[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 14 (Thursday, February 1, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1142-H1144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY JACQUES CHIRAC, PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH 
                                REPUBLIC

  (The following address was delivered in French, with a simultaneous 
translation in English.)
  President CHIRAC. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, 
Members of the Congress, first, I want to thank you very warmly for 
your welcome, and I am deeply touched by it.
  ``In America, I saw more than America; I was seeking a vision of 
democracy itself.'' Thus spoke Alexis de Tocqueville, one of our 
greatest thinkers. And because in the eyes of the world for more than 
200 years you have been the symbol of such an ideal, I am indeed glad 
and proud of the opportunity of saluting today your very distinguished 
assembly.
  Loyalty and friendship are the keynotes of my visit to the United 
States. It is a personal friendship, born during the liberation of 
France, when at the age of 12, I saw the American troops land in 
Provence. This friendship was still further strengthened when I came 
here to your country as a student, and I worked here, too, because one 
needs money to live, as a driver and as a soda jerk. It is a true and 
sincere friendship that grew from strength to strength each time I came 
to the United States, which was often.
  But especially I wish to bear witness today to the friendship between 
our two peoples. We have all learned in our history books how France 
helped your country to establish itself as a free, sovereign, and 
independent nation and likewise, in return, how your political ideals 
had inspired our own revolution and contributed to the foundation of 
our Republic.
  This friendship, sealed in blood, has never faltered. Twice during 
the present century, when Europe was engulfed in the darkness of war 
and barbarity, America rose up and threw in her might in the defense of 
democracy. Your soldiers paid with their lives or their wounds the 
price of that fight against evil.
  Some of you here belong to that generation of heroes and your bodies 
carry the scars of war. Through you it is to the whole American people 
that I wish today to express our gratitude. The French will never 
forget the sacrifices you made for the freedom and the rebirth of 
Europe and France.
  This exceptional relationship between the United States and France is 
based on a common vision of the world, the same faith in democracy, 
liberty, human rights, and the rule of law. Naturally, our interests do 
not always coincide, but since the very beginning France has always 
been and will always be, on the basis of equal rights and obligations, 
an ally of the United States, a firm ally, an ally you can count on.
  Whenever essential values were at stake, each time France was by your 
side. In Berlin, and then during the Cuban missile crisis, and 20 years 
later, when the euromissiles were being deployed in Europe, and again 
in the gulf war.
  ``True friendship,'' said George Washington, ``is a plant of slow 
growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it 
is entitled to the appellation.'' The friendship between our two 
peoples has stood the test.
  The agreement that is to restore peace in Bosnia was signed 6 weeks 
ago in Paris in the presence of President Clinton. A few days later 
NATO was given the necessary authority to implement that peace.
  This enterprise is the culmination of long, joint efforts. In 1994, 
France proposed to the Europeans, the United States, and Russia to set 
up an original structure, the contact group, in order to work out 
a peace plan. For this to succeed, we first had to ensure respect for 
our soldiers on the ground. That is why as soon as I took office I 
suggested to our British partners that we set up the rapid reaction 
force, and we discussed this together, Mr. Speaker, to use the strength 
of NATO in a decisive manner. It is in this new environment that the 
United States took the excellent initiative to organize the Dayton 
talks. I wish to pay tribute to the tenacity, the talent of those who 
crafted the accord.

  Our joint action in Bosnia, the first large-scale military operation 
ever carried out by the alliance, illustrates the profoundly novel 
nature of the missions NATO can be called upon to accomplish. In this 
case the task is to give a country devastated by 4 years of war a 
unique opportunity to attain peace at long last. The alliance would not 
evade such a mission. France, with the United States and Great Britain, 
is responsible for one of the three zones of operations, and we will do 
all in our power to make the operation a success.
  By accepting to throw in the balance the full weight of the political 
and military power of the United States, President Clinton and your 
Congress have shown a sense of political responsibility, the high moral 
standards that are so deeply embedded in American tradition. My wish 
would be that this commitment be pursued in the form of a lasting and 
balanced participation in the necessary reconstruction of the region.
  Your presence in Bosnia sends a clear message to the world: As in the 
past, the United States considers that Europe is vital for its own 
security. I wish to pay tribute to the continuity and the strength of 
this commitment.
  As I stand before you, I wish to reaffirm the position of France: The 
political commitment of the United States in Europe in its military 
presence on European soil are still an essential element of the 
stability and the security of the continent and also of the world.
  Our common action in Bosnia emphasizes the need for the Atlantic 
Alliance to adapt itself to a universe that is no longer that in which 
it was born. The reform must first define the modes of action that will 
enable it to meet effectively the unpredictable situations that can 
arise in the post-cold-war period.
  But the reform must also enable the European allies to assume fully 
their responsibilities, with the support of NATO facilities, wherever 
the United States does not wish to engage its ground forces. In 
accordance with what was said at the 1994 summit, we must work on the 
European pillar within the alliance, which President Kennedy referred 
to and which must progressively become a reality with the Western 
European Union.
  In this new situation, France is ready to take its full share of this 
renovation process. And this was demonstrated a few weeks ago when 
France announced 

