[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 164 (Monday, October 23, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15444-S15445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AMBASSADOR REED DELIVERS U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE IN HIROSHIMA 
                                  CITY

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, on August 6, 1995, U.N. Under Secretary-
General Joseph Verner Reed attended the Hiroshima City Peace Memorial 
Ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, where he delivered a message on behalf of 
U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
  As many of my colleagues will recall, Ambassador Reed has an 
accomplished, remarkable record of service in the United States 
Government, including serving ably and with distinction as the United 
States Ambassador to Morocco and as Chief of Protocol. Ambassador Reed 
is now dedicating his talents to the United Nations, where he serves as 
Under Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary 
General for Public Affairs.
  In his introductory remarks to the Secretary-General's message, 
Ambassador Reed asked that we remember and praise the determination of 
the Hiroshima community to rebuild in the destructive aftermath of the 
war, and to work for nuclear disarmament and a nuclear test ban.
  As a longtime advocate, friend, and supporter of the United Nations, 
and as one who has tried to work for a world free from the threat of 
nuclear weapons, I believe the ceremony in Hiroshima was a particularly 
important and compelling event.
  In my view, the remarks by Ambassador Reed, and the message he 
delivered on behalf of Secretary-General Boutros Ghali, help to set 
precisely the right tone for the event. Mr. President, I commend those 
remarks to my colleagues and ask unanimous consent that they be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                Remarks by Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed

       Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Mayor of Hiroshima, Excellencies, 
     ladies and gentlemen, friends, 50 years ago today life on our 
     planet Earth was changed forever.
       The Hiroshima City Peace Memorial Ceremony is a highly 
     symbolic and extraordinary event. For me, both as an 
     international civil servant at the United Nations and as an 
     American, today is a very emotional and significant day. I am 
     very proud to represent the United Nations and Secretary-
     General Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali at this 50th Peace Memorial 
     Ceremony in the year of the 50th anniversary of the United 
     Nations. On this day, let us remember the first words of the 
     Charter of the United Nations: ``We the peoples of the United 
     Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the 
     scourge of war . . .''
       On this day, let us remember the determination of the 
     citizens of Hiroshima to rebuild their lives and to overcome 
     war. Let us praise their determination to work for nuclear 
     disarmament and nuclear test ban.
       On this solemn day, let us take to heart that there is a 
     time to remember, a time to heal and a time to look forward. 
     Hiroshima is living proof of man's ability to recover from 
     the most horrible destruction and that gives hope to our 
     planet.
       The crushing coda to the most violent war in history 
     altered global politics and war. The bomb introduced a new 
     age of terror--the Atomic Age; a whirlwind was sowed.
       The international community has to make sure that there is 
     no reason ever again to employ destructive nuclear force. The 
     United Nations, your United Nations, needs you, the citizens 
     of Hiroshima, the people of Japan.
       Ladies and gentlemen, let me now bring you a message from 
     the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Boutros 
     Boutros-Ghali:
       ``Today's is a poignant anniversary. Fifty years ago the 
     infinite capacity of the human mind was given proof. And we 
     saw how the skills and talents of man could harness the 
     mysteries of science itself, to purpose that could be 
     ennobling or to purpose that could simply destroy.
       In that sense, this is an anniversary to remind us of what 
     we can do and just how far it is possible for us to go. We 
     saw that on the sixth of August, 1945. But in the sunlight of 
     the awakened day, new realisations emerged, new resolves were 
     fashioned. And this is also a commemoration of the will not 
     necessarily 

[[Page S 15445]]
     to do what is within our means to do. It is a commemoration of the 
     conciliation of capacity and conscience, of power with 
     prudence. It is a commemoration of our awareness of the 
     terrifying levels to which conflict, once begun, can 
     escalate. It is a commemoration of the resolve, enshrined in 
     the Charter of the United Nations barely 6 weeks earlier, to 
     reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person.
       You have dedicated this ceremony to peace. And, without 
     doubt, the introspection the horror of Hiroshima compelled 
     has made our world a safer place. Machinery has been put in 
     place to support nuclear controls and safeguards, to carry 
     out the destruction of nuclear weapons, to ban nuclear 
     testing. The nuclear nonproliferation treaty has been 
     validated in perpetuity. It has signatories whose number 
     falls only a few short of the membership of the United 
     Nations itself. Given tact, reason, and understanding it 
     should be possible to aspire to a truly universally regime. 
     Such a regime becomes all the more necessary and compelling 
     given the clear and unambiguous assertion by the Security 
     Council at the highest political level in January 1992 that 
     the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction constitutes 
     a threat to international peace and security.
       In 2 years we shall commemorate the 40th anniversary of an 
     unfulfilled mission: The question of a comprehensive nuclear 
     test ban, which first appeared on the agenda of the General 
     Assembly in 1957. It would be an achievement well worth 
     striving for. The progress being made towards a comprehensive 
     test ban treaty must be enhanced and build upon. The vast 
     potential for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy must be 
     addressed and given realisation unhindered by its diversion 
     for essentially combative ends. And it is clear that non 
     nuclear-weapon states must be provided international security 
     assurances that are legally binding.
       These are some thoughts that come to mind on an occasion 
     such as this. In Hiroshima hope has succeeded hate, 
     determination despair. For a half a century you have lived 
     with an awareness at first hand of what the phrases the world 
     uses can really mean. Please share that awareness, that sense 
     of the possibilities that we can and we must realise. The 
     world owes you no less, nor you the world.\1\
       This is the message from the Secretary-General of the 
     United Nations.
       Excellencies, citizens of Hiroshima, this expression of the 
     Secretary-General is what we at the United Nations want to do 
     together with you, the citizens of Hiroshima and the people 
     of Japan.
       I thank you.

                          ____________________