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Talking Points - Noordeine Toast - Netherlands 7/17/89
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Talking Points - Noordeine Toast - Netherlands 7/17/89
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Speech File Draft Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13495
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13495-014
Folder Title:
Talking Points - Noordeine Toast - Netherlands 7/17/89
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1
FILE
TALKING POINTS: NOORDEINDE TOAST
NOORDEINDE PALACE, THE NETHERLANDS
JULY 17, 1989
8:30 PM
- QUEEN BEATRIX, HONORED GUESTS: MANY THANKS FOR YOUR
WARM WELCOME AND KIND HOSPITALITY.
- I AM ESPECIALLY PLEASED TO MAKE MY FIRST VISIT TO
THE NETHERLANDS AS PRESIDENT -- THE FIRST VISIT OF ANY
SITTING AMERICAN PRESIDENT TO YOUR COUNTRY.
- 2 -
- THERE HAS BEEN A STRONG DUTCH CONNECTION FOR MANY
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. OUR FIRST AMBASSADOR TO THE
NETHERLANDS, JOHN ADAMS, BECAME OUR SECOND PRESIDENT.
- HIS SON, JOHN QUINCY, STUDIED AT LEIDEN, AND --
FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS -- WENT ON TO BE
AMBASSADOR TO THE NETHERLANDS AND OUR SIXTH PRESIDENT.
- 3 -
- FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT AND TEDDY ROOSEVELT WERE OF
DUTCH DESCENT.
- So WAS MARTIN VAN BUREN -- MY INSPIRATION: THE LAST
SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT TO WIN ELECTION TO THE
PRESIDENCY -- BACK IN 1836.
- AND I HAVE MY OWN DUTCH CONNECTION. BOTH MY
FAMILY -- AND BARBARA'S -- HAD ANCESTORS ON THAT MAIDEN
MAYFLOWER VOYAGE.
- 4 -
- THE LONG AND FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OUR
NATIONS IS PROOF OF THE VALUES WE SHARE.
- BOTH OF OUR NATIONS HAVE PROUD HISTORIES AS SAFE
HAVENS FOR PEOPLE SEEKING FREEDOM.
- 5 -
- THAT HISTORY MEETS IN LEIDEN, WHICH WELCOMED THE
PILGRIMS WHO LATER SETTLED THE NEW WORLD THAT BECAME
AMERICA.
- TODAY, THE U.S. AND THE NETHERLANDS ARE PARTNERS IN
COMMERCE, PARTNERS IN COMMON DEFENSE -- WITH A COMMON
STAKE IN PEACE, FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY.
- 6 -
- LET US NOW RAISE OUR GLASSES:
To HER MAJESTY QUEEN BEATRIX;
To A THIRD CENTURY OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN OUR
NATIONS;
To THE PEACE AND FREEDOM CHERISHED HERE AND IN
AMERICA.
# # #
!R! CASS 2; EXIT;
McGroarty/Dooley
July 6, 1989
4:30 pm
[NTOAST]
TALKING POINTS: NOORDEINDE TOAST
NOORDEINDE PALACE, THE NETHERLANDS
JULY 18, 1989
8:30 PM
- Queen Beatrix, members of the Dutch Parliament: many thanks
for your warm welcome and kind hospitality.
- I am especially pleased to make my first visit to the
Netherlands as President -- the first visit of any sitting
American President to your country.
- There has been a strong Dutch connection for many American
Presidents. Our first Ambassador to the Netherlands -- the first
American Ambassador to any nation -- John Adams, became our
second President.
- His son, John Quincy, studied at Leiden.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt were of Dutch
descent.
- So was Martin Van Buren -- my inspiration: the last sitting
Vice-President to win election to the Presidency -- back in 1836.
- And I have my own Dutch connection. Both my family -- and
Barbara's -- had ancestors on that maiden Mayflower voyage.
-
((We're going to have to add the province of South Holland to
my list of home states ) )
- The long and friendly relationship between our nations is
proof of the values we share.
- Both of our nations have proud histories as safe havens for
people seeking freedom.
- That history meets in Leiden, which welcomed the Pilgrims who
later settled the New world that became America.
- Today, the U.S. and the Netherlands are partners in commerce,
partners in common defense -- with a common stake in peace,
freedom and prosperity.
- Let us now raise our glasses:
To Her Majesty Queen Beatrix;
To a third century of friendship between our nations;
To the peace and freedom cherished here and in America.
# # #
#1020
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(The Hague, The Netherlands)
For Immediate Release
July 17, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE RESIDENTS OF LEIDEN
The Pieterskerk
Leiden, The Netherlands
3:46 P.M. (L)
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Your Majesty and
Your Royal Highness, Barbara and I thank you and the people of The
Netherlands for the warm welcome that has been given to us.
