[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[July 18, 1994]
[Pages 1261-1263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the Executive Committee of the Summit of the Americas in 
Miami, Florida
July 18, 1994

    Thank you so much. Senator Graham, Governor Chiles, Lieutenant 
Governor MacKay, all the members of the committees who have worked so 
hard to make this a success, I'm delighted to look out there and see so 
many friendly faces. I thank all the Members of Congress who are here: 
Congresswoman Meek and Congresswoman Brown; Congressman Deutsch and his 
wife and two children went jogging with me on the beach today; 
Congressman Diaz-Balart; Congressman Shaw. Congressman Fascell, we miss 
you in Washington. I am delighted to see so many of my friends from the 
Florida Legislature and from State government, and Mr. Hawkins and all 
the people from the county government, and all the mayors who are here.

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I thank you all for working together and for working together across 
party lines, regional lines, governmental lines to make this a great 
success.
    When I ran for President, I was obsessed with the idea that we had 
to do something to bring our country together, to face the major 
challenges here at home and abroad that would be barriers to our people 
living up to their full potential as we move toward the 21st century. 
And it seemed to me then, it seems to me now even more strongly, that 
there are three or four things that we have to do. One of them is 
embodied in this great meeting.
    First, we had to get our economic house in order, bring the deficit 
down, get the economy going again at home. That's happened. We're on the 
verge of passing a budget which will give us 3 years of deficit 
reduction for the first time since Harry Truman was President and, by 
1999, the smallest Federal Government since John Kennedy was President 
and has produced about 3.8 million new jobs. So that's the first step.
    But the second thing we have to do is to train and educate our 
people for the 21st century. And we're working on that. Lifetime 
learning must become the law of the land.
    The third and the fourth things we have to do, it seems to me, both 
relate to this summit, but especially the third one: We have to find 
more partners. We have to expand the frontiers of trade and investment. 
That's what NAFTA was about; that's what the GATT agreement is about; 
that surely is what the Summit of the Americas is about.
    Finally, we have to find ways to continue to grow in a world of 
limited resources, sustainable development. We have to find it through 
environmental technologies. We have to find it through the information 
superhighway that the Vice President talks about. We have to prove in 
other words that the skeptics, who believe that in the 21st century 
technology for the first time in all of human history will reduce total 
economic opportunities, are dead wrong.
    And if you think about the Summit of the Americas and what it means 
not just to Miami and Dade County in Florida but to all of the United 
States as we move toward the 21st century, in that context you can see 
the historic importance of the endeavor in which you are engaged. We 
have got to find a way to capitalize on the fact that all but two 
nations in this hemisphere are now governed by democracy.
    When we consulted with all of our friends and partners and all the 
other nations that will participate, there was a consensus that we ought 
to focus on three things: first of all, how to strengthen democracy in 
these nations. All of us know, as we argue and fight and struggle, that 
democracy, as Churchill once said, is the worst form of government in 
the world except for all the others. [Laughter] But it requires a lot of 
management. It's not an easy, clean, neat thing. And it requires a lot 
of infrastructure. So the first thing that our partners wanted us to 
discuss is how we can keep democracy alive in all these nations and how 
we can make it function better, what kinds of systems do they need to 
develop in various countries to help that. The second thing, obviously, 
that everybody wanted to discuss was how we can continue to integrate 
the Americas economically, to expand the frontiers of trade and 
investment and to help all the nations to grow. The third thing that 
they all wanted to discuss was what now has become known as sustainable 
development; how can we preserve the environment and promote the 
economy? And interestingly enough, it is not just an issue for the 
developing nations; it is not just an issue for Amazonia. It's an issue 
for the United States and Canada as we struggle to preserve the salmon 
population in the Pacific Northwest and still make it possible for our 
people to make a living up there.
    So these things will be the focus of this summit, the political 
focus, the economic focus, the sustainable development focus. And if we 
do it right, if we prepare well, if we organize well, if we listen to 
our friends well, and if then we have a real system for following up on 
this, this will not only be a phenomenal thing for all of you here in 
this region, but 20 or 30 years from now, people will look back on it as 
a truly historic event for the United States. I think some evidence of 
that is the importance we attach to it.
    I want to thank two people in particular who are here today. First 
of all, Congressman Esteban Torres of California doesn't represent Dade 
County, but he showed up today because he supports what we're trying to 
do, and he is a very good man. And secondly, I would like to thank my 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros, who has also

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come to Miami to make an important announcement later today.
    The last thing I want to do is to say, if I might, a simple ``Thank 
you, and go get 'em,'' because I am well aware that this conference 
cannot succeed without the kind of enthusiasm that you've already 
expressed here this morning being sustained between now and December.
    I just last night had an interesting talk with the coach of the 
Brazilian soccer team. But one of the things he said that will leave a 
lasting impression on me, he said, in quite good English--once again, 
impressed upon me that I couldn't speak Spanish very well, much less 
Portuguese--he said, ``When we came to America, no one quite knew what 
to expect because your country was not supposed to be the home of 
soccer. But it's the best World Cup we ever had.''
    Now, we are the home of democracy. We are the home of expanded 
trade. We are the country that, of all the great democracies of the 
world, has the most racial and ethnic and cultural and religious 
diversity. And we must make these nations feel that we are their true 
friend and partners and that we are going into the next century 
together, not just for our children but for theirs as well.
    That is your mission. If you can do it, I will say again, 20 or 30 
years from now, the entire United States, indeed, this entire part of 
the world, will look back on this event and thank you for setting us on 
the proper course to the future.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 12 p.m. in the Cypress Room at the Sheraton 
Bal Harbour Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Lawton Chiles and 
Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay of Florida, and Dade County Commissioner Larry 
Hawkins.