The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001.  Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date.  This site is not updated so external links may no longer function.  Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary October 24, 2000

Remarks by the President and His Majesty King Abdullah of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan During United States-Jordan Trade Agreement Signing Ceremony President William J. Clinton: Thank you very much. Your Majesty and members of the Jordanian delegation; Senator Lugar; Senator Moynihan; Representatives Bonior and Levin; Secretary Cohen and other members of the administration. Let me begin by saying a special word of appreciation to Dr. Mohammad Halaika and to our Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky for the work they did on this agreement. The American negotiators, led by Catherine Novelli and their Jordanian counterparts have labored hard over these last few months and around the clock this past weekend - something that seems to be the order of the day for us lately - to conclude this very important agreement. Most of all, it is a great honor to welcome King Abdullah to the White House again. He is a voice of reason and calm in a region urgently in need of both. His leadership has been especially important over these last difficult weeks, which have brought such suffering and loss in the Middle East, and thrown into sharp relief the choices facing all people in the region. Down one path lie the enormous challenges of building a lasting, secure peace and the concomitant enormous benefits. Down the other path lies more bloodshed, more hatred, more shattered lives and broken dreams. Though the path of peace is steep and has become steeper these last few weeks, in the long run it is the only path that offers the peoples of the Middle East hope for a normal life as a part of the modern world. That is the path Jordan has chosen consistently. It is critically important that the United States stand with Jordan and leaders like King Abdullah, struggling to give their people prosperity, standing for peace, understanding that the two pursuits go hand in hand. As hard as that may be, there must be an end to the violence, and the Israelis and Palestinians must find a way out of confrontation back to the path of peaceful dialogue, and they must do it sooner rather than later. For, in the Middle East, as we have all learned, time does not heal wounds, it simply rubs more salt in them. The issues do not change; they just get harder to resolve. The agreement we are about to sign will establish free trade between the United States and Jordan. It is a good and important agreement, one that I hope Congress will support on a bipartisan basis. It will be good for the United States, good for Jordan, good for the long-term prospects for peace in the Middle East. It will eliminate duties and break down commercial barriers to trade between our two nations in both products and services. Under King Abdullah's leadership, Jordan already has made impressive strides in modernizing its economy, opening its markets, promoting the well-being of its people. This agreement will help to accelerate that progress. It will also cement the bonds of friendship that already exist between Jordan and the United States. The record is clear that open trade creates opportunities, raises prosperity, and can lift lives in every country. Nowhere is this more apparent than here in the United States, where our exports in open markets have helped to fuel the longest expansion in our history. Nowhere are the benefits of trade more critically needed than in the Middle East. By opening markets we can help to ease poverty that makes peace hard to achieve and harder still to sustain. Today's agreement is remarkable in another respect as well. Even if it didn't have a thing to do with peace, we would still be here, because it is the first free trade agreement ever signed by the United States which incorporates into the body of the text labor and environmental protections, a landmark achievement for which the negotiators on both sides deserve extremely high praise. For the United States, this follows through on our commitment to insure that the drive toward globalization reinforces protections for our workers and for air, water and other natural resources. The first trade agreement to have undergone an environmental review under a new U.S. policy requiring such analyses. This trade agreement is one that all Americans can be proud of. For Jordan, it represents a far-sighted commitment to worker and environmental protection that is very much in keeping with Jordan's visionary commitment to peace. In today's world, developing countries can achieve growth without making some of the mistakes developed nations made on our path to industrialization. In the information age, the byproduct of the industrial age, the idea that to grow more you had to exploit both workers and the environment is simply no longer true. Today it is possible to grow an economy faster, while protecting air, water and keeping children in school. This trade agreement embodies that big idea. Now we must turn our energies to implementing it as soon as possible. The insistent voices urging us to build a future that is healthier, more just, more prosperous and more peaceful are not patient, nor should they be. This is a very good day. Again, let me extend my congratulations to the negotiators, my thanks to the King of Jordan and his government, and my great hope that this will be the beginning of even stronger bonds between our people and a real trend in modern commercial agreements among good people and good nations everywhere. Now, I'd like to invite His Majesty to come up here and make a few remarks. (Applause.) His Majesty King Abdullah: Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: Two years ago to this day, my late father, His Majesty King Hussein, stood in this same room and reminded the leaders of the Middle East that it was their responsibility to move beyond violence as a way to resolve political differences. He told us, "We have no right to dictate through irresponsible action or narrow-mindedness, the future of our children and our children's children. There's been enough destruction, enough death, enough waste." These words are still true today as they were then. They echo in our minds at this difficult time, when the courage and determination of peacemakers is being called upon. At this time when the tragic events of the past few weeks have left much anger, despair and bitterness in our region, there's a need to keep the faith in peace. Mr. President, it is in this defining moment of your commitment to the cementing of stronger partnership between our two countries that we witness today the signing of a free trade area agreement. It is in proof of the determination of Jordanians to build a new Jordan, strong with its talents and rich with its opportunities, that they embrace today a new challenge of progress and fulfillment. I am proud to be here to represent the men and women of Jordan, who have chosen partnership, commitment, and determination as the way forward to realize their dreams and to fulfill the vision of their future. We are grateful to you, Mr. President, for your sincere personal efforts in making these dreams come true, and in helping realize the vision. I also wish to thank the distinguished members of your administration, particularly Ambassador Barshefsky and her able team for their excellent cooperation. The support of our friends on Capitol Hill in the Senate and Congress who believe in peace and who have faith in Jordan's economic prospects has been a source of inspiration. I am also grateful to our Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Halaika, and his devoted team for a job well done. Last, but certainly not least, this would not have been possible without the professional and persistent efforts of Ambassadors Bill Burns and Marwan Muasher. Mr. President, in its significance, this agreement transcends issues of market access to send a strong vote of confidence in Jordan's success at being a model of achievement and excellence. Having accomplished major aspects of the restructuring and liberalization of its economic frameworks, and completed a significant part of its privatization program, Jordan has now successfully created an attractive environment for private capital investments. These would harness its talents, and reap the benefits of its competitive advantages. They would complement our integrated program that calls for increasing productivity through the reform of our legislative, educational, judicial and civil systems. This agreement, by virtue of its guarantee of free trade flows between Jordan and the United States, provides another necessary condition for the success of this national program. They will assist in sustaining our export-led growth, and will serve to emphasize the role of the Jordanian human talent as the single most important resource in our contribution to the new global economy. Most important, perhaps, it would contribute to the strength and success of our model of democracy, peace and equal opportunity. Mr. President, the establishment of a free trade area between our two countries contributes to the strengthening of the economy of Jordan, thus enhancing the prospects of regional stability. We shall continue to pursue our cherished goal of peace in our region. For us, it is the only future, one that does not describe the anatomy of a conflict, but rather holds promise, hope and fulfillment. Thank you very much.(Remarks in Arabic.) [end of document] Official Texts | Near Eastern Affairs | Department of State | Secretary of State