    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [February 5, 1996]
    [Page 166]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 166]]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Transmitting a Report on the
    Comprehensive Trade and Development Policy for Africa
    February 5, 1996

    Dear Mr. Chairman:
        I am pleased to submit the first of five annual reports on the
    Administration's Comprehensive Trade and Development Policy for Africa
    as required by section 134 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
        This first report examines the trade and development challenges
    confronting Sub-Saharan Africa, reviews the policies currently being
    pursued to address those challenges, and presents a policy framework for
    the United States as it seeks to support and facilitate African
    initiatives to address these challenges. With this first report, it is
    my intention to open a wider dialogue with the Congress, and with public
    and private sector representatives in Africa and the United States. This
    dialogue will sharpen the focus of the U.S. role in assisting Africa to
    meet its development challenges and, in the process, to promote U.S.
    trade and investment in the region. Subsequent reports to the Congress
    will highlight progress in implementing new initiatives and reflect the
    necessary evolution of U.S. policy.
        The challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa are difficult and varied.
    Solutions will not be easy or quick. The most critical element of any
    development strategy, upon which the success of all other elements
    depends, is the willingness of the people and their leaders to make the
    correct, and often difficult, policy choices. It is this point that
    gives us cause for optimism about Africa today. Increasingly, democratic
    governments in Africa are implementing market-based economic policies
    that are placing their countries on proven paths to success.
        We must seize this opportunity for partnership with the countries of
    Africa because promoting trade and sustainable development in Africa is
    important for the United States as well as for Africa.
        My Administration understands that, in a time of shrinking Federal
    funding, any strategy to support trade and development in Sub-Saharan
    Africa will need to rely heavily on increased U.S. commercial
    involvement in the region. American firms and workers stand to gain a
    great deal by doing business in Africa. By playing an active role, both
    in direct commercial relations in the region and in cooperation with the
    United States Government, the private sector will generate significant
    benefits for themselves and for the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa
    as a whole.
        I invite the Congress to work closely with my Administration in
    forging a constructive partnership with the people and leaders of Sub-
    Saharan Africa to pursue the trade and development objectives that are
    so clearly in our mutual interests. The people of the United States have
    a vested interest in Africa's future, and I hope that this report will
    mark the first step toward a closer dialogue between the Administration
    and the Congress on this important issue.
        I am also pleased to transmit the report prepared by the United
    States International Trade Commission that my Administration requested
    on U.S.-African trade and investment flows and the potential for growth.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Jesse Helms, chairman, Senate
    Committee on Foreign Relations; William Roth, chairman, Senate Committee
    on Appropriations; Benjamin A. Gilman, chairman, House Committee on
    International Relations; and Bill Archer, chairman, House Committee on
    Ways and Means.