a speech at a private residence dinner for Patty Murray and a reception for Murray at the Pavilion at the Seattle Center during the evening. November 23 – President Clinton issued statements on the effectiveness of his administration's crime policy and the death of Jorge Mas Canosa. November 24 – President Clinton spoke to reporters at the Waterfront Centre Hotel on foreign policy during the afternoon. November 25 – President Clinton delivered an address to the United States Consulate Staff at the Shaughnessy Golf Course during the afternoon. November 26 – President Clinton signed the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998, and the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1998 into law. President Clinton attended the Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation Ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House during the afternoon. November 29 – A recording of President Clinton speaking on Thanksgiving, American families, and legislation was broadcast on the radio. December December 1 – President Clinton spoke on the budget for the following year as well as the International Agreement on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Cabinet Room during the morning. President Clinton delivered an address at a Democratic National Committee Dinner at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel during the evening. President Clinton issued a memorandum directing HIV prevention in federal programs within the following 90 days. December 2 – President Clinton announced the appointment of Togo D. West, Jr. as Acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Roosevelt Room of the White House during the morning and signed the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, representing "the first Amtrak reauthorization since 1992 and the most comprehensive restructuring of Amtrak since the early 1980s." December 3 – President Clinton delivered an address on race at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall at the University of Akron and participated in a discussion during the afternoon. President Clinton delivered a speech at a reception for the Democratic Party in Chicago, Illinois during the evening. December 4 – President Clinton lighted the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse during the evening. December 5 – President Clinton spoke with reporters on his administration's foreign policy in the Oval Office during the morning. President Clinton announced the appointments to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare amid a press conference on the South Lawn in the afternoon. December 6 – President