Following Roosevelt’s Lead

He said President Theodore Roosevelt “recognized the same imperative” almost a century ago when he established the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. “He knew then that our natural wonders on land and sea form an integral part of who we are as a people, and that every generation of Americans must do its part to sustain and strengthen this legacy,” Clinton said. “Today we do just that, incorporating the refuge he created into a new, vast and wonderful Yellowstone of the sea.”
	Clinton said it is imperative to move swiftly to protect the reefs. He noted that 90 percent of the coral reefs in the central Indian Ocean have died and that reefs elsewhere in the world are threatened due to pollution, fishing and other activities by man. “These remarkable living structures, built cell by cell over millions of years,  are at once irreplaceable and valuable,” Clinton said. “Coral reefs are beautiful, but more than that, they are home to thousands of species of fish and wildlife found nowhere else on earth.”      Clinton announced his action during a speech at the National Geographic Society. He urged his audience to continue the steps he has taken to preserve the environment, “no matter who becomes president, no matter the partisan divide of the Congress.”