I'm not sure about some of those signs I saw coming in.
It reminded me of my own university, however.
I'm glad to be back with my cousins because we fondly
remember Aunt Abigail back there those many years ago. (Laughter.)
And I want to first thank Mr. DeWolff and that magnificent orchestra,
and the choir from here with that superb solo by Ms. Zedelius -- an
outstanding performance. (Applause.)
And Mayor Goekoop, thank you SO much for that Medallion,
which we will treasure forever.
The Netherlands is an old friend and honored ally of the
United States. And the friendship between our nations is older than
the American Constitution -- and the United Provinces were one of the
models that our founders looked to in creating a nation from 13
sovereign states.
And it's a pleasure to visit Leiden -- a city whose very
name has symbolized for centuries Dutch determination and the
struggle for freedom against the forces of occupation. And for
Americans, too, Leiden is a special city, a place where we trace our
origins.
So many of the individuals who shaped the modern world
walked the cobbled streets of Leiden. And it was here that Hugo de
Groot -- known to the world as Grotius, the father of modern
international law -- studied in the nation that is today the home of
the International Court of Justice. And it was here that Rembrandt
lived and worked and created a world of beauty that moves us still
today.
And it was here to Leiden that the Pilgrims came to
escape persecution -- to live, work and worship in peace. In the
shadow of Pieterskerk, they found the freedom to witness God openly
and without fear. And here, under the ancient stones of the
Pieterskerk, the body of John Robinson, the Pilgrims' spiritual
leader, was laid to rest.
And it was from this place the Pilgrims set their course
for a new world. In their search for liberty, they took with them
lessons learned here of freedom and tolerance. And the Pilgrims
faced a dangerous passage. But carried on the winds of hope, they
arrived. And on the rocky coast of New England -- at the edge of a
wild and unsettled continent -- they planted the seeds of a new world
-- a world that became America.
- 2 -
And today, as when the Pilgrims left this city, a new
world lies within our reach.
Our time is a time of great hope and a time of enormous
challenges. The new world we seek is shaped by an idea -- an idea of
universal appeal and undeniable force, and that idea is democracy.
The power of the democratic idea is evident everywhere --
in the halls of government, in the hearts of people around the world.
In the words of Victor Hugo: "No army can withstand the strength of
an idea whose time has come." And, ladies and gentlemen, freedom's
time has come.
We, the people of the United States and the people of The
Netherlands, are fortunate. The freedoms that others are struggling
for are freedoms that we enjoy. But freedom never comes without
struggle -- and no struggle is without sacrifice. Americans and the
Dutch both know that the cost of freedom is high.
And that's why both of our nations are partners in an
alliance of free nations that spans the ocean that the Pilgrims
crossed. Our alliance, the NATO Alliance, connects two continents --
unites a hemisphere. But what connects us isn't merely a fact of
geography. Ours is an alliance forged on common values -- rooted in
a shared history and heritage; it's a common kinship and culture, as
well.
We are part of the commonwealth of free nations. All
most two months ago, I came to Europe to celebrate the fruits of our
alliance: four decades of peace, prosperity and freedom. At the
time of NATO's founding -- amid the airlift to besieged Berlin -- few
would have predicted a peace so strong and lasting. Here in The
Netherlands and elsewhere some people expected war to come again
within their lifetimes. Instead, the NATO era has brought the
longest period of peace that Europe has known in the modern age. And
let me assure you, Americans know that to keep the peace in Europe is
to keep the peace for America.
And today, the Atlantic Alliance -- formed to contain the
threat of Soviet expansionism -- is creating new opportunities to
ease tensions, to build a new world, to build an enduring peace. And
thanks to NATO's strength and unity, we now have the opportunity to
move beyond containment -- to integrate the Soviet Union into the
community of nations.
Thanks to NATO's steadiness of purpose and its commitment
to maintain strong deterrent forces, the way is now open to real
reductions in the level of arms that has long cast a shadow over this
continent, the most heavily militarized on Earth.
And seizing these opportunities -- reaching that new
world -- depends on the unity and strength of the entire Alliance --
not on the actions of one nation alone. The revival of the Western
European Union -- in which The Netherlands played a vital role -- the
growing cooperation on security issues between West Germany and
France; British and French resolve to modernize their own nuclear
forces: each of these developments is a sign that Europe sees the
wisdom of sustaining the collective strength that has kept the peace.
The lesson of our postwar experience is this: strength
has kept us safe and has created opportunities for change. And from
these opportunities, we can create a new era of enduring peace.
Let me say clearly, a stronger Europe, a more united
Europe is good for my country; it's good for the United States of
America. And it's a development we welcome -- a natural evolution
within our Alliance -- the product of true partnership 40 years in
the making.
