[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 20 (Monday, May 18, 1998)]
[Pages 864-865]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Roundtable Discussion at the General Motors Opel Plant in 
Eisenach, Germany

May 14, 1998

[The discussion is joined in progress.]

    Q. Mr. President, do you regard Germany as an attractive country for 
American investors, and if so, for what main products and services?
    The President. Well, the short answer to your question is, yes. One 
of the reasons that I was so excited about coming here is that I felt 
that if the Chancellor and I were to come here together, and there would 
be widespread news coverage of our trip, then back in America, and 
indeed, in other places, there would be people who say, ``Well, maybe we 
should look at investing there.''
    Investors are like all other people--you assume they know 
everything, but no one knows everything. No one has every possible 
option for activity in his or her head all the time. And so I think that 
one of the great challenges that Germany faces, obviously, is to bring 
the Easternlander up to the employment levels and the income levels, 
generally, of the western part of the country. One of the great 
challenges Europe faces is to bring all the countries that were part of 
the Warsaw Pact up to the level of employment and income of the rest of 
Europe. And the only way this can be done is by people who believe in 
your counterparts, who believe in you and your potential investing their 
money and putting people to work.
    Because of your geographical location, I would imagine that any kind 
of manufacturing operation would be a good operation here, because there 
are good transportation networks in and out of here to the rest of 
Europe and because, frankly, the continent is not that large. I don't 
think there is any kind of thing you can't do. I think that--Chancellor 
Kohl has already said that you would have greater advantage probably in 
the areas where you already have a proven track record.
    But most manufacturers in America are prepared to go anywhere there 
is a work force that can be trained, where people will work hard and 
work in the kind of teamwork spirit that you have demonstrated here at 
this plant.
    So I hope that our coming here will help more of your fellow 
citizens to get good jobs. And that's one of the reasons we wanted to 
come.

[At this point, the roundtable discussion continued.]

    Q. Mr. President, which domestic or foreign policy problem would you 
wish to be solved most urgently, and which achievement would you regard 
as the highlight in your term of office?
    The President. Well, first let me say, I suppose our most important 
achievement is turning the American economy around in ways that benefit 
ordinary Americans so that we not only have high growth and low 
unemployment, but it's working in a way that most people feel more 
secure, and they have the freedom to make more good decisions for 
themselves. There are many other things that I have done, specific 
things that I am very proud of, but I think, generally, doing that has 
made a big difference.
    And in the world, I hope that putting America in the center of the 
future after the cold war will be a lasting achievement: future trading 
relationships with Europe and Latin America and Asia; our future efforts 
to combat the problems of terrorism and the weapons spread; our future 
efforts to save the environment of the world; our future efforts to work 
with countries to help solve problems, like the problems in Bosnia. And 
Helmut reminded me, the work we're doing now on nuclear weapons, because 
we're a little concerned that India had a test about that in the last 
couple of days. So, at home, making the economy work for all our people; 
abroad, involving the United States in the challenges of the 21st 
century and not letting America withdraw from the world.
    Now, what would I still like to do, what problems are we still 
trying to solve? There

[[Page 865]]

are many things I could mention at home, but I would just say two 
things. First of all, after World War II, in almost every country there 
was a huge increase in the birth rate. People came home from the war, 
and they wanted to have babies, and they did, in record numbers in the 
United States. When these so-called baby boomers--and I'm the oldest 
one; I was born in 1946--when all of them retire in all the advanced 
countries of the world, they will put enormous pressure on the 
retirement and health care systems. And if we don't make some changes in 
them in our country, we will put unfair burdens on our children and on 
our children's ability to raise our grandchildren. On the other hand, if 
we throw them out the door, then our people will be divided. We won't be 
preserving our obligations and our social contract. So I would still 
like to reform those things in a way that protects our people but allows 
our children to go forward and build a good life.
    The other thing I would say is that in our country, where we have so 
many people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, not everyone--
particularly a lot of people in our inner cities--has participated in 
this economic recovery yet. We still have some neighborhoods in our 
cities where the unemployment rate is too high, the education level is 
too low, the crime rate is too high. And I would like to find a way 
before I leave office to bring the spirit of enterprise to all those 
people, the opportunities.
    Around the world, I hope before I leave office that we will have 
secured a peace agreement in the Middle East that will last for a long 
time.

Note: The President spoke at 3:51 p.m. in an outdoor tent at the plant. 
The press release issued by the Office of the Press Secretary did not 
include the opening remarks of the President and the initial portion of 
the roundtable discussion.