[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1790]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE UNITED STATES-SAUDI ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, the economic and security partnership 
between the United States and Saudi Arabia is vital to both nations. 
Strong business ties are a key element of this partnership.
  Saudi Arabia is America's leading supplier of oil, while American 
technology is important to the efficient development of Saudi oil 
reserves. America's substantial imports are offset by more than $6 
billion dollars' worth of exports to Saudi Arabia each year, 
principally of manufactured goods. American firms have played an 
important role in the development of Saudi Arabia's modern defense, 
transportation, and communications infrastructure. My own home State of 
Connecticut enjoys a healthy trade relationship with Saudi Arabia, 
particularly in the area of aircraft engines and spare parts. When I 
visited Saudi Arabia a few years ago, I experienced first-hand the 
hospitality and cooperation which characterizes business as well as 
political dealings between Americans and their Saudi partners.
  A recent special edition of Middle East Insight was devoted to the 
six decades of business partnership between the United States and Saudi 
Arabia. I would like to share with my colleagues an article by Prince 
Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia to the United States. As most of my colleagues know, Prince 
Bandar has been a friend of the United States for a long time. He has 
represented Saudi Arabia with dignity, energy, and intelligence. And he 
has contributed to a better understanding of the United States in Saudi 
Arabia. I am pleased to provide this short article for my colleagues 
and ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                       [From Middle East Insight]

                          Partners in Commerce

           (By H.R.H. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz)

       Earlier this year, we marked the fiftieth anniversary of 
     the historic meeting between King Abdulaziz Al-Saud and 
     President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the USS Quincy on the 
     Great Bitter Lake. We celebrated this as the occasion that 
     launched the special relationship between the Kingdom of 
     Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. That meeting, 
     however did not occur in a vacuum. More than a decade before, 
     King Abdulaziz had signed the first oil concession with an 
     American oil company. The ensuing activities, culminating 
     with the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 1938, 
     began to lay the foundation of friendship and cooperation 
     that made the historic meeting between the two great leaders 
     possible.
       The Saudi-American relationship began with commerce and, 
     more than six decades later, commerce remains one of the 
     binding forces that tie our two countries together. American 
     companies were there in the beginning, helping to build not 
     only the world's largest oil industry, but the 
     infrastructure, support systems, and educational institutions 
     that go with it.
       Over the years, the business and economic relationship 
     between our two countries has broadened and strengthened in 
     parallel with the political friendship. The United States has 
     been Saudi Arabia's number one trade and investment partner 
     for most of the past forty years. Even in more trying times, 
     American business has stayed true to this partnership. More 
     recently, even at personal risk, American companies and their 
     employees stood together with us as we faced a grave 
     challenge from Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In 
     a sense, that effort was the largest of many joint ventures 
     between our two countries. The successful cooperation of our 
     soldiers was in no small part made possible by the decades of 
     friendship that preceded it.
       Modernization requires adaptation. With determination, 
     commitment, and confidence in our ways, Saudi Arabia has 
     taken control of its own destiny and adapted to the 
     requirements of a 21st century economy. We have reduced our 
     reliance on oil by diversifying into new industries that are 
     driven by the private sector. American companies have been 
     there, as they were at the beginning, to provide the 
     technology and know-how to develop the industries of the 
     future. They have found the Kingdom to be a friendly, stable, 
     and profitable place to do business.
       Anyone who doubts the strength of the Saudi-American 
     business partnership has only to look at the more than $15 
     billion in two-way trade between the two countries. This year 
     alone, more than $12 billion in major airline, 
     telecommunications, and power projects have been awarded to 
     American companies, tens of thousands of Americans live and 
     work in the Kingdom through hundreds of joint ventures; and 
     tens of thousands of Saudis have lived, worked, and studied 
     in the United States, and have brought back with them the 
     best that America has to offer, while maintaining a steadfast 
     allegiance to their own land, religion, and values.
       The Saudi-American business partnership has deep roots and 
     is sure to remain a vital element in the overall US-Saudi 
     relationship. Two people who work so closely together toward 
     the common goals of security, prosperity, and economic 
     advancement will surely remain friends, and partners, far 
     into the future. In celebrating this friendship, remember its 
     beginnings in our shared commitment to open markets, free 
     enterprise, and the private pursuit of opportunity to the 
     benefit of both our peoples.

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