences for a moment at historic Independence Hall, where the seeds of America's democracy were planted.
De Klerk said he and Mandela represent "two political forces that have decided to break out of the cycle of conflict and to join hands in a quest for peace and democracy."
Mendela's address was a less-personal plea for help from the United States.
"You, the peoples of the United States of America and of the world, stood with us as we fought for our political emancipation. We ask you to stay the course until freedom is won," he said.
Noting that South African elections have been scheduled for next year, Clinton said, "they're going to bring freedom back and they're going to have to do it together."
by CNB