[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[April 17, 2001]
[Pages 408-410]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 408]]
Remarks to the Organization of American States
April 17, 2001
Mr. Ambassador, thank you very
much. Secretary General, distinguished
Ambassadors, it's a pleasure for me to be here at the OAS. Thank you for
having me.
I want to recognize, before I begin, Luigi Einaudi. He has ably served our Government for decades. He's now
lent his skills and experience to the OAS. It is clear that he and the
Secretary General have made a very good team. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.
As I prepare to go to the Summit of the Americas in Quebec, I
thought it was important to make a visit to the house of the Americas.
It was a good meeting. I just had a good meeting with the Secretary
General. We had a good discussion about the
future of the OAS and its important role. We discussed opportunities and
challenges that our hemisphere faces.
Today I want to speak with you about our shared future and the
important role the OAS will play in helping to shape it. Our gathering
in Quebec comes at a remarkable moment in history. All the nations of
this hemisphere, save one, have embraced a collective commitment to
democracy and to the fundamental freedoms that underlie democracy. We
have embraced a collective challenge to build a hemisphere that trades
in freedom and grows in prosperity. We have embraced a collective
responsibility to break down the barriers of poverty, disease,
ignorance, so individuals may better realize their full, God-given
potential. The OAS has an important role to play in these common goals.
In lands where liberty is threatened by corruption, drugs, and human
rights abuses, the OAS is helping combat these destructive forces. Along
borders where tensions run high, the OAS helps build confidence and
avoid crises. And in lands where freedom's hold is fragile, the OAS is
there to strengthen it.
The OAS's recent work in Peru is an example of this organization's
commitment to democracy. The election, held there on April the 8th, was
peaceful and well-run. And we know this: It is a direct result of the
Secretary General's involvement. And our
hemisphere is grateful, Mr. Secretary.
We need to build on successes like these. The United States hopes,
for example, that the OAS can serve as a valuable mediator in Haiti
between President Aristide and the
democratic opposition.
We also need to build on the progress the OAS has made in the fight
against drug trafficking and abuse. Thanks to the Inter-American Drug
Abuse Control Commission, our hemisphere is more united in addressing
this problem--both in supply and, I might remind you, in demand--than it
has ever been before. And the Commission's new evaluation system for
monitoring nations' progress in fighting drugs is a major achievement.
In this week's Quebec Summit, our goal is simple, yet profound. The
discussions we hold and the mandates we produce must help improve the
lives of people throughout our hemisphere. A summit is given meaning and
value by concrete results.
We must strengthen democratic institutions in this hemisphere to
give reality to the forms of democracy. This means improving judicial
institutions and making government more open. Good government is
essential to building the trust of our citizens. And democratic values
must remain the core of our hemispheric familia. As Prime Minister
Chretien so aptly said in this very hall last
February, ``We must ensure that smaller economies are provided the
assistance they need to implement trade agreements and to realize the
full benefits of a more integrated hemisphere.''
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We must extend the benefits of education in this hemisphere. Both
development and democracy in the long term depend on education. We must
build the skills and reward the hopes of all our people.
And we must affirm our commitment to complete negotiations on the
Free Trade Area of the Americas by January 2005. Nothing we do in Quebec
will be more important or have a greater long-term impact. It will make
our hemisphere the largest free trade area in the world, encompassing 34
countries and 800 million people.
There's a vital link between freedom of people and freedom of
commerce. Democratic freedoms cannot flourish unless our hemisphere also
builds a prosperity whose benefits are widely shared. And open trade is
the essential foundation for that prosperity and that possibility.
Open trade fuels the engines of economic growth that creates new
jobs and new income. It applies the power of markets to the needs of the
poor. It spurs the process of economic and legal reform. It helps
dismantle protectionist bureaucracies that stifle incentive and invite
corruption. And open trade reinforces the habits of liberty that sustain
democracy over the long term.
For all these reasons, my administration is committed to pursuing
open trade at every opportunity. We'll pursue open trade bilaterally
with individual nations such as Chile and Singapore and Jordan. We'll
pursue open trade globally through a new round of multilateral
negotiations. We want to open global markets so that our farmers and
ranchers and workers and service providers and high-tech entrepreneurs
can enjoy the benefits of a more integrated world. And of course, we'll
pursue these goals throughout our hemisphere through the Free Trade Area
of the Americas.
Since open trade is one of my top priorities for our hemisphere,
gaining U.S. trade promotion authority is one of my top priorities in
Congress. I made this clear in my first address to the Congress. We have
reinforced this message in meetings my Cabinet officers and I have had
with over 100 Members of Congress. Trade promotion authority gives our
trading partners confidence that they can rely on the deals that they
negotiate. It allows us to seize opportunities to expand the circle of
trade and prosperity.
We're now actively working with Congress on a strategy for passing
legislation granting the trade promotion authority. We'll intensify this
effort when I return from Quebec, and I'm confident we'll succeed.
Shortly after the summit, we'll also publish the initial working
draft of our hemispheric free trade agreement. This will allow our
citizens from all our countries to see what is being negotiated and give
them a chance to provide their views on this important document.
Just a few moments ago, the Secretary General and I walked from his office, and we passed the Hall of
Heroes. The great leaders honored there embody the spirit of cooperation
that characterizes the OAS. These visionaries imagined a future in which
the Americas would be bound together in a common effort to create a
hemisphere that is both free and prosperous.
Today, we have the opportunity to realize that dream. Together, it
is our responsibility to seize the moment.
Thank you for having me.
Note: The President spoke at 1:45 p.m. in the Hall of the Americas at
the Organization of American States headquarters building. In his
remarks, he referred to Colombian Ambassador to the OAS Humberto de la
Calle, who introduced the President; Secretary General Cesar Gaviria and
Assistant Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi, OAS; President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide of Haiti; and Prime Minister Jean Chretien of Canada.
The President spoke a portion of his opening
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remarks in Spanish, and the translation was provided in the transcript
released by the Office of the Press Secretary.