[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 21, 1997]
[Pages 778-780]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
June 21, 1997

    Good morning. I'm speaking to you today from Denver, Colorado, where 
the leaders of the world's top industrial democracies are about to begin 
our Summit of the Eight. Over the next 2 days, the eyes of the world 
will be on Denver and on America, and we'll all have a lot to be proud 
of.
    Our economy is the healthiest in a generation and the strongest in 
the world, with the lowest unemployment in 24 years, the lowest 
inflation in 30 years, the biggest decline in inequality among our 
working families since the 1960's, and over 12 million new jobs. Our 
exports are at an all time high. We cleared a new path to prosperity and 
security with a strategy of reducing the deficit, investing in our 
people, and opening the world to our trade. Now America is poised to 
lead in the 21st century, as we have in the 20th century, about to end.
    Today I want to talk about why this summit is important to our 
Nation and our people and what we'll be working to achieve here. The 
leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United 
Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, and Russia will gather shoulder to 
shoulder around the table. The very fact that we're gathering speaks 
volumes about the world today. Our homelands are thousands of miles 
apart, but the rise of the global economy, spurred by revolutions in 
technology, transportation, and communications has brought us all closer 
together. And the fact that this is the very first of these annual 
summits where a democratically elected leader of Russia joins us from 
beginning to end reflects just how far we've come from the days of the 
cold war. This moment of possibilities creates vast opportunities for 
all our people. Ideas, goods and services, technology, and capital fly 
across borders faster than ever, enriching our lives in many ways and 
contributing to our prosperity.
    But while progress spreads quickly in our global neighborhood, 
problems can, too. A currency crisis in one country can send shock waves 
far beyond its borders, endangering jobs and stability in a completely 
different part of the

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world. Modern technology and more open borders help businesses to 
prosper, but they also help terrorists and drug traffickers and 
criminals to organize their plans and hide their tracks. Greater 
international travel and commerce exposes our people to new cultures and 
opportunities, but they also expose us to the spread of dangerous 
diseases from which no nation is immune. And erosion of environmental 
quality in one country can contribute to global problems which degrade 
the quality of life for all of us.
    Now, we've worked hard over the last 4 years to take common action 
against these common threats and to make this common action a central 
part of our summits. Here in Denver, we'll announce further steps to 
protect our citizens against them. Two years ago, when we met in 
Halifax, Canada, we agreed to work together to help prevent financial 
crises from occurring and to keep them from spreading if they do. Since 
then, our finance ministers have agreed that we should create a global 
network of banking and marketing officials to monitor financial policies 
and police risky practices. Our cooperation will help to prevent a 
financial shock in a foreign country from threatening prosperity here at 
home.
    We're also working with the developing countries to help them to 
adopt sound financial practices so that their markets work smoothly and 
they can build stable businesses and attract trade and investment. These 
emerging economies are the fastest growing in the world. Helping them to 
build their prosperity means greater opportunities for American exports 
and more good American jobs.
    We'll also continue to advance our fight against new forces of 
destruction that have no regard for borders. Last year, when we met in 
Lyons, France, we agreed on a series of measures to combat terrorism and 
organized crime. Since then we've actually implemented concrete steps, 
from improving airline security to denying safe haven for criminals. 
We've also made significant progress in bolstering the safety and 
security of nuclear materials, something that simply wouldn't have been 
possible without Russia as a partner. Together, the eight are working to 
tighten the management of plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads to 
keep them from falling into the wrong hands. To better prevent and 
investigate nuclear smuggling incidents, we set up a rapid response 
network, stepped up law enforcement intelligence and customs 
cooperation, and improved our nuclear forensics capabilities so that we 
can identify the sources of smuggled nuclear materials. Soon, more than 
20 additional countries in Europe and central Asia will be joining us in 
these common endeavors.
    This year, we'll be taking on another global challenge: the spread 
of infectious disease. Many people believe this will be one of the most 
serious problems of the 21st century. I will press here for an agreement 
to develop together a global disease surveillance network to provide 
early warning of outbreaks so that we can respond quickly and 
effectively, to coordinate that response so that we get the right 
medicines where they're needed as fast as possible, and to strengthen 
our public health systems, especially those in the developing world. I 
will also urge my fellow leaders to join America in a vigorous search 
for an HIV/AIDS vaccine, as I called for at Morgan State University in 
Maryland last month.
    Together, the meeting of the eight is part of the larger effort 
we're making to organize the world to deal with the global challenges in 
the century ahead. We know that if we pool our strength, our experience, 
and our ideas, we stand a far better chance of success. And for American 
families, that will mean greater prosperity, greater peace, and greater 
security for our children.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:30 p.m. on June 20 at the press 
filing center in Denver, CO, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on June 21.

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