Government’s Primary Role Is to Protect Individual Freedom

While Bill Clinton is getting ready to wind up his presidential career, Hillary Clinton could well become one of the few female senators in US history. Observers assess the chances of the Democratic candidate from New York (it is the interests of this state that Mrs. Clinton is striving to represent) as quite high.

Hillary Clinton’s top priorities in public activity have so far been health care, personal security of citizens, and gender-related problems. Judging by the US first lady’s answers to The Day

’s questions (given the editorial office during a seminar on the prevention of trafficking in women and children), these directions will also remain pivotal in her political career.

Q: What issues will be the focus of Senator Hillary Clinton’s activities in case you are elected to the Senate? Will Ukraine and its problems be within this circle of attention?

A: Throughout my public life, I have worked to improve the welfare of women and children. Among the most important issues for me personally, and one that affects Ukraine in particular, is the problem of trafficking of women and children. This is a global problem but it is one that has reached alarming proportions in Ukraine, with estimates that as many as 35,000 women and children, some as young as 14, are taken from Ukraine and forced into prostitution abroad. The United States been working with your government to put a stop to this criminal activity. Together, our focus is on the prevention of trafficking, protection of the victims of trafficking and the prosecution of the criminals involved.

Since 1998, the US has provided over five million dollars in support for anti-trafficking efforts in Ukraine. From June 21-23, our governments are cosponsoring a workshop for law enforcement officials in Kiev that is bringing together officials from Ukraine and other countries so that they can coordinate their efforts to put a stop to this criminal activity. I am pleased that my Chief of Staff, Melanie Verveer, who, by the way, is of Ukrainian descent, was able to speak at the conference in Kiev on my behalf.

Q: What aspects of the American way of life do you think pose a danger to American society’s future? There is much criticism of America’s inability to overcome the problem of violence that allegedly permeates both the American’s everyday life and mass culture. Does this testify to the crisis with the “cult of individual freedom?”

A: Individual freedom is the foundation of democratic society. Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, in writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 highlighted the ideal of individual liberty and government’s primary role in protecting these liberties. The government exists to serve and protect the people, not the reverse.

The image of the United States that many people have, that it is a dangerous place to live, is by and large a misimpression, caused by the attention the US media pay to violent acts and by the gratuitous violence that characterizes some of our television program and movies. Crime rates in the United States have been falling for the last ten years, but much remains to be done, in particular in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

Q: President Clinton, in his live radio call-in show in Moscow during his recent visit there, stated that no American president before him experienced as much criticism from the media as he did. Are you convinced that politicians and public figures still have to remain targets for the press for the sake of democracy?

A: Democracy cannot function without a free and independent media. A free .press helps hold government accountable for its actions. It also keeps citizens informed. The President’s point to the Russian people was that despite the harsh and unfair criticism that he has sometimes endured from the media, he is still a firm supporter of a free and independent press. I strongly share that belief.

Q: A poll conducted some time ago in Ukraine by social scientists from the University of Michigan revealed that women from rural areas blame their social problems not on the authorities in general, but on the fact that men have the power. If more women were working in government in Ukraine, they argued, social issues would get more attention. Do you think that managing social issues is more effectively influenced through women’s presence in governmental structures or through their participation in civic activities?

A: Equal opportunity for women in all aspects of social life, from government and employment opportunities and the protection from violence and harassment are very important issues throughout the world. Ukraine is no exception. No democracy can flourish without the participation of women and no economy can prosper without the involvement of women. Women should have the opportunity to equally participate in all aspects of a society.

Advancing women’s progress in the United States and abroad has been a principal objective of the Clinton Administration. Over the past decade, the US government has supported a number of Ukrainian non-governmental organizations that strive to develop women for leadership positions in Ukraine. Also, as part of our Next Generation Initiative, we will continue to expand the opportunities for young Ukrainians, especially young women, to study in the United States and to develop the knowledge and skills to lead Ukraine into the next century.

Q: According to statistical reports, about 400 newborns died in Ukraine last year. The state of public health care deprives many Ukrainian women the joys of maternity. USAID and American International Health Alliance have helped to open women’s health centers in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa. How can women be mobilized to help address this problem?

A: The rise in infant mortality throughout all of the countries of the former Soviet Union, including in Ukraine, is deeply troubling. Providing adequate health care for all citizens is an issue that I have been personally concerned with in the United States where we too have some pockets of high infant mortality. I am pleased that our government has been able to assist Ukraine in setting up the Women’s Wellness Centers in Lviv, Odesa and Donetsk, along with the Neonatal Resuscitation Centers in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Donetsk, that are providing direct health services to women. I visited the neonatal center in Lviv and I will never forget the words of joy from the Ukrainian couples whose children were saved and today are strong and healthy. Many of the Ukrainian hospitals have partnered with hospitals in America and both of our countries have been enriched by the experienced I understand that women in parts of Ukraine that do not have such centers are forming advocacy groups to ask why their communities cannot have similar centers. So it looks like women are being mobilized and are working to ensure that health issues in general and infant mortality in particular receive proper attention in their communities. Let me add that the United States will continue to try to help.

The Day expresses its appreciation to the US Embassy in Ukraine for facilitating this interview.