[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[July 13, 2000]
[Pages 1425-1427]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks on the Trade Agreement With Vietnam and an Exchange With
Reporters
July 13, 2000
The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Just a few
moments ago, Ambassador Barshefsky and
Minister Vu Khoan signed an agreement between the
United States and Vietnam that will dramatically open Vietnam's economy,
further integrate it into the international community, and increase
trade between our two nations. And so from the bitter past, we plant the
seeds of a better future.
This is another historic step in the process of normalization,
reconciliation, and healing between our two nations. Improvements in the
relationship between the United States and Vietnam have depended from
the beginning upon progress in determining the fate of Americans who did
not return from the war.
In 1994, with the support of the Members of Congress standing with
me here, and others, I lifted the trade embargo on Vietnam in response
to its cooperation on the POW/MIA issue. A year later I normalized
diplomatic relations between our two nations to further this goal. As
further progress was made in 1996, I appointed former Congressman Pete
Peterson, himself a former prisoner of war, to
be our United States Ambassador in Vietnam.
With the indispensable help of key congressional allies, especially
Senator John Kerry and Senator John
McCain, Senator Bob Kerrey and Senator Chuck Hagel and
Senator Chuck Robb, Representative Rick
Boucher, Representative Reyes, who is here, Representative Manzullo, Representatives Lane Evans,
Kolbe, Bereuter, and
McDermott, this process has worked.
Since 1993, we have undertaken 39 joint recovery operations with
Vietnam, and the number of 40 is underway as we speak. One hundred and
thirty-five American families have received the remains of their loved
ones, and we're in the process of identifying another 150 possible sets
of remains. Time and again, the Vietnamese people have shared their
memories with Americans. And we, too, have sought to help Vietnam in its
own search for answers.
Our Nation has also felt a special sense of responsibility to those
people in Vietnam whose families were torn apart during and after the
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war. In the last few years, we've made tremendous progress in resettling
tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees in the United States, closing
yet another painful chapter.
And Vietnam has done much to turn its face toward a changing world.
It has worked to open its economy and move into the mainstream of
Southeast Asia as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
and APEC. Our trading relations have also grown. When I took office, our
exports to Vietnam totaled just $4 million. Today, they stand at $291
million.
The agreement we signed today will dramatically open Vietnam's
markets on everything from agriculture to industrial goods to
telecommunications products, while creating jobs both in Vietnam and in
the United States.
With this agreement, Vietnam has agreed to speed its opening to the
world, to subject important decisions to the rule of law and the
international trading system, to increase the flow of information to its
people; by inviting competition in, to accelerate the rise of a free
market economy and the private sector within Vietnam itself. We hope
expanded trade will go hand in hand with strength and respect for human
rights and labor standards. For, we live in an age where wealth is
generated by the free exchange of ideas, and stability depends on
democratic choices. By signing this agreement, Vietnam takes an
important step in the right direction.
We've been working on this agreement since 1996, and there are many
people who deserve recognition. I want to say a special thanks to our
Trade Representative, Ambassador Barshefsky; our Deputy USTR, Richard Fisher; Joe Damond, of USTR, for working
so hard in the last 4 years to turn this agreement into reality.
I would also like to thank their Vietnamese counterparts, Trade
Minister Vu Khoan, Chief Negotiator Nguyen Dinh
Luong. And I want to say a special word of
thanks also to Vietnamese Ambassador Le Van Bang
and to our Ambassador, Pete Peterson, who have
worked so hard to build ties among our nations and our people.
And let me say again, it is my opinion that none of this would have
been possible had it not been for the visionary and brave and
reconciling leadership of the Americans in the United States Congress
who served, many of whom suffered, in Vietnam; especially those who are
here with me and the others whose names I mentioned earlier. Our debt to
them as a nation is immense.
This agreement is one more reminder that former adversaries can come
together to find common ground in a way that benefits all their people,
to let go of the past and embrace the future, to forgive and to
reconcile. As all of you know, that is what we are now trying to achieve
at Camp David, in what many believe is the most difficult of all
historical circumstances.
This day is encouraging to me, and I will take the energy I feel
here from all these people back to Camp David and make the argument that
they should follow suit.
Thank you very much.
Possible Visit to Vietnam
Q. Mr. President, you've talked about going to Vietnam. Are you
planning to go to Vietnam after the APEC ministerial in November?
The President. I haven't made a decision yet.
Philadelphia Police Incident
Q. Mr. President, have you seen the videotape of the beating that a
suspect apparently took at the hands of the Philadelphia police
yesterday, and are you concerned about it? Have you asked any of the
authorities to look into it?
The President. No, I haven't seen it, because I've been pretty
isolated in the peace talks, but I've been briefed about it. The Justice
Department is looking into it. And when I was in Baltimore on the way
down here today, I spoke briefly with Mayor Street. And he assured me that he was going to go home and handle
it in the appropriate way, and I trust him. He's a strong man and a good
man, and I think he will do what is right.
Middle East Peace Summit
Q. Sir, is any substantial progress being made at Camp David? And
there seems to be some confusion about whether you will allow the
Palestinian opposition figures to come in to see Chairman Arafat.
The President. I think I should say nothing about what's going on at
Camp David. The less I say, the greater our chances of success.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 4:10 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
House prior to departure for Camp David, MD. In his remarks, he
[[Page 1427]]
referred to Mayor John F. Street of Philadelphia, PA. A reporter
referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority.