[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 13 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[Pages 486-488]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 
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,

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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 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

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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; Ambassador Edward Brynn and his wife, Jane; and Brian Atwood, 
Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development.