    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [June 22, 1997]
    [Pages 781-782]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Presentation of the Final Communique of the Summit of the
    Eight in Denver
    June 22, 1997

        As I begin, I would like to thank the city of Denver and the people
    of Colorado for the wonderful work they did to make us feel welcome
    here. I thank the people who worked on behalf of the United States to
    put this together, Harold Ickes, Deb Willhite, and our whole team. And
    most of all, I want to thank my colleagues for their hard work and for
    the spirit of cooperation that prevailed here in Denver.
        We've agreed on new steps to organize our nations to lay a strong
    foundation in the 21st century, to prepare our people and our economies
    for the global marketplace, to meet new transnational threats to our
    security, to integrate new partners into the community of free-market
    democracies.
        Russia's role here at the summit reflects the great strides that
    Russia has made in its historic transformation. We look forward to
    Russia's continued leadership and participation, and we thank President
    Yeltsin for all he has done.
        On behalf of my colleagues, I'd like to summarize several key points
    in our communique. First, as leaders of the world's major industrial
    democracies, we feel a special responsibility to work together, to seize
    the opportunities and meet the challenges of the global economy, and to
    ensure opportunity for all segments of our societies. We explored what
    we can do to create more jobs for our people, and we look forward to the
    conferences on employment in Japan this fall and the United Kingdom
    early next year. We believe we have much to learn from each other. We
    also discussed the challenges our nations face as our populations grow
    older and how we can keep our senior citizens living productive lives
    well into their later years.
        Globalization brings with it problems none of us can conquer alone.
    This year we intensified our common efforts to meet new transnational
    threats, like environmental degradation, terrorism, drugs, crime, and
    infectious disease.
        We are also determined to do our part to protect our environment for
    future generations. Among other measures, we recommitted ourselves to
    the principles of the Rio Summit. We intend to reach an agreement in
    Kyoto to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to respond to the problem of
    global warming. We discussed how best to protect the Earth's forests and
    oceans, and we are clearly committed to doing that together as well.
        Last year we adopted an ambitious agenda to fight crime and
    terrorism. Since then we have taken concrete steps, from improving
    airline security to denying safe haven for criminals. This year we'll
    make special efforts to fight high-tech crimes such as those involving
    computer and telecommunications technology.
        We've also made important progress in promoting nuclear safety and
    security, particularly in combating nuclear smuggling and in managing
    the growing stockpiles of plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads.
        We launched a new effort to stem the spread of infectious diseases.
    In the coming year, we'll be working together to improve global
    surveillance to provide early warning, to better coordinate our
    responses, and to strengthen public health systems, especially in the
    developing world. We've also pledged to accelerate our efforts to
    develop an HIV/AIDS vaccine.
        As we move forward with the integration of new democracies and
    market economies, we're determined that no part of the world will be
    left behind. We agreed upon a package of political and economic measures
    to ensure that African nations share with us the benefits of
    globalization. We've also continued our efforts to strengthen and spread
    democracy and freedom around the world.
        Finally, we discussed a number of political issues of critical
    importance to our nations, including Bosnia, the Middle East, and Hong
    Kong. Next week will represent an historic moment as Hong Kong returns
    to Chinese sovereignty. We reaffirmed our strong interest in Hong Kong's
    future and our shared conviction on the importance of China's adherence
    to its commitments under the 1984 agreement. We appreciate in particular
    the devotion that Prime Minister Blair and his government attach to this
    endeavor.
        As we worked together to promote the progress of market democracies,
    we reaffirmed our intention to ensure that those states that

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    stand outside our community, such as Iran, Iraq, and Libya, fully adhere
    to the fundamental norms we all agree should guide us into the next
    century.
        We leave Denver renewed by our strength--the strength of our common
    efforts to prepare our people to succeed in the global economy and the
    global society of the 21st century. Again, let me thank my fellow
    leaders for their extraordinary work. I think it's been a very good
    summit. And again I thank the people of Denver and Colorado for their
    hospitality.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:58 p.m. at the Denver Public Library. In
    his remarks, he referred to Harold Ickes, Director of Summit Affairs;
    Debbie Willhite, Executive Director of the summit; President Boris
    Yeltsin of Russia; and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.