[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 5, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S9117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING AUSTRALIAN-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, next week the Senate will be honored with a 
visit from the Right Honorable John Howard, Prime Minister of 
Australia. Prime Minister Howard comes to the United States to 
celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the signing ANZUS Treaty, the 
document that has formally tied our strategic destinies together for 
the good of the entire Asian Pacific Rim.
  Our relationship with Australia did not begin with the ratification 
of one treaty. American and Australian soldiers have fought together on 
every battlefield of the world from the Meuse Argonne in 1918 to the 
Mekong Delta and Desert Storm. We share a common historic and cultural 
heritage. We are immigrant peoples forged from the British Empire. We 
conquered our continents and became a beacon of hope for people 
struggling to be free.
  For over 100 years, the United States and Australia have been the 
foundation for stability in the South Pacific. Today, we are on the 
precipice of a new day in this vital region. The potential for economic 
growth there is staggering. Where our two countries provided the 
military basis for peace in that hemisphere, we now can set the stage 
for a new free market order that will open the frontiers of freedom for 
countless millions.
  On September 5th, I sent a letter to President Bush asking that he 
accelerate the schedule for creating a free trade agreement with 
Australia. We are Australia's largest source of foreign investment and 
second largest trading partner with a two way trade totaling over $19 
billion. Even though Australia has a relatively small population, they 
are the 15th largest market for American exports.
  An American Australia Free Trade Agreement will be a capstone event 
on a century of friendship and mutual sacrifice. It has the potential 
for setting a new standard for all of the Pacific to follow. So we 
welcome Prime Minister Howard to the United States and look forward to 
another century of prosperity and peace.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of my letter to President Bush 
dated September 5, 2001 be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                      U.S. Senate,


                              Office of the Republican Leader,

                                Washington, DC, September 5, 2001.
     The President,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: In recognition of the upcoming visit of 
     Prime Minister John Howard, to celebrate the 50th anniversary 
     of our alliance with Australia, I believe that it is a 
     wonderful opportunity to strengthen the historic ties between 
     our countries by launching the United States-Australia Free 
     Trade Agreement.
       In addition to a military alliance that has borne fruit on 
     battlefields from the Meuse Argonne to Vietnam, we share a 
     common cultural and economic bond. The United States-
     Australia strategic partnership is the foundation for 
     stability in the South Pacific. We are Australia's largest 
     source of foreign investment and second largest trading 
     partner and they are one of the top markets for American 
     exports.
       The United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement would be 
     the first in a series of formal regimes designed to bring the 
     fruits of the free market to the entire Asian Pacific rim. 
     There is no better place to expand the new economic frontier 
     than with our friends and allies in Australia.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Trent Lott,
     Republican Leader.

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