[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 13 (Monday, March 30, 1998)]
[Pages 502-504]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Entebbe Summit for Peace and Prosperity

March 25, 1998

    President Museveni, President Moi, Prime Minister Meles, President 
Bizimungu, President Mkapa, President Kabila, Secretary General Salim, 
to our distinguished guests, all. Let me, first of all, thank the 
representatives of all the governments who are here and the leaders who 
have come to Entebbe to share a common vision of a brighter future for 
this region.
    We seek to deepen the progress that has been made and to meet the 
tough challenges that remain. We came to Entebbe because we share a 
commitment to strengthen our cooperation, to build a partnership for the 
21st century that will benefit all our people. We understand, and the 
last statement I made at our meeting was, that these goals will not be 
met in one meeting or one day

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or one year. But we have formed a solid foundation for progress in the 
future. Our challenge as we leave Entebbe is to bring to life the 
commitment in the remarkable document we have just signed.
    What is in the document? First, we have agreed to deepen our efforts 
to promote democracy and respect for human rights, the precious soil in 
which peace and prosperity grow. When men and women alike are treated 
with dignity, when they have a say in decisions that affect their lives, 
societies are better equipped to seize the opportunities of the future.
    We have emphasized the importance of freely elected, accountable 
governments; affirmed the vital role of civic organizations in building 
strong and vibrant societies; and pledged to uphold humanitarian 
principles, including the protection and care of refugees.
    America knows from our own experience that there is no single 
blueprint for a successful democracy. We're still working in our country 
to create what our Founders called ``a more perfect Union.'' We've been 
at it for 222 years now. But we also know that while there is no single 
blueprint, freedom nonetheless is a universal aspiration. Human rights 
are not bestowed on the basis of wealth or race, of gender or ethnicity, 
of culture or region. They are the birthright of all men and women 
everywhere.
    If we work together to strengthen democracy and respect human 
rights, we can help this continent reach its full potential in the 21st 
century, its true greatness, which has too long been denied. We can 
deepen the ties among our peoples. We can be a force for good together, 
and all our nations can be proud.
    Second, we have agreed to work together to build a new economic 
future where the talents of Africa's people are unleashed, the doors of 
opportunity are opened to all, and countries move from the margins to 
the mainstream of the global economy. We committed to work on finding 
new strategies to hasten Africa's global integration. We pledged to 
speed the regional cooperation that is already underway, to encourage 
common standards for openness and anticorruption, to continue to be 
responsive to the burden of debt.
    A key part of our effort is expanding the ties of trade and 
investment between our countries so that African development and Asian 
growth--and American growth, excuse me, reinforce one another. We want 
to reward each other for working together. Before I left for Africa, I 
told the American people that it was in our interest to help Africa grow 
and blossom and reach its full potential. I believe that.
    I want to thank the Members of the United States House of 
Representatives who are on this trip with me for their leadership in the 
passage in the House of the ``African Growth and Opportunity Act.'' I am 
committed to the swift passage of that act in the United States Senate 
and to signing it when I return home. I am very pleased that our 
Overseas Private Investment Corporation will be targeting half a billion 
dollars for infrastructure investment in sub-Saharan Africa.
    Third, we have agreed to work together to banish genocide from this 
region and this continent. Every African child has the right to grow up 
in safety and peace. We condemn the perpetrators of the continued 
atrocities in Rwanda and pledge to work together to end the horrors of 
this region. That means reviving the U.N. Arms Flow Commission; acting 
on the recommendations of the OAU study on the Rwandan genocide and its 
aftermath; encouraging accelerated progress in bringing criminals 
against humanity to justice; denying safe havens or services to 
extremist organizations; and developing durable justice systems that are 
credible, impartial, and effective. Our efforts come too late for 
yesterday's victims. They must be in time to prevent tomorrow's victims.
    Here today--and this is very important--we have pledged to find new 
ways to work together to solve conflicts before they explode into crises 
and to act to stop them more quickly when they do.
    We have pursued our discussion in a spirit of candor and mutual 
respect, and I want to thank all the participants for being honest and 
open in our conversations. America shares a stake in Africa's success, 
as I said. If African nations become stronger, as they surely will, if 
they become more dynamic,

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as they clearly are, we can become even better partners in meeting our 
common challenges. Your stability, your security, your prosperity will 
add to our own. And our vitality can and must contribute to yours.
    I've learned a lot here in Entebbe today, listening--and will carry 
back to Washington, as I'm sure the rest of our delegation will. We've 
agreed to build on this summit with regular, high-level meetings. We 
will look for results of our efforts not only in statements like this 
one today, with very high visibility, but in quiet places far from the 
halls of government, in communities and households all across our 
countries, where ordinary men and women strive each day to build strong 
families, to find good jobs, to pass on better lives for their children. 
They are the reason we are here. And it is because of them that we all 
leave Entebbe determined to put our partnership into practice, to make 
our dreams and ideals real.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 7:15 p.m. at the Imperial Botanical Beach 
Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni 
of Uganda; President Daniel T. arap Moi of Kenya; Prime Minister Meles 
Zenawi of Ethiopia; President Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda; President 
Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzania; President Laurent Desire Kabila of 
the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Secretary General Salim Ahmed 
Salim, Organization of African Unity. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.