[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 31, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                U.S.-MOROCCO PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP TREATY

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President: I would like to take this occasion to 
extend congratulations to His Majesty King Mohammed VI and the people 
of Morocco on the 225th anniversary of the Treaty of Peace and 
Friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco.
  Negotiations for this treaty began in 1783 and the draft was signed 
in 1786. Future Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the 
American signatories. The treaty was then presented to the Senate, 
which ratified it on July 18, 1787, making it the first treaty to 
receive U.S. Senate ratification.
  The treaty represented the second time that Morocco and the United 
States affirmed diplomatic relations between the two countries. It is 
also worthy of mention that that Sultan, Mohammed III, was the first 
head of state, and Morocco the first country, to recognize the new 
United States as an independent country in 1777.
  The Treaty of Peace and Friendship, whose anniversary we commemorate 
this month, provided for the United States' diplomatic representation 
in Morocco and open commerce at any Moroccan port on the basis of 
``most favored nation.'' It also established the principle of non-
hostility when either country was engaged in war with any other nation.
  Most importantly, the treaty provided for the protection of U.S. 
shipping vessels at a time when American merchant ships were at risk of 
harassment by various European warships. The treaty specifically 
stated:

       If any Vessel belonging to the United States shall be in 
     any of the Ports of His Majesty's Dominions, or within 
     Gunshot of his Forts, she shall he protected as much as 
     possible and no Vessel whatever belonging either to Moorish 
     or Christian Powers with whom the United States may be at 
     War, shall be permitted to follow or engage her, as we now 
     deem the Citizens of America our good Friends.

  A further indication of the early and close relationship between the 
United States and Morocco can be seen in a letter President George 
Washington wrote to Sultan Mohammed III on December 1, 1789. President 
Washington wrote:

       It gives me pleasure to have this opportunity of assuring 
     your majesty that I shall not cease to promote every measure 
     that may conduce to the friendship and harmony which so 
     happily subsist between your empire and these . . . This 
     young nation, just recovering from the waste and desolation 
     of long war, has not, as yet, had time to acquire riches by 
     agriculture or commerce. But our soil is beautiful, and our 
     people industrious and we have reason to flatter ourselves 
     that we shall gradually become useful to our friends.

  United States relations with Morocco have strengthened in the decades 
and centuries following the historic treaty. For example, during World 
War I, Morocco was aligned with the Allied forces, and in 1917 and 
1918, Moroccan soldiers fought valiantly alongside United States 
Marines at Chateau Thierry, Mont Blanc, and Soissons.
  During World War II, Moroccan national defense forces aided American 
and British forces in the region. Morocco hosted one of the most 
pivotal meetings of the Allied leaders in World War II. In January 
1943, United States President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime 
Minister Winston Churchill and Free French commander Charles De Gaulle 
met for 4 days in the Casablanca neighborhood of Anfa to discuss 
strategy against the Axis powers. It was during this series of meetings 
that the Allies agreed to launch their continental counter push against 
Axis aggression through a beach head landing on the French Atlantic 
coast.
  Following Morocco's independence in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower 
communicated to King Mohammed V that ``my government renews its wishes 
for the peace and prosperity of Morocco.'' The King responded by 
reassuring President Eisenhower that Morocco would be a staunch ally in 
the fight against the proliferation of communism in the region.
  The United States Agency for International Development, USAID, and 
its predecessor agencies, as well as the Peace Corps, have been active 
in Morocco since 1953. Currently, there are more than 200 volunteers in 
Morocco working in the areas of health, youth development, small 
business and the environment.
  Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Morocco was one of the 
first nations to express its solidarity with the United States and 
immediately renewed its commitment as a strong ally to combat 
terrorism. Cooperation between the United States and Morocco on these 
issues includes data sharing, law enforcement partnerships, improved 
capabilities to oversee strategic checkpoints, and joint efforts to 
terminate terrorist organization financing.
  It is important to extend our warm congratulations to His Majesty 
King Mohammed VI as well as to the people of Morocco on the anniversary 
of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which set the stage for 
continued and sustained engagement between our two countries.

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