    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 22 (Monday, June 5, 2000)]
    [Pages 1248-1249]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks at a State Dinner Hosted by President Jorge Sampaio of Portugal
    in Lisbon

    May 30, 2000

        Mr. President, Mrs. Sampaio, Mr. Prime Minister, members of the
    Government, members of the diplomatic corps. I would like to thank you,
    Mr. President, the Government, and the people of Portugal, for the
    welcome that I and my party have received. I'd like to thank you for the
    meeting we had today. It has been a pleasure for me to spend time with
    another President who likes to read detective novels, listen to good
    music, and

    [[Page 1249]]

    play golf. We could have had a 2-day summit on those three topics alone.
    [Laughter] My staff suggested it so that they could go to the beaches.
        Let me say that five centuries ago the vision and courage of
    Portugal helped Europe to find its way across the Atlantic. You were the
    first to set foot in South America, to sail down West Africa, to cross
    the Equator, to round the Cape of Good Hope, to reach India by sea from
    the west, to trade with China and Japan. It is little wonder then that
    Portuguese is now spoken by more than 200 million people in countries
    throughout the world. One of these nations, of course, is the United
    States.
        Two centuries ago Portugal was the very first neutral state to
    recognize our independence. And as you noted yourself, Mr. President,
    the United States has been strengthened by the contributions of
    Portuguese-Americans, from John Philip Sousa, who wrote the music we use
    to celebrate the Fourth of July, to John Dos Passos, whose voice helped
    to define America in the 20th century. Today, we are proud to stand with
    you as partners, allies, and friends.
        Twenty-six years ago Portugal turned from dictatorship to democracy.
    Ten years ago Eastern Europe followed your lead. Today, Eastern Europe
    is still learning from your example. When finally we build a Europe that
    is undivided, democratic, and at peace for the first time in history,
    there will be a great debt owed by all freedom-loving people to
    Portugal.
        Today, this nation that once brought the four corners of the world
    together is working with its EU allies and America to bring the world
    together to advance democracy and human rights. Portugal has taken a
    leading role in NATO and the EU. In Kosovo, nearly half the sorties that
    led us to victory flew out of Lajes Air Base in the Azores. In East
    Timor, Portugal's leadership rallied the international community. In
    Mozambique, our two nations are working together to lead the relief
    effort. From the Balkans to East Timor to Africa, our troops serve side
    by side to keep the peace and build a better future.
        Here in Portugal, Prime Minister Guterres has charted new ways to
    solve old challenges and to make the global economy work for all your
    people. I admire that as well.
        Two years ago a Portuguese author was awarded the Nobel Prize for
    Literature. A short time later, we in the United States had the honor of
    hosting Jose Saramago as he received an honorary degree from the
    University of Massachusetts. Looking out at generations of Portuguese
    who had traveled to America to enrich our culture and our country, he
    said that they are a part of an unremitting human chain that has always
    been and will continue to be an example of living history. That living
    history links not only past and present, but the people of our two
    countries, from Lisbon and Porto to New Bedford, Fall River, Providence,
    Newark, all the places Portuguese-Americans have made their own.
        Today, we look ahead to a new century. We celebrate our friendship
    and embrace common challenges. We hope that the values we share will
    spread across the Earth and bear fruit in more places for more people
    than ever before. We hope that we will always stand together as friends
    in the defense of those values and in their advance.
        I ask now that all of you join me in a toast to the President of
    Portugal and Mrs. Sampaio, to the people of this great nation, and to
    our long friendship.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:14 p.m. in the State Banquet Room at the
    Ajuda Palace. In his remarks, he referred to President Sampaio's wife,
    Maria Jose Ritta; and Prime Minister Antonio Guterres of Portugal.