Priorities in the Americas

Mr. Secretary General, Mr. Assistant Secretary General, U.S. Permanent Mission members, and friends:

Thanks to the fine work of Ambassador Timothy Dunn and his team, my delegation has been very well represented in recent weeks. Deputy Permanent Representative Dunn and the other members of our mission are joining me this afternoon. I am quite fortunate to have these talented officers as part of our team, and I trust you will get to know them well.

It my Government's view that the Organization of American States has never been more relevant in addressing key hemispheric concerns as it is today. Substantiating this assertion is the fact that President Bush visited the OAS within a couple of months of being sworn into office and the Secretary of State has addressed this august institution on several occasions.

Mr. Secretary General, having returned to the OAS after some 12 years, I am happy to see how the OAS has built upon the Washington protocol and other instruments to reinvigorate its work under your leadership.

Today I am honored to present my letters of credence to you as the representative of my President, George W. Bush, for whose confidence that I will carry out his policies I am most grateful. His policies in the Western Hemisphere are grounded in basic American ideals and values. Our policy agenda in the hemisphere is broad; it places emphasis on promoting democracy and human rights, strengthening democratic institutions, advancing trade and investment as engines for economic growth and job creation, on reducing poverty through strengthening education, health and other basic services; on fighting corruption, on protecting citizens from international and home grown terrorists, from drug traffickers and money launderers, from international crime organizations, particularly those that traffic in humans. These are some of the priorities that I will pursue, working cooperatively with you and the members states' delegations.

The Summit of the Americas process, initiated in Miami in 1994 exemplifies and energizes this trend toward cooperative action in pursuit of mutually shared goals. The OAS, which is charged with implementing many summit mandates, must have a central role in advancing critical regional objectives. The Interamerican Democratic Charter, approved in Lima on September 11, 2001, opens with the bold statement, "The people of the Americas have a right to democracy, and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it." Today, on the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks that while perpetrated on United States' soil resulted in the deaths of citizens of almost all member states. We again want to recognize the immediate solidarity of this hemisphere and its commitment to continue to protect the freedoms of our people through such instruments as the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism.

Mr. Secretary General I am keenly aware that the OAS agenda is broad and challenging. Multilateral solutions require respectful dialogue and steady engagement. I want to assure you that every member of our delegation stands ready to work with our fellow delegates on the very important issues that have been entrusted to all of us by the summit process and the General Assembly.

I am honored to have the opportunity to make a constructive contribution to the work of the OAS.