[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 15 (Monday, April 14, 1997)]
[Pages 476-477]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Welcoming Prime Minister Jean Chretien of Canada

April 8, 1997

    Prime Minister and Mrs. Chretien, members of the Canadian 
delegation, distinguished guests, it is a great honor and personal 
pleasure for me to welcome to Washington the Prime Minister of Canada, 
Jean Chretien, leader of a land of great beauty and bounty and a great 
and good people.
    When Hillary and I visited Ottawa in 1995, the Prime Minister and 
the Canadian people made us feel as if we were family. The personal 
working relationship I have established with the Prime Minister for 
nearly 4 years now has made us good friends.
    Today we celebrate one of history's most remarkable partnerships, 
for if nature has made us neighbors, we are friends and allies by 
choice. The close cooperation between our two nations should be a model 
for the world in the 21st century. Every day, 250,000 people and nearly 
$1 billion in trade cross our border. From the snowy Yukon to the shores 
of eastern Maine, our border does not divide our people; it joins us as 
partners and friends, with more and better jobs, cleaner air and water, 
the comforting knowledge that our freedom is jointly guarded and 
defended. Together we are working to shape the force of change to serve 
our region and our world, expanding trade throughout the Americas, 
exploring the mysteries of space, speaking out for freedom, and standing 
up for peace from Bosnia to Haiti.
    In a world where suffering too often results because people cannot 
live with others different from themselves, Canada's compassionate, 
tolerant society inspires us all with hope.
    A Canadian Ambassador to Washington once said that summits between 
our nations are a time to set the beacon jointly. Under your wise 
leadership, Mr. Prime Minister, relations between the United States and 
Canada have never been closer or more constructive. As we stand on the 
threshold of a new millennium, let us raise our beacon high. Let us 
build a future of peace and prosperity, of freedom and dignity for our 
continent and beyond.

[[Page 477]]

    Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the United States.

Note: The President spoke at 10:22 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House, where Prime Minister Chretien was accorded a formal welcome with 
full military honors. In his remarks, the President referred to Prime 
Minister Chretien's wife, Aline.