[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[September 15, 1999]
[Page 1545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1545]]


Remarks at a State Dinner Hosted by Prime Minister Jennifer Shipley of New Zealand in Christchurch
September 15, 1999

    Thank you very much. Forgive my hoarseness.
    First, Prime Minister, to you, your family, your government, and the 
people of New Zealand, I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful 
welcome that our party and my family members have received here. I 
apologize for having to rush home, but all of you know of the great 
storm that is now hitting the American coast. We had to move over 2\1/2\ 
million people today in an attempt to minimize the loss of life. So I 
hope you'll forgive me, but let me say I have had a wonderful time here.
    I'm glad that the fashion people approved of the way I wore the 
beautiful outfit you gave me. [Laughter] You know, I've been President 7 
years now. I've been all over the world. I've received any number of 
items of clothing. And when you go to these meetings, very often the 
people who are there get the native dress, and we wear them. And 
usually, when I go home, there is someone making fun of how I looked in 
the dress of whatever country I was. This is the smartest outfit I've 
ever been given.
    In the calendar cycle, we in the Northern Hemisphere are moving in 
the opposite direction, so we're coming into fall and winter. And if you 
watch the television, I'll probably be in your outfit several times more 
before the end of the year.
    Let me say from the bottom of my heart, this has been a magical 
trip. I think every person, when he or she is young, dreams of finding 
some enchanted place, of beautiful mountains and breathtaking coastline 
and clear lakes and amazing wildlife, and most people give up on it 
because they never get to New Zealand. This has been an amazing thing 
for me and for all of us.
    You might be interested to know that on the front page of the 
Washington Post today, there is a picture of my National Economic 
Adviser bungee jumping. [Laughter] We all had 
to remind him that he wasn't supposed to be Houdini and slip the cords, 
you know. [Laughter] And so the whole story was about how much fun we 
were all having.
    I hope that it will also be reported that at this meeting we took a 
strong stand for freedom and human rights in East Timor, and we are 
going in there, together with our friends from Australia and others in 
this region, to try to protect the integrity of the referendum for 
democracy and independence, and save lives. And I thank New Zealand for 
its leadership in this cause. We also stood for the proposition that we 
can best lift the world's fortune by having more free and fair trade. 
And that, too, was profoundly important.
    We celebrated today our partnership in Antarctica and talked about 
the importance of Antarctica to our whole future. I have mentioned often 
that, as all of you know proudly, when the new millennium dawns, it will 
dawn first on New Zealand. I will be proud to cross that bridge into the 
21st century with you, knowing that we will be partners for peace and 
prosperity and a more decent and humane future for all our children. And 
I thank you for that partnership.
    I'd like to ask all of you to join me in a toast to the Prime 
Minister, to her wonderful husband, to her 
government, and to the people of New Zealand.

[At this point, the participants drank a toast.]

    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:56 p.m. in a hangar at the Wigram Air 
Museum. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Shipley's husband, 
Burton. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
also included the remarks of Prime Minister Shipley.