[[Page H1143]]
its intention to move closer to the military structures of the 
organization. I wish to confirm today the openmindedness and sense of 
availability with which France approaches this adaptation of NATO, 
including the military side, as long as the European identity can 
assert itself fully.
  For the alliance to be strong, Europe must be strong, capable of 
bearing a larger share of the common burden.
  I call for a renewed partnership between Europe, engaged in its own 
construction, including in the field of defense, and our North American 
allies. The culmination of this process could be the adoption at the 
appropriate time of a Transatlantic Charter, which would be a solemn 
sign for the coming century of the strength and the vitality of our 
alliance.

  The reform of our organization will facilitate its enlargement, if we 
are capable of proposing to Russia a positive relationship with NATO in 
a security framework that gives that great country its rightful place 
in Europe and in the world. And the presence of Russian soldiers in 
Bosnia alongside the allies is a first promising step in that 
direction.
  Let us show imagination and determination in building the European 
and transatlantic architecture of tomorrow. The balance and the peace 
of the world are at stake.
  But Europe is not the only area in which we have common interests. We 
share the same values and so we both aspire to peace and progress in 
the world. We are exposed to the same threats. We face the same risks. 
We bear on our shoulders the same responsibilities.
  Nothing that concerns the global village can leave us indifferent. No 
one is unaffected by what happens elsewhere, be it at the other end of 
the world. The AIDS virus or the effects of a new Chernobyl do not need 
visas to spread across borders. Drugs are a threat to young people 
everywhere. Nuclear arms proliferation weighs on the future of all of 
us. Illegal immigration is a problem for all developing countries, and 
we all feel the consequences of religious fanaticism and ethnic hatred 
which can destabilize entire regions. We must combine our efforts to 
get at the roots of these scourges.
  Amongst all of these dangers, in my view the most serious one is 
underdevelopment. The continuation of our aid to those countries in 
need is a moral obligation incumbent on all of us. It is also the best 
way of defusing a time bomb, a time bomb that threatens all of us and 
will threaten our children as well.
  Let us not leave to their fate the poorest countries on Earth, in 
particular the countries of Africa. Let us not leave them in the 
vicious cycle of exclusion by allowing the source of official 
development assistance to dry up, aid that is indispensable for them to 
move further toward democracy and development. We must not run the risk 
of leaving to coming generations a legacy of yet more crises, yet more 
famines, yet more wars, and also the irreversible destruction of our 
environment and large-scale immigration. Let us not abandon the values 
that lie at the very heart of our civilization.
  And we will not counter these dangers by accumulating every more 
weapons, nor by erecting ineffective barriers. The best security today 
lies in solidarity. Europe is convinced of this, and that is why Europe 
gives the poor countries more than $30 billion annually, that is to 
say, three times more than the United States, a considerable effort.
  My friends, in this field as well, the world needs you. Of course, 
your great Nation has to contend with budgetary constraints. So does 
Europe. So does France. But our difficulties should not divert us from 
our obligations toward the poorest countries of the world. Here the 
dictates of conscience and of political wisdom converge with our common 
interest.
  From the rice paddies of Bangladesh to the heights of the Altiplano, 
from the sands of the Sahel to the outskirts of Lunada, everywhere men 
and women are suffering, and they thirst for prosperity and peace. 
Everywhere, and we see proof of this day after day in Africa, men and 
women are making real progress, to help them travel farther on the road 
toward development and democracy, to help them to consolidate the rule 
of law that they have begun to establish, and to help them carry out 
painful but necessary economic reforms. Everywhere men and women place 
high hopes in the progress of education, of science, and medicine in 
order at long last to attain a better life and happiness, happiness to 
which they are entitled, like everyone on this planet.

