[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[March 23, 1998]
[Pages 421-423]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the TechnoServe/Peace Corps Project Site in Accra
March 23, 1998
Thank you very much, Alicia; you did a
wonderful job. She said she was nervous, but she hid it well. Give her
another hand. [Applause]
Let me thank again President and
Mrs. Rawlings for their wonderful
welcome. And I want to thank the President for his leadership for
democracy, for economic reform, for the economic empowerment of women
and the education of children, and for being willing to take a stand for
peace in this area. For all those things, I thank him.
I thank Ambassador and Mrs. Brynn and the distinguished representatives of the Government
of Ghana. I'd also like to, if I might, introduce the people who came
with Hillary and me today, at least some of them I see there. First, the
Members of the United States Congress: Charles Rangel, Ed Royce, Jim
McDermott, Maxine Waters, Donald Payne, and William
Jefferson. I think that's all of them.
Thank you very much for being here. And members of the President's
Cabinet: Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley,
Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, Secretary
of Transportation Rodney Slater, and our
AID Director Brian Atwood and my Special
Envoy to Africa, Reverend Jesse Jackson. And
the man who keeps people all over the world entertained, the owner of
Black Entertainment Television, Bob Johnson, is here.
You know, I have traveled all over the world on behalf of the people
of the United States, and I think I can say two things without fear of
being wrong. The welcome I received in Independence Square today is the
largest welcome I have ever received anywhere. And all day long, this is
clearly the warmest welcome I have ever received.
I am now on my second suit. At this rate, when I get off the
airplane in Botswana, I'll be in my swimming trunks. [Laughter] And you
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will say, ``The President has taken African informality too far.''
I want to thank all of you for taking the time to teach us about
your accomplishments. TechnoServe celebrates its 30th birthday this
year. Just like the Peace Corps, it also established its first field
operation here in Ghana. The reason I wanted to be here is because both
TechnoServe and our Peace Corps volunteers are working to help Africans
help themselves to become healthier, better educated, more prosperous,
simply speaking, better equipped to dream their own dreams and to make
them come true.
You should also know that I strongly believe that the investments we
make here are investments in America's future as well, because stronger
and more dynamic African communities and African nations will be better
partners for Americans in meeting the challenges and reaping the
opportunities of this great new century that is just before us.
The friendships formed between Americans and Africans across the
gaps of geography and culture benefit both of us and will do so even
more as our Earth gets smaller and smaller and more and more
interdependent.
Alicia mentioned that 2 years ago at the White House I had the
pleasure of welcoming back many of the Peace Corps volunteers, including
many who are serving here today. Now more than 3,600 Peace Corps
volunteers have lived and learned in Ghana, and 57,000 in Africa. I want
to say to all of you, your President and your country are proud of you
and grateful to you. I thank you very much.
The Peace Corps volunteers, the TechnoServe workers, their Ghanaian
partners, all of you demonstrate what we can do when we work together. I
also want to say a special word of appreciation to Brian Atwood and to the people here in Ghana who worked for our
Agency for International Development.
Our total assistance to Ghana this year is more than $50 million.
But if our aid is going to have its greatest impact, we must also have
more trade and investment. Today, opportunities are opening up for
investors large and small. Projects like the ones I saw today can help
new entrepreneurs, including women, master the skills to make the most
of these opportunities.
I will say again, education will be more important to Africa in the
21st century than it was in the 20th century. And I especially commend
TechnoServe for helping women learn the math and reading skills they
need to run good businesses. I also want to thank the Peace Corps
volunteers I saw teaching the science experiment to the young people.
They understood it, even if I didn't. [Laughter]
Let me also say the President and I
had a sobering but important visit today about the energy shortage that
the drought has caused here in Ghana and the impact it can have on
business, agriculture, and economic health and the stability of the
society.
A generation ago, the vision of President Kennedy and President
Nkrumah led to the construction of the Akosombo Dam that helped to power
Ghana's growth. Today President Rawlings
and I discussed how our two countries can work together to develop a
comprehensive strategy for Ghana that will give you the energy you need
and also preserve and enhance the natural environment that is so
important to the future of the people here.
I am pleased to announce that we will guarantee a $67 million loan
to the Ghanaian Government for the purchase of two barge-mounted
powerplants built by Westinghouse. I also want to assure you that we
will continue to promote the spirit of service that strengthens both our
countries when you permit Americans to come here and work among you.
Now more than one generation of Peace Corps volunteers has returned,
carrying a lifelong love for this continent and its people. And their
service does not end when they come home. Now there are Peace Corps
volunteers who are in the President's Cabinet, in our Congress, leading
communities all across America. My own secretary, Betty Currie, who is here with me on this trip, used to work for the
Peace Corps for the Director of the Africa Division. So I would say
based on my personal experience, that it's pretty good on-the-job
training for the rest of life.
Last month, as Alicia said, I did ask the Congress to join me in
putting 10,000 Peace Corps volunteers abroad by the year 2000. That's a
more than 50-percent increase from today's levels. Again I say, by
extending a helping hand throughout the world, we lift the lives of
Americans at home.
Let me say one final thing that I said to the President and Mrs.
Rawlings and the others who hosted us at lunch. This is a great day
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for me and for Hillary. My wife has been so interested in Africa, and
she and our daughter made a wonderful trip to Africa not so long ago.
It's a great day for the Members of Congress like Congressman
Royce, a Republican from California, and
Congressman McDermott, a Democrat from
Washington, who himself worked in the Peace Corps in Africa many years
ago.
But I don't think you can possibly imagine what this day means to
the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, to the African-American
members of my Cabinet, and those who hold senior positions in the White
House and in the departments of Government. It wasn't so very long ago
in the whole sweep of human history that their ancestors were yanked
from the shores of western Africa as slaves. Now they come back home to
Africa and to Ghana as the leaders of America, a country that hopes to
be a better model than we once were for the proposition that all men and
women are free and equal, and that children ought to have an equal
chance. And we hope that their successes will play a role in our common
triumphs, the United States and Africa, the United States and Ghana, in
the years ahead.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Note: The President spoke at approximately 4 p.m. In his remarks, he
referred to Alicia Diaz, Peace Corps volunteer, who introduced the
President; President Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana and his wife, Nana
Konadu Rawlings; Ambassador Edward Brynn and his wife, Jane; and J.
Brian Atwood, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development.