To those of you here who defended us in that war, I salute you, and on behalf of all the American people, I thank you.

We continue to be concerned about the potential implications of these operations for resources dedicated to overall defense readiness.

I have also reaffirmed to King Hussein my determination to assist Jordan in dealing with its burden of debt and its defense requirements.

We're prepared to defend ourselves and our fundamental interests when they are threatened.

I announce the appointment of James W. Wold as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

The Army is capable of providing sufficient forces to carry out two major regional conflicts nearly simultaneously.

We cannot remove the military option.

We cannot afford to shortchange our national security.

We must ensure that our men and women in uniform remain the best trained, the best equipped, the best prepared fighting force on Earth.

None of them have been more significant than his service as Secretary of Defense.

He's provided steady leadership for the entire defense community as it has confronted the inevitable downsizing that accompanied the end of the cold war.

The Manual shall be issued to correspond as closely as possible to pertinent decisions of the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence.

Secretary Aspin is putting together strong management teams in every branch of the service.

I am looking forward to their service at the Pentagon.

They honored our country by becoming five legendary defenders of our freedoms in return.

The United States has always had the public position and the private position—we've made it very clear that if the United Nations operations in Bosnia were attacked, we would be prepared to defend them with air power.

We are continuing the process of putting together a strong and effective staff at the Department of Defense.

We will deter aggression.