    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [June 7, 1991]
    [Pages 619-622]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Swearing-In Ceremony for Henry Catto as Director of the
    United States Information Agency
    June 7, 1991

        The President. Thanks for that warm welcome. I'm just delighted to
    be over here for this occasion, the formal swearing-in, and also to give
    me the opportunity to thank all of you for what you do for your country.
    I want to salute, of course, Henry Catto and Jessica; Leonard Marks is
    out here--one of the former directors of this very important agency.
        I'm delighted to stand at the side of my friend of longstanding,
    Henry Catto. I'm pleased that so many of his friends and

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    family could be with us here to share in this special day. First, let me
    also salute Dick Carlson, the Director of the VOA. Dick has piloted the
    Voice during 5, I think, of its most fascinating years, and done it
    well. I am just delighted that he has agreed to serve as an ambassador
    for our country. His service to the public will continue, and I'm very
    proud that he'll be at my side.
        I'm also pleased to announce that his successor, as the new
    Director, is a man who I know will uphold this extraordinarily proud
    legacy of the Voice, and I'm talking about, now, Chase Untermeyer. He's
    now an Assistant to the President, but he was formerly an Assistant
    Secretary of the Navy, a former journalist. He was an elected official
    in Texas. And in his coming into this job, clearly he will be following
    a long line of distinguished Americans. So, he'll need your help, and
    with it I know he'll do very, very well.
        And of course, I really wanted to have this occasion over here
    because I wanted to recognize the talented professionals of USIA. One of
    the reasons that I'm here today is to thank all of you for an awful lot,
    but especially for your dedicated service during Desert Shield and
    Desert Storm. I know many of you put in an awful lot of hours. For many,
    it was a round-the-clock effort. The expertise of your people in the
    field, the fine Gulf war pamphlets that you produced, all the extra
    hours behind the microphone at VOA and in USIA's TV studios helped us
    get the word out, helped people in the Middle East and around the world
    separate fact from fiction about Iraq's aggression and the intentions of
    Saddam Hussein. We were up against an enormous propaganda machine from
    various quarters overseas. And I think that you all distinguished
    yourselves with great honor and great credit to the United States of
    America. So, thank you from this grateful heart.
        To those of us who know the history, the proud legacy of this
    agency, USIA's key role in the Gulf comes as no surprise. Since the time
    President Eisenhower created USIA nearly 40 years ago--then in the midst
    of the cold war and conflict--public diplomacy has played an integral
    role in American foreign policy. USIA is founded on the belief, the
    certainty, if you will, that ideas matter, especially to this nation, a
    nation founded on the idea of freedom.
        The cold war was itself, in the deepest sense, a war of ideas. In
    that war, USIA acted as America's advocate, spreading the message of
    democracy and freedom, doing it in a very convincing way, spreading the
    message of human rights and human dignity that went behind the Iron
    Curtain, that passed the jammers' wall of noise and into every corner of
    closed societies around the world.
        And today, at long last, thank God, the cold war has drawn to an
    end. The Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall, the monument of lies posing as
    truth--all were reduced to ruins by the undeniable power of an idea:
    that all people everywhere must be free.
        Each of you shares in this great triumph of the human spirit. But
    your work, I'm sure you all know, is far from over. Just as millions
    drew hope from this American idea, so now the American example speaks to
    people the world over: in the developing countries seeking to unleash
    the power of free enterprise, to the nations now engaged in the
    difficult business of democracy-building, everywhere that men and women
    still struggle to be free. There's still this example, the American
    example, that we must get out.
        Today more than ever, in our world of instantaneous communication--
    when images, ideas, and information cross the globe at the speed of
    light--the work you do at USIA advances our national interest. Your
    broadcasts, your exchanges, the overseas libraries and publications, the
    programs to teach English--all tell America's story to the world: who we
    are, how we live, and perhaps most important, what we believe in.
        That is America's message. You here at USIA take America's message
    to the world. You tell the story that the world still wants to hear.
        Let me just close now with the business at hand, a personal note
    about my dear friend and your new Director. Back on August 2d, the day
    that the Iraqi tanks first rolled into Kuwait, both Margaret Thatcher
    and I were scheduled to take part in an Aspen Institute conference out
    in Colora-

