FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Mr. Chancellor, Madame Vice-Chancellor Riess-Passer, Leaders from the Austrian Parliament including President Dr. Heinz Fischer, Dr. Van der Bellen, Dr. Kostelka, Dr. Kessler representing the private sector, Ambassador Winkler and Excellencies from Belarus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine.

The Austrian Government and Austrian companies have courageously come to terms with injuries to laborers they caused and that have remained largely unaddressed for 55 years. In so doing, they are providing a measure of justice, however belatedly and albeit for a small fraction of victims who survived, but justice nevertheless for the elderly survivors of slave and forced labor in the territory of present-day Austria.

I commend the Austrian Government, under the inspired leadership of Chancellor Schuessel and my wonderful colleague, Maria Schaumayer -- a great Austrian patriot -- for moving swiftly to draft the legislation establishing the Austrian Reconciliation Fund and to sign the labor agreement and Joint Statement today. This will lead to the establishment of the Austrian Reconciliation Fund, which will provide some justice to around 150,000 laborers, the overwhelming majority non-Jews from Central Europe and elsewhere, even those who worked for Austrian companies during World War II which are now defunct. I also want to commend the Austrian government for ensuring that other victims who suffered in labor camps, but who may not have performed labor, also receive some justice. In particular, I want to cite the specific inclusion of certain victims:

• children under the age of 12 who lived in labor camps with a parent,
• those who suffered lasting physical damage or psychological damage but did not qualify for payments under another category, and
• additional payments to women in maternity facilities or forced to undergo abortions.

The Austrian companies should also be commended for their willingness to contribute to this historic endeavor. We hope for the broadest participation by Austrian industry.

This agreement does not, of course, end all moral responsibility for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their Austrian supporters on the territory of present-day Austria, and the suffering endured during the Nazi era in the territory of present-day Austria. Nothing can erase the memory of those who died, of the culture and potential achievements lost, of the suffering of those who survived, of the lessons the Holocaust, and other injustices of the Nazi era; all of these must teach us about the importance of tolerance and the rule of law, of the need for good people not to remain silent in the face of evil, of the need for prompt international response to human rights violations. Nor can we ignore that this historic initiative comes too late for millions of slave and forced laborers who survived the War but who passed away before this historic initiative could be implemented. All of this should remain in our hearts and minds as long as people occupy this planet. But at the same time, this historic agreement will close a chapter for those who have waited so long for some measure of justice, and it does help to heal wounds left open during the lifetime of many of the survivors.

One of the most important achievements of our negotiations is to provide belated recognition and payments to the double victims of the 20th Century's worst evils -- Nazism and Communism, some one million citizens of Central and Eastern Europe who were forced laborers and in some cases slave laborers for Nazi industry and agriculture. They were forced to keep the economy running while Germans and Austrians went to war. They received little or no compensation since the war and, indeed, while they were working, they were living in harsh conditions during the war and often in guarded facilities. And as if this were not enough, they then lived for over four decades after World War II under the iron rule of Communist governments. At last their suffering is being recognized. There are also the Romani people who are being recognized today and who also will be paid.

It is important for the Austrian people to know that they and their government are helping a group of World War II survivors, almost all of whom are non-Jews, who have lived behind the Iron Curtain, or who otherwise have received little or no postwar benefit from any country.

I want to applaud the representatives of the governments of Belarus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Ukraine, and, we know, Russia soon, as well as the leaders of their Reconciliation Foundations, which will handle claims in their countries. You have each written an important page in your countries' histories.
We should all acknowledge the valuable work of the victims' representatives, especially the Conference on Jewish Material Claims, and the attorneys in placing these issues on the international agenda as well as the Jewish community of Austria. It was their research and their work which helped to highlight old injustices and the need to confront them. Without question, we would not be here without them.

I would like to thank my team for their support in making the Labor Agreement work: Ambassador J. D. Bindenagel, Randy Bell, Basil Scarlis, Holly Moore, Eric Rosand, Will Kirchner, Carolyn Keene, Jody Manning, and Helaine Klasky. I would also like to thank and acknowledge the tremendous work done by Ambassador Hall and her team-- Bob Deutsh, Nancy Pettit, Michael Sullivan, Lee Brudrig, Uschi Dorfinger, Andrew Schilling, and Karin Czevny.

The six billion Schilling settlement is a fair settlement which will help thousands of victims, beyond those whom the lawyers represent, live out their declining years in recognition that their injustices have been recognized. For their dedication and commitment to the victims, we shall always be grateful to the lawyers and the Claims Conference and to the Austrian Jewish community.

One of the great disappointments is that this agreement will again come so many years after the War and that so many who would have been eligible have died. Through this historic effort we will honor the memories of those who suffered on the territory of present-day Austria, but died during and after the Nazi period. To those who still survive, we know that no amount of money can adequately compensate you for the wrongs perpetrated against you. But we hope that the dignified sums you will receive will serve as a recognition of your suffering and will enable you to live with less difficulty than would have been the case without these payments.

