For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 21, 2001
Remarks by the President at Summit of the Americas Working Session
The Hilton Hotel Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
9:15 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. Prime
Minister. Amigo y amigos, it's an honor to be
here. First, Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you for
your warm hospitality, and I want to thank all those folks in your
government who have worked hard to make this conference a
success. My fellow Presidents and Prime Ministers and
leaders of our hemisphere's 34 democracies, it is a great honor to be
here.
We have a great vision before us, a fully
democratic hemisphere bound together by goodwill and free
trade. That's a tall order. It is a chance of a
lifetime. It is a responsibility we all share.
Quebec City is a fitting place for us to
begin. Many of the great cultures that have shaped our
hemisphere converge in this city. Before Champlain's ever
sailed the St. Lawrence he sailed the Caribbean, visiting Mexico and
Colombia, Puerto Rico and Panama. As a matter of fact, he
was one of the first to propose a canal from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, so that trade may prosper. During the 400 years
since Champlain's travels, our hemisphere, united by geography, has too
often -- too often -- been separated by history of rivalry and
resentment.
But we have entered a new era. The
interests of my nation, of all our
nations, are served by strong, healthy democratic neighbors, and are
served best by lasting friendships in our own neighborhood.
My country, more than ever, feels the ties of
kinship, commerce and culture that unite us. And I'm proud
to have the privilege so early in my administration to meet with all
the leaders of this hemisphere's democratic
countries.
Our task is to take the vital principles
shaped at Miami and Santiago and translate them into actions that
directly benefit the people we answer to. I'm here to offer
my own ideas. I'm here to learn, and to listen from
voices -- to those inside this hall, and to those outside this hall
who want to join us in constructive dialogue.
The single most important thing we will do
here is to reaffirm that this summit is a gathering of, by, and for
democracies, and only democracies. Today, freedom embraces
the entire hemisphere, except for one
country. And we look forward to the day when all this
hemisphere's peoples will know the benefits and dignity of
freedom. Jose Marti said it best: La libertad no
es nogociable.
We also understand that democracy is a
journey, not a destination. Each nation here, including the United
States, must work to make freedom succeed. Elections are the
foundation of democracy, but nations need to build on this foundation
with other building blocks, such as a strong judiciary, freedom to
speak and write as you wish, efficient banking and social services,
quality schools, secure ownership of land, the ability to start and own
a business. We must strengthen this architecture of
democracy for the benefit of all our people.
This is the spirit behind the American Fellows
exchange program that I
announce here today. This program will sponsor one-year
exchanges of outstanding civil servants among nations throughout the
Americas. We'll also provide resources to help reform and
modernize judicial institutions, protect basic human rights, root out
corruption and other threats to the institutions that sustain freedom.
Our hemisphere support for democracy and
freedom is principled, but it
is also pragmatic. Freedom is not only a right, it is also
our best weapon against tyranny and poverty. Some complain
that despite our democratic gains, there is still too much poverty in
equality. Some even say that things are getting worse, not
better. For too many, this may be true. But the
solution does not lie in statism or protectionism; the solution lies in
more freedom.
And that is why we seek freedom not only for
people living within our borders, but also for commerce moving across
our borders. Free and open trade creates new jobs and new
income. It lifts the lives of all our people, applying the
power of markets to the needs of the poor. It spurs the
process of economic and legal reform. And open trade
reinforces the habit of liberty that sustains democracy over the long
haul.
The United States will work for open trade at
every opportunity. We will seek bilateral free trade
agreements with friends and partners, such as the one we aim to
complete this year with Chile. We will work for open trade
globally through negotiations in the World Trade
Organization. And here in the Americas, we will work hard to
build an entire hemisphere that trades in freedom.
The history of our times is
clear: Progress is found in pluralism; nodernization is
found in markets. Free enterprise requires liberty and
enlarges liberty. Our commitment to open trade must be
matched by a strong
commitment to protecting our environment and improving labor
standards.
Yet, these concerns must not be an excuse for
self-defeating protectionism. We know from NAFTA that open
trade works. Since 1994, total trade among Canada and Mexico
and the United States has more than doubled. NAFTA has given
consumers in all three nations more choices, at lower
prices. And it has created high quality, high -- good wage
jobs from
the Yukon to the Yucatan.
The time has come to extend the benefits of
free trade to all our peoples and to achieve a free trade agreement for
the entire hemisphere. Our challenge is to energize our negotiations
on a free trade area for the Americas, so that they can be completed no
later than the year 2005.
In my first speech to our Congress, I made
clear that achieving U.S. trade promotion authority was among my top
priorities. I reinforced that message just two weeks ago,
when I met to discuss trade issues with congressional
leaders. When I return to Washington, I will put forward a
set of principles that will be the framework for more intense
consultations
with Congress. I'm committed to attaining trade promotion
authority before the end of the year. I'm confident that I
will get it.
Partnership in trade is fundamental to the
hemisphere's well-being. But we know it is not, by itself, sufficient
to guarantee the quality of life we seek for ourselves and for our
children. Too many people in our hemisphere grow, sell and
use illegal drugs. I want to make this clear: The United
States is responsible to fight demand for drugs within our own
borders. We have a serious obligation to do
so. And we will expand our efforts, with meaningful
resources, to work with producer and transit countries to fortify their
democratic institutions, to promote sustainable development, and to
fight the supply of drugs at the source.
This is a message I carried yesterday to the
leaders of the Andean countries. The United States so
appreciates the difficult challenge they face in fighting drugs, and
stands ready to be a consistent and true partner. We're also
committed to deepening our cooperation throughout the hemisphere in
fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS, responding to natural disasters, and
making sure the benefits of globalization are felt in even the smallest
of economies. These goals are at the heart of the Third
Border Initiative that we have launched with the countries of the
Caribbean.
We're committed to protecting the hemisphere's
natural resources. That's why I'm committed to using the Tropical
Forest Conservation Act to help countries redirect debt repayments
toward local projects that will protect biodiversity and tropical
forests. As the program demonstrates success, I'm prepared
to work with Congress to boost the funding.
We're committed to making education a
centerpiece of our economic agenda, because learning and literacy are
the foundations for development and democracy. The United
States will sponsor the creation of hemispheric centers for teacher
excellence. These centers will provide teacher training for
improving literacy and basic education, both in person and over the
Internet.
And finally, we will sponsor the creation of
the new Latin E-business Fellowship program. This will give
young professionals from throughout the
Americans the opportunity to learn about information technology by
spending time with United States companies. It will empower
them with the skills and background to bring the benefits of these
technologies to their own societies.
On the day I became President, I talked of
liberty as a seed upon the wind, taking root in many
nations. For over two decades, our hemisphere has been
fertile ground for freedom. So many men and women have left
the shadow of oppression and fear. And for coming so far,
this is not the time
to grow timid or weary. Freedom is still our best weapon
against tyranny and want. In so many places in this
hemisphere liberty has been won. Now the blessings of
liberty must be extended to every life.
When we reach this goal by our unified
efforts, we will inspire the world by our example. Together,
let us go forward to build an age of prosperity in a hemisphere of
liberty. Together, let us use this Summit of
the Americas to launch the century of the Americas.
Juntos podemos. Juntos lo
haremos. God bless the Americas and God bless our
people. (Applause.)
END 9:28 A.M
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