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    do--Aspen, Colorado.
        We were also to be Henry's guests at their ranch in Aspen. It turned
    out to be quite a memorable ``working visit,'' as some of you may
    remember. I saw firsthand at that critical moment, though, Henry's
    understanding of a complicated situation, his unerring judgment, his
    unquestioned expertise, and above all, his unswerving devotion to
    principle, as he and I discussed, of the Iraqi invasion. Everyone who
    knows this man will agree that his considerable strength will serve him
    well in this proud new post as Director of USIA.
        So, once again, my sincerest thanks to all of you for your warm
    welcome, and much more important than that, for what you do. I expect
    over here you wonder if we over at the White House even know you exist
    at times. Maybe you're better if you don't know you exist at times.
    [Laughter] When Henry suggested we could come over here, it gives me an
    opportunity to thank you in the best way I possibly can for your
    dedicated service to the greatest country on the face of the Earth.
        Now it is with great pleasure that I will witness the swearing-in of
    Ambassador Henry Catto as Director of USIA. Thank you.

    [At this point, Director Catto was sworn in.]

        Director Catto. Mr. President, Justice Kennedy, USIA colleagues here
    in Washington and watching throughout the globe on Worldnet or listening
    on the Voice of America. Spring, sir, is the season of new beginnings.
    Two springs ago in May of 1989, I had the experience of presenting my
    credentials to Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. Thanks to you, Mr.
    President, for 2 years I had the honor to represent our country in the
    United Kingdom.
        That experience reinforced a belief of mine. I've learned a little
    something about diplomacy over the years; and if I have, it's that
    public diplomacy is an indispensable component of an effective foreign
    policy.
        Scholars call ours the Information Age. The Industrial Age was
    defined by the steam engine, by the dynamo, by the electronic grid. The
    current epoch is defined by new technologies--by computers, by
    satellites, by silicon chips. In the Information Age, public diplomacy
    is not only valuable, it is essential to any prolonged success in world
    affairs.
        You mentioned, Mr. President, in your remarks, the events of August
    2d. I think it would interest everyone here to know that at one point,
    half of Prime Minister Thatcher's Cabinet were former USIA international
    visitors. Your public display of unity and determination at that
    critical moment were crucial in shaping world opinion about the need for
    an international response to the Iraqi invasion.
        The Gulf conflict was the first international crisis, unmistakably,
    of the Information Age. And appropriately, the men and women of the U.S.
    Information Agency did themselves proud. And proud they should be, Mr.
    President. As the coalition took shape, the USIA's public affairs and
    public information officers on six continents explained America's goals
    and diplomatic efforts.
        Our Worldnet facilities at American Embassies throughout the globe
    made it possible for foreign journalists to interview by satellite the
    men and women shaping American policies in the Gulf and on other issues.
    Meanwhile, here in Washington, the USIA's foreign press center helped
    American-based foreign journalists by providing briefings, press
    releases, and press conference facilities. And all the while, people of
    the Voice of America did their jobs brilliantly. They got the news; they
    told it straight. That is their job: to tell it like it is.
        Equally important, and also all the while, our exchange programs for
    scholars and teachers went on, and our AmParts lecturers made tour after
    tour, and our USIS centers around the globe helped those eager to learn
    more about America. And if I may say so, nobody could do those things
    better, either. No one could do them better than USIA.
        Once upon a time, a wise man was asked the secret of happiness. He
    responded: Find a mission in life and take it seriously. Mr. President,
    the men and women of the United States Information Agency have a
    mission. They carry and transmit to a world that hungers for America's
    story--our news, the best of our culture, information about

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    our policies--an understanding of our way of life. That is our mission:
    to be America's information agency in the Information Age. We do, and we
    will, take that mission seriously.
        Mr. President, thank you for the honor you have done me and for the
    thrill you've given us all by paying us a visit here today. Thank you
    very much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 10:14 a.m. in the Voice
                            of America Auditorium. The following persons
                            were referred to: Director Catto's wife,
                            Jessica; Leonard H. Marks, Director of the U.S.
                            Information Agency during the Johnson
                            administration; Richard W. Carlson, Director of
                            the Voice of America; Charles G. Untermeyer,
                            Assistant to the President and Director of
                            Presidential Personnel; President Saddam Hussein
                            of Iraq; former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
                            and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom;
                            and Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the
                            Supreme Court.