Why has the U.S. Government taken such a direct role in the settlement of suits brought by private citizens against private companies in trying to help shape the Austrian Reconciliation Fund? It is because we were asked by the Austrian Government to work as partners with them in facilitating this historic initiative, to avoid new tensions in our bilateral relationship, and because all parties to the litigation agreed to our participation. It is because of President Clinton's determination expeditiously to help in their lifetimes those who were victims of the Nazi era, many of whom are American citizens. However, it is also because we share with Austria the important goal of building a new, democratic and tolerant Europe in this new millennium, something neither can achieve unless the unfinished moral business of the passing century is suitably addressed.

Our role has been to work cooperatively with Austria as a catalyst and partner to help achieve some justice for more people and far more rapidly than could ever be achieved in U.S. courts, and to create a mechanism to help Austria and Austrian enterprises achieve legal peace in the United States for Nazi-era forced and slave labor claims arising out of present and future cases. The unique agreement we sign today recognizes our responsibility to help achieve that result and indicates the United States' willingness to help make the Austrian Fund a reality.

Before concluding, I would like to recognize the contribution to our negotiations made by Dr. Maria Schaumayer and her staff. I was deeply impressed with her determination to move rapidly to bring our negotiations to a fair conclusion. She has already had a distinguished career as a central banker, and she now adds another achievement to her many accomplishments. I would also like to recognize the contributions of Ambassador Hans Winkler and Martin Eichtinger. Martin and Hans, you've done wonderful work. Of course, Mr. Chancellor, your contributions have been beyond any estimate. We would not be here without your courage, your determination, your vision to confront the past, to do justice and, I know, your personal negotiating skills for five hours in the next room - even over pizza at 1 am in the morning. We would not have achieved this labor agreement without your involvement, which has been truly extraordinary, and your people can be proud of what you have done.

To achieve our goal of assisting the victims in their lifetimes, we have agreed that all interest earned on the contributions being made by the private sector to the Fund would go to the benefit of the victims within 30 days of the signing of this agreement. To increase the amount of available interest, it is essential that contributions be placed in an interest bearing account as soon as possible, but not later than 30 days from today. It is also critical that the plaintiffs' attorneys work together with defense attorneys to find the most expeditious way to get the pending labor claims against Austria and Austrian companies dismissed and dismissed quickly. We will also do our part as the U.S. government in support of a mechanism to achieve legal peace.

Let me be clear. The labor agreement we sign today is historic. It is an important step in Austria's facing its past courageously. But it is not in the view of the United States the final step which needs to be taken.

While we are all very pleased with what we have accomplished so far, the larger task cannot be complete until victims' representatives and the Austrian Government and Austrian companies have reached agreement on further measures adequately to address Nazi-era property confiscations. We are therefore very pleased that the Austrian Government again with the Chancellor's leadership has committed to establish a General Settlement Fund to address all property issues, including leased properties, and that it has also agreed to make what we and the victims' representatives have been assured will be a $150 million initial payment to the fund. In addition, negotiations will commence immediately on an overall capped amount for this Fund to deal with gaps and deficiencies in Austria's past restitution laws and their implementation. Every effort will be made to conclude these negotiations by the end of the year. To be successful, all parties to the negotiations will have to compromise. Victims groups will have to be flexible and they will have to be realistic, and the Austrian Government and private sector will be expected to make a reasonable contribution to the General Settlement Fund. It will be important for the Austrian Government and Austrian enterprises to keep in mind, as they have done so well during the labor negotiations, the moral dimension as we begin the property negotiations.

At the same time, we are very much aware that Austria is taking these steps in a season of budget austerity, and that it has therefore required forthright and praiseworthy political leadership to bring us to this point, leadership that is represented by not only the government but all the factions and all the major parties in the Austrian parliament. And I want personally to say, having lived in the political world for almost all my adult life, the fact that all major parties have, at a time of this austerity, been willing to make these kinds of contributions, is noted and very much appreciated. We should all recognize that Chancellor Schuessel and the Austrian Government are providing that kind of courageous leadership. It is important to recall that providing these measures of justice for surviving victims is not only a moral imperative but it is also part of a very practical process for the benefit of the Austrian people. The resolution of pending legal claims and legal peace which we seek to achieve are of real benefit to the Austrian economy and to the investment climate in Austria. By engaging in this important endeavor, the Austrian Government is therefore acting on behalf both of justice and a moral imperative but also, quite practically, on behalf of the real interests of the people of Austria.

We believe we must set an ambitious schedule of property meetings in order to meet our goal of concluding these negotiations by the end of the year. This is an important historic task, equally essential to building and defining the community in which we will all live in the new century.

We have accomplished much in the last several months, in fact a remarkable amount since the Chancellor took office. We all now bear a heavy responsibility to implement this historic agreement. The victims have waited 55 years for this day. We cannot let them wait longer.

Thank you all for your roles in this historic endeavor.