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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release October 15, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) richly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. They work around the world, under difficult and often dangerous conditions, to provide medical assistance to the victims of conflict and natural disasters. They have cared for the sick and the wounded at refugee camps in Kosovo and Timor; aided flood victims in the Philippines; treated disease in Sudan and Sierra Leone, Vietnam and Peru. Their work is emblematic of the commitment of so many people of good will today: to build a global community where compassion, cooperation, and progress increasingly know no borders.

I am proud that the United States government has provided substantial annual assistance to Doctors without Borders, and that we work together closely in times of crisis. Humanitarian relief of this kind is not only the right thing to do for our values; it also helps build peace and stability and thereby strengthens America's own security.

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