For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 17, 2001
Remarks by the President to the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States Washington, D.C.
Listen to the President's
Remarks
1:45 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Ambassador,
thank you very much. Secretary General, Distinguished
Ambassadors, it's a pleasure for me to be here at the OAS.
I want to recognize, before I begin, Luigi
Einaudi, who has ably served our government for
decades. He's now lent his skills and experience to the
OAS. It is clear that he and the Secretary General have made
a very good team. Thank you, Mr.
Ambassador. (Applause.)
As I prepare to go to the Summit of the
Americas in Quebec, I thought it was important to make a visit to the
House of the Americas. It was a good meeting. I
just had a good meeting with the Secretary General. We had a
good discussion about the future of the OAS and its important role.
We discussed opportunities and challenges that
our hemisphere faces. Today, I want to speak with you about our shared
future and the important role the OAS will play in helping to shape
it.
Our gathering in Quebec comes at a remarkable
moment in history. All the nations of this hemisphere, save
one, have embraced a collective commitment to democracy, and to the
fundamental freedoms that underlie democracy.
We have embraced a collective challenge to
build a hemisphere that trades in freedom and grows in prosperity. We
have embraced a collective responsibility to break down the barriers of
poverty, disease, ignorance, so individuals may better realize their
full, God-given potential.
The OAS has an important role to play in these
common goals. In lands where liberty is threatened by
corruption, drugs and human rights abuses, the OAS is helping combat
these destructive forces. Along borders where tensions run
high, the OAS helps build confidence and avoid crises.
And in lands where freedom's hold is fragile,
the OAS is there to strengthen it. The OAS's recent work in
Peru is an example of this organization's commitment to
democracy. The election, held there on April the 8th, was
peaceful and well-run. And we know this: It is a
direct result of the Secretary General's involvement. And
our hemisphere is grateful, Mr. Secretary.
We need to build on successes like
these. The United States hopes, for example, that the OAS
can serve as a valuable mediator in Haiti, between President Aristide
and the democratic opposition. We also need to build on the
progress the OAS has made in the fight against drug-trafficking and
abuse. Thanks to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
commission, our hemisphere is more united in addressing this problem,
both in supply, and I might remind you, in demand, than it has ever
been before. And the commission's new evaluation system for
monitoring nations' progress in fighting drugs is a major achievement.
In this week's Quebec Summit, our goal is
simple, yet profound. The discussions we hold, and the
mandates we produce, must help improve the lives of people throughout
our hemisphere. The summit is given meaning and value by
concrete results. We must strengthen democratic institutions
in this hemisphere, to give reality to the forms of
democracy. This means improving judicial institutions, and
making government more open.
Good government is essential to building the
trust of our citizens. And democratic values must remain the core of
our hemispheric familia. As Prime Minister Chretien so apply
said in this very hall last February, we must ensure that smaller
economies are provided the assistance they need to implement trade
agreements, and to realize the full benefits of a more integrated
hemisphere.
We must extend the benefits of education in
this hemisphere. Both development and democracy in the long
term depend on education. We must build the skills and
reward the hopes of all our people.
And we must affirm our commitment to complete
negotiations on the free trade area of the Americans by January,
2005. Nothing we do in Quebec will be more important or have
a greater long-term impact. It will make our hemisphere the
largest free trade area in the world, encompassing 34 countries and 800
million people.
There's a vital link between freedom of people
and freedom of commerce. Democratic freedoms cannot flourish
unless our hemisphere also builds a prosperity whose benefits are
widely shared. And open trade is an essential foundation for
that prosperity and that possibility.
Open trade fuels the engines of economic
growth that creates new jobs and new income. It applies the
power of markets to the needs of the poor. It spurs the process of
economic and legal reform. It helps dismantle protectionist
bureaucracies that stifle incentive and invite corruption. And open
trade reenforces the habits of liberty that sustain democracy over the
long term.
For all these reasons, my administration is
committed to pursuing open trade at every opportunity. We'll
pursue open trade bilaterally, with individual nations such as Chile
and Singapore and Jordan. We'll pursue open trade globally
through a new round of multilateral negotiations.
We want to open global markets so that our
farmers and ranchers and workers and service providers and high-tech
entrepreneurs can enjoy the benefits of a more integrated
world. And, of course, we'll pursue these goals throughout
our hemisphere through the free trade area of the Americas.
Since open trade is one of my top priorities
for our hemisphere, gaining U.S. trade promotion authority is one of my
top priorities in Congress. I made this clear in my first
address to the Congress. We have reinforced this message in
meetings my Cabinet officers and I have had with over 100 members of
Congress. Trade promotion authority gives our trading
partners confidence that they can rely on the deals that they
negotiate. It allows us to seize opportunities to expand the circle of
trade and prosperity.
We're now actively working with Congress on a
strategy for passing legislation, granting the trade promotion
authority. We'll intensify this effort when I return from
Quebec, and I'm confident we'll succeed.
Shortly after the summit, we'll also publish
the initial working draft of our hemisphere free trade
agreement. This will allow our citizens from all our
countries to see what is being negotiated and give them a chance to
provide their views on this important document.
Just a few moments ago, the Secretary General
and I walked from his office, and we passed the Hall of
Heroes. The great leaders honored there embody the spirit of
cooperation that chracterizes the OAS. These visionaries
imagined a future in which the Americas would be bound together in a
common effort to create a hemisphere that is both free and prosperous.
Today, we have the opportunity to realize that
dream. Together, it is our responsibility to seize the
moment.
Thank you for having
me. (Applause.)
END
1:56 P.M. EDT
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