Deputy Secretary's Speech

Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson
Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) Healthcare Innovation Conference Dinner
Berlin, Germany

Thank you first and foremost to our hosts for this wonderful evening. It is a pleasure to be able to join you here tonight, and I look forward to attending the conference tomorrow.

I was trained as a historian, and this historic setting, in this historic city, recalls the codification of a promise we made 60 years ago to help Europe rebuild itself and ensure that war – which devastated this continent twice in the first half of the 20th century—would not mar its future.

George Marshall, who witnessed those wars, was committed to moving the continent past the devastation and creating an environment in which its recurrence would be unthinkable. That became known as the Marshall Plan.

As General Marshall said in June 1947, our aim was to remedy “the vicious circle and restore the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole.”

Slowly at first, and then momentously through the Treaty of Rome 50 years ago, six of those Marshall Plan recipients joined together to form a community of nations built on common values for creating a peaceful and prosperous Europe.

Since the beginning, the United States has supported this great undertaking. While our relationship is both historical and strategic, it is our economic ties which bring us together this week. The U.S. and the EU have the largest bilateral trading and investment relationship in the world, accounting for over 60 percent of global GDP.

These historic economic ties have been strengthened through a variety of mechanisms, especially the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue.

Just last week President Bush welcomed President Barroso and Chancellor Merkel to Washington for the U.S.-EU Summit. It culminated in the signing of a new Framework to Advance Trans-Atlantic Economic Integration. This new framework will increase the transparency and efficiency of our economic cooperation, and will accelerate the reduction of barriers to international trade and investment. TABD leaders had the opportunity to meet with President Bush, Chancellor Merkel and President Barosso, including a number of you in this room.

I think it is safe to say that those of us in this room are confident in the strength of TABD and the U.S./EU economic relationship. We are also confident that the newly agreed upon framework will soon deliver demonstrable results. Our work this week on a lighthouse project of this framework can serve to set the tone for the future cooperation.

I turn 50 years old this month, and as I approach that, I certainly find myself more interested in innovations in the healthcare fields. The President has made it clear that innovation in healthcare is not just possible through R&D in the laboratory. He has challenged us to focus on innovations in healthcare process and delivery as well. These can be just as valuable to the quality of care received by our citizens.

I opened my remarks by quoting George Marshall, and I’d like to close by quoting another great American. In describing the Marshall Plan, President Harry Truman said:

“. . .in years to come, we shall look back upon this undertaking as the dividing line between the old era of world affairs and the new—the dividing line between the old era of national suspicion, economic hostility, and isolationism, and the new era of mutual cooperation to increase the prosperity of people throughout the world.”

I believe the trans-Atlantic framework and this conference represents just such a step forward envisioned by Truman and General Marshall. This new era of trans-Atlantic cooperation will increase prosperity in the U.S. and EU and allow us to provide the innovation and leadership to benefit people around the world.