[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[June 11, 1993]
[Pages 837-838]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Announcing the Nomination of Walter Mondale To Be Ambassador to 
Japan and an Exchange With Reporters
June 11, 1993

    The President. Good morning. Please be seated. I want to thank all 
of you for coming here today for the announcement of my nomination of 
Walter Mondale to be our next Ambassador to Japan. Former Vice President 
Mondale will succeed Ambassador Michael Armacost, whose service was very 
valuable. And I want to thank him for it and acknowledge that here 
today.
    This nomination has produced a lot of happiness, not only for me and 
for our administration but for the people of the State of Minnesota and 
the people of the United States who have admired Walter Mondale for a 
very long time.
    Fritz Mondale is not only someone I consider a friend but also 
someone that I and millions of Americans consider a leader of enormous 
wisdom, courage, compassion, and stature. Like his mentor, Hubert 
Humphrey, Fritz Mondale is a hero to the people of Minnesota, because he 
embodies the virtues of the Midwest, because he fought so boldly for 
those things in the United States Senate, and because he never lost the 
basic values of his childhood and his adulthood after he became a leader 
on the national and world stage.
    We have a lot in common. We both began our careers as State 
attorneys general in our home States at a relatively young age. And just 
as I am the first President from Hope, I am reliably informed that I can 
assert today that Fritz Mondale is our Nation's first Ambassador to 
Japan from Elmore.
    Fritz Mondale has devoted his entire life to serving our Nation and 
to building bonds of understanding around the world. He has served our 
country in the military, as a State attorney general, as an outstanding 
Senator, and, of course, as Vice President and our party's nominee for 
President. In all these public roles, as well as in the experience he 
has gained in the private sector since, he has earned the right to be 
considered extraordinarily well qualified to assume the task of 
enhancing our relationship with Japan and projecting American leadership 
in Asia and the Pacific region.
    I also want to say a special word of acknowledgment and appreciation 
to Joan Mondale, who is here with us today and who I believe will also 
be an outstanding ambassador for the United States in Japan. [Applause] 
Thank you very much.
    Fritz Mondale is no stranger to Japan and her people. He has 
traveled there often, both in public and private roles. It is moving to 
recall that as Vice President, Fritz Mondale swore in another Ambassador 
to Japan who came from the United States Senate and who also served with 
tremendous distinction, Ambassador Mike Mansfield, and who is here today 
and who, I might add, at his young age, is probably one of the few 
people in this audience today who has already walked 5 or 6 miles. 
[Laughter]
    Senator Mike Mansfield. Six.
    The President. I chose someone of--[laughter]--what did he say? Six, 
he said. [Laughter] We never were able to short him.
    I chose someone of Fritz Mondale's stature to be my Ambassador to 
Japan because there is no more important bilateral relationship in the 
world than that which exists between the United States and Japan. This 
alliance has supported 50 years of peace and stability in Asia and the 
Pacific. And the course of economic, political, and security dynamics in 
the Pacific and throughout Asia will be determined by how well our 
relationship functions. The challenges and changes facing both Japan and 
the United States as we move toward the 21st century require us to take 
a fresh look at our relationships and to take new actions to strengthen 
the foundations of our alliance.
    When Prime Minister Miyazawa and I met here at the White House in 
April, we agreed to forge a new partnership between our nations aimed at 
restoring world economic growth, advancing democratic values, and 
creating the basis for regional peace which can endure well into the 
next century. To fulfill our shared vision

[[Page 838]]

of a new Japan-U.S. partnership, we must sustain our security 
commitment, work on global problems, and address forthrightly and 
urgently our often troubled economic relationship. The economic pillar 
of our relationship needs some repair, and I think we all know that. And 
Prime Minister Miyazawa and I agreed to give it our personal attention.
    It is particularly appropriate that this announcement occurs today, 
for today we are beginning negotiations with the Japanese to craft the 
details of an economic framework intended to spur global growth, open 
markets, and deal with trade and investment issues affecting America's 
economy and America's workers. This framework, which the Prime Minister 
and I hope to unveil at our meeting in Tokyo, will get our economic 
problems out of the headlines and onto the negotiating table where we 
can best resolve them.
    I will look to Fritz Mondale, statesman, negotiator, counselor, and 
representative of our people, to make the bonds that already exist 
between our two nations even stronger. Fritz Mondale's skills give me 
great hope and confidence that my goals with Japan can be achieved in a 
way that benefits both of our nations and the prospects for worldwide 
democracy, peace, and global growth.
    I don't think our Nation could ask for a more capable representative 
abroad, and I appreciate the willingness of Fritz Mondale and Joan to 
accept this challenging assignment. I wish them well, and I know that 
the people of America, and I believe the people of Japan, are very happy 
today about this development. Mr. Mondale.

[At this point, Mr. Mondale expressed his gratitude to the President, 
stated briefly the importance of the relationship with Japan, and 
answered several questions from reporters.]

Economic Framework

    Q. Mr. President, what are the prospects for having this framework 
ready in time for your meeting in Tokyo next month?
    The President. Well, we're working hard. We started the formal 
negotiations today, and I'm hopeful. If you noticed, I used the word 
hope. I hope it will be ready to announce in Tokyo. And we've done a lot 
of preliminary work on it, and I'm encouraged. But I can't say for sure 
it will be done, because I can't prejudge the outcome of the 
negotiations. I hope it will be, and a lot of work has been done.
    Q. Do you have a Supreme Court Justice today?
    Q. Is that possible, sir?
    The President. Good morning. [Laughter]
    Q. It's a daily question.
    The President. I don't have anything else to say about it.
    Q. [Inaudible]--framework?
    The President. We want to make some real progress on these very 
thorny trade difficulties that have proved to be so resistant to change. 
And you know that the framework of our debate has been pretty well 
explored in the press. But I think we've got a real shot to reach an 
agreement here, and we're going to keep working on it.
    I think the Japanese are very sensitive about the kinds of economic 
pressures that are now on them that are somewhat new and different in 
the last couple of years. And I think both of us recognize that there 
will have to be an evolution in not only our relationship but in the 
whole balance of global trade if we're going to have sustained global 
growth, which is what is in the interest of Japan and the United States. 
We can't really hope to maintain high levels of growth and high levels 
of incomes in our jobs unless we get a much more brisk rate of growth 
throughout the world. And if you look at the whole history of the post-
World War II era, it indicates that. If you look at where our jobs have 
come from in the United States just in the last 5 or 6 years, that's 
indicated about two-thirds of our new jobs being tied to trade. So it's 
obvious that we have to have a much higher rate of global growth.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10:15 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House.