  All over the world, men and women believe in America and Europe, in 
the generosity of their history, in their dedication to mankind. My 
friends, we must not let them down.
  In our interdependent world, together we must fulfill all our 
respective responsibilities as permanent members of the United Nations 
Security Council, as the first and fourth world economic powers, and as 
members of the G7.
  Together we must promote disarmament and combat the proliferation of 
weapons of mass destruction. France has ended, once and for all, its 
nuclear testing, after a final series that was designed to give us the 
assurance that our deterrence capability is reliable and safe. Let us 
join our efforts to make 1996 the year of the signing of the complete 
and definitive test ban treaty, with the zero yield option that France 
and the United States were the first to propose. I also welcome the 
decision of your Senate to authorize the ratification of the START II 
Treaty. Its implementation by the United States and Russia will also 
pave the way to further progress in disarmament.
  Let us also join efforts to make 1996 the year of decisive progress 
toward peace in the Middle East, with the signing of treaties between 
Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. Thus will be fulfilled totally the destiny 
of Yitzhak Rabin, to whose memory I wish to pay tribute.
  And finally let us work together within the organizations that we 
have established. I have in mind, first, the United Nations, the only 
legitimate universal organization, the only bulwark against disorder 
and arbitrariness in international relations. Let us help the United 
Nations to reform itself. Let us not refuse the United Nations the 
necessary means to succeed.
  I have in mind, also, the World Trade Organization that we have 
recently set up together. We have established it to ensure orderly 
world trade. Let us resist temptations to unilateralism.
  And there is also the International Development Association of the 
World Bank [IDA]; it is an irreplaceable instrument in the fight 
against hunger, against extreme poverty and underdevelopment. It also 
plays a crucial role in developing the markets of the beneficiary 
countries, which in point of fact, already receive 40 percent of your 
exports. IDA was established at the initiative of President Eisenhower. 
Let us act together enabling it to pursue its action.
  And last, there is the G7, which will hold its next summit in June 
hosted by France in the city of Lyon. Let us avail ourselves of that 
opportunity for better coordination of our economic and financial 
policies.
  To carry out successfully the tasks that lie ahead, the United States 
will increasingly find in the European Union a strong partner. Thanks 
to the joint impetus given by France and Germany, it is the ambition of 
the European Union to gain in strength, and this will happen before the 
turn of the century through more effective institutions within the 
European Union, a single currency, and by enlargement involving the new 
democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. By the next generation, the 
European Union, in all probability, will have risen from 15 to 30 
member countries. Europe, reconciled historically and geographically 
on the basis of democracy, social justice, and a market economy, will 
have become one of the most stable and dynamic areas in the world of 
tomorrow.

  The European Union and the United States are already each other's 
main trading partners, and it is a balanced trade relationship. They 
are also each other's main investors: 3 million Europeans are today 
employed by American firms, and 3 million Americans work for European 
firms.
  Today, Europe is the world's most open economic entity. We are 
prepared to increase freedom of trade still further, while still 
respecting our vital interests, and in the framework of a balanced 
approach.
  Building on the bedrock of a 50-year-old alliance, we can and must 
create a 

[[Page H1144]]
genuine partnership, a comprehensive partnership, between the new 
Europe and America.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, Members of 
Congress, in the wake of the victory over nazism, the United States 
contributed more than any other country to the shaping of the post-war 
world with the setting up of the United Nations and NATO, of the IMF 
and the World Bank, and with the implementation of the Marshall plan. 
These were key contributions, and the 50 years of peace and prosperity 
that ensued owe a great deal, a great deal indeed, to this American 
commitment.
  Today, as then, the world needs the United States. Your commitment is 
as necessary as ever in order to build the uncertain post-cold-war 
world and to further the cause of peace, democracy, and development.
  These are great challenges that lie ahead for all of us, and we will 
meet them if we are united and as one. It is only with this sense of 
solidarity and union that we can leave to our children the legacy of a 
better world, a world in which they can flourish, a world of liberty, 
justice, and peace.
  I thank you very much for your attention.
  [Applause, the Members rising.]
  At 12 o'clock and 25 minutes a.m., the President of the French 
Republic accompanied by the committee of escort, retired from the Hall 
of the House of Representatives.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms escorted the invited guests 
from the Chamber in the following order:
  The Members of the President's Cabinet.
  The Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
  The Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

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