For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 22, 2001
Remarks by the President in Greeting with the U.S. Mission
The Loews Concorde Hotel Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
4:13 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank
you. I used to call him "Governor," I now call him
"Ambassador." I'll always call him friend. I
appreciate you very much, Ambassador, and it's great to see your
beautiful bride here, too.
I first want to say something about your
immediate boss, and that's the Secretary of State. As you're
going to find out, he is a man who respects the job you
do. He's a man who loves his country, a man who is going to
be a fabulous Secretary of State for
America. (Applause.) And I think the other three
Cabinet Secretaries up here might do a pretty good job,
too. (Laughter and applause.)
We've had a very interesting stay here in
Quebec City. It turns out that Quebec City has now hosted
three history-making summits. The first two in 1943 and 1944
involved only three world leaders. Therefore, they had it in
one hotel. (Laughter.) This one was a little more
complex, it turns out. (Laughter.)
When I see how much work it is to organize a
presidential visit, it surprises me sometimes that I'm welcome
anywhere. (Laughter.) And so, I want to thank you
very much for the job the U.S. Mission did in preparing for our
arrival, not only making sure that the arrival was well-prepared, that
when we're here, that it went smoothly, and it did, and you're to be
congratulated.
We have no more important bilateral
relationship than that with Canada. It's true the
relationship doesn't always make the headlines in the United
States. That's a good
sign. (Laughter.) Generally, when we make the
news, it's because there is a dysfunctional relationship at hand. It
shows what a good job you all are doing at relaying our priority to
your fellow folks in the foreign service or civil service in Canada
that we care about our relationship, that America knows how important
it is.
And it's a vital relationship. As
the Ambassador noted, the statistics are strong -- 200 million border
crossings a year. Canada is our biggest trading
partner. Canada is the biggest exporter of energy to the
United States. It's an important
relationship. This administration will keep it that way, and
I know you will join us in doing so.
I just finished an interesting luncheon with
Prime Minister Jean Chretien and President Vicente Fox about how to
expand the unique relationship our three countries
have. It's called NAFTA, as you know. But it's an
incredibly important relationship. I first came -- became
aware of the relationship as the Governor of Texas. I saw
how important it was for us to understand that family values don't stop
at the Rio Bravo River. That family values -- that there are
people in Mexico who are hungry and worry about their children; who, if
they can make a better living somewhere else, will do
so. Oftentimes it was in my state, occasionally it was in --
more than occasionally it was in other people's state.
But I also saw the hope and promise of what
trade could mean, and good relations between the three of
us. It meant better jobs in Mexico. It meant a
mother or a dad might be able to find work closer to home, which is the
aspiration of people in Mexico. It also means we've got to
-- that it helps enable -- to keep closer ties with
Canada. And for that I'm grateful.
And so our discussions today was how to expand
and strengthen NAFTA. And one way we can do so is through
energy. America is short on energy, Canada is long on
energy. America is short on energy. Mexico, with
the right policy, could be long on energy. And so our
discussions today were not only on other subjects, but we talked about
establishing an energy group for the hemisphere, which we will do.
And the reason I bring this up is that it's an
indication of why this future -- our relationship is just as strong in
the future as it is today. And it makes eminent sense for us to
continue to work with our friends and allies in our hemisphere.
I leave the summit very optimistic about what
took place here. Because I want you to think about this interesting
fact. We had all but one country represented here, because
all but one country in our hemisphere has embraced
democracy. For some of you old-timers -- I'm trying to find
a few -- there looks like a guy who might be an
old-timer. (Laughter.) You know, we couldn't have
said that long ago. It's an amazing fact. It's a
wonderful testimony to freedom and democracy. So I'm very
optimistic about what took place here. It gives us a great
chance to expand the opportunities around our hemisphere, knowing that
it will help our own country.
I've always believed that it's -- the best
foreign policy is one that improves your own neighborhood
first. And so when I say a priority of ours is this
hemisphere, it's not idle chit-chat. It's reality, as
witnessed by the fact that my first summit was a summit with leaders
from our own neighborhood.
I want to say something about your
Ambassador. He is a -- you'll find him to be a good
listener, a strong American. He is going to be a thoughtful
manager. He's really a good guy. He's a good
guy. (Laughter.) And he married, like me, above his
head. (Laughter.) I, too, want to thank the
Deputy Chief of Missions, Steve Kelly. I want to thank the
acting -- the Consul General in Quebec City.
I want to thank Nick Nixon as
well. I want to thank Roberta Smolik -- Robin Smolik --
Robert Smolik. (Laughter.) I want to thank the
guy who wrote this on the card wrong. (Laughter and
applause.) Knowing how the presidency works, there's a card
writer somewhere pulling his hair out now. (Laughter.) I
want to thank Marina Nalli. Did I get it right? (Applause.)
I want to thank you all very much on the
American side for your hard work. I also want to thank
Reggie Tremblay. (Applause.) He made sure I got
to my meetings on time. (Laughter.) I hope word
has filtered out of Washington that I believe on starting meetings on
time. (Laughter.) I don't believe in making
people wait. I want to make sure that Lori Fortin gets
thanks as well. (Applause.) Not one member of
this huge delegation had to sleep on a couch, thanks to
you. (Laughter.) I want to thank Fred
Bishop. (Applause.) He's known as "Emergency
Guy." (Laughter.) He fixed problems before they
became emergencies.
I want to tell you all how much I appreciate
your service to the country. It's more than just making sure
the mission works -- however, this mission worked well -- it's to make
sure the mission always works. I want to thank you for
understanding that there is something greater than yourself in life,
and that's the greatest country on the face of the
earth. God bless. (Applause.)
END 4:22 P.M. EDT
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