This trend toward closer cooperation isn't limited to
MORE
- 3 -
collective security alone. Around the world, countries are now
recognizing that no nation, no nation can prosper in economic
isolation. And that's why we look forward to the single European
market and a more integrated European Community. The world's major
industrial democracies must work to maintain an open trading system
to preserve sustained economic growth.
And our progress at this recently-concluded economic
summit in Paris brought us closer to a more coordinated and common
approach across a wide spectrum of critical global issues. The key
is concerted action -- bringing the collective strength of the West
to bear on our common concerns.
Concerns like the environment. Global warming, acid
rain, and pollution of the world's oceans -- these are problems that
know no borders, that no line on a map has the power to stop. And
pollution crosses continents and oceans. And it's time for nations
to join forces in common defense of our environment.
The United States of America will do its part. A little
over a month ago in the United States I announced a series of
sweeping changes to our Clean Air Act -- changes meant to ensure that
every American, in the space of one generation, will breathe clean
air.
And shortly after I get back to the United States --
after I return home -- we will send our Clean Air legislation to
Congress. And last week in Poland and Hungary, I announced
initiatives to work with those two countries to combat their
pollution problems. And the next step is clear. We must work
together -- take concerted action to combat this common problem --
clean up our environment for ourselves and for our children.
And the summit underscored the fact that it's time we
take the next step in solving the debt problem -- to encourage
conditions for global growth that will benefit the industrialized
nations and the developing world alike. We must make progress on
this because it's more than a matter of economic development.
Democracy is at stake. Freedom can nourish the barren soil of
poverty, just as the Pilgrims landed upon a desolate rock and laid
the foundations of the freedom and prosperity that we know today.
Economic and democratic development go hand-in-hand. And
the steps we've taken towards a common strategy on debt will sustain
a favorable climate for growth -- and for the flourishing of
democracy in the developing world.
And there's Eastern Europe. Let me explain the approach
that I take towards reform in Eastern Europe. We will never
compromise our principles. We will always speak out for freedom.
But we understand as well how vital a carefully calibrated approach
is in this time of dynamic change.
The Soviet Union has nothing -- nothing to fear from the
reforms that are now unfolding in some of the nations of Eastern
Europe. We support reform -- in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet
Union. And we're seeing dramatic changes. General Secretary
Gorbachev's recent letter two days ago to the economic summit is only
the latest example of the Soviets moving in our direction -- coming
our way. I've said it many times -- that I want to see perestroika
succeed. I want to see the Soviet Union chart a course that brings
itself into the community of nations.
And my visits these last two months demonstrate how
closely the United States is linked to Europe. For half a century,
America has been deeply involved in the future of this continent.
And U.S. involvement will be a strategic fact the next century, as it
has been for this one. We will play a constructive role in Eastern
Europe's economic development, in the development of political
pluralism, and in creating an international climate in which reform
MORE
- 4 -
can succeed. And that is why America's relations with the Soviet
Union are so important. Improved relations with the USSR reduce
pressure on the nations of Eastern Europe -- especially those on the
cutting edge of reform.
The new world we seek is a commonwealth of free nations
working in concert -- a world where more and more nations enter a
widening circle of freedom.
In the pulpit here at the Pieterskerk, one year after
peace was restored in Europe, Winston Churchill spoke to the people
of Leiden. The allies had triumphed over tyranny. The occupation
was over. After six years of war and devastation, Churchill said,
"The great wheel has swung full circle." And Europe then stood at
the threshold of a new era -- an era whose hope Churchill expressed
in a single, simple phrase. "Let freedom reign."
And we all know what followed. Half of Europe entered
that new era -- and half of Europe found its path blocked, walled off
by barriers of brick and barbed wire.
The half of Europe that was free dug out from the rubble,
recovered from the war and laid the foundations of free government
and free enterprise that brought unparalleled prosperity, and a life
in peace and freedom.
And the "other Europe" -- the Europe behind the wall --
endured fear. four decades of privation and hardship and persecution and
And today that "other Europe" is changing. The great
wheel is moving once more. And our time -- the exciting time in
which we live -- is a time of new hope -- the hope that all of Europe
can now know the freedom that you all -- that The Netherlands has
known, that America has known, and that the West has known.
Our hope is that the unnatural division of Europe will
now come to an end -- that the Europe behind the wall will join its
neighbors to the West, prosperous and free.
Poland and Hungary are on the cutting edge -- they're on
the forefront of this reform. And they've travelled far these past
12 months, farther than any of us once would have thought possible.
In Warsaw, I spoke to the new Polish Parliament that includes 100 new
freely-elected Senators -- elected to office in Eastern Europe's
first truly free election in the post-war era. And in Hungary, I
addressed the students and faculty of Karl Marx University -- the
university where the lessons of the free market are replacing the old
teachings of Das Kapital.
At the shipyards of Gdansk and at the statue of the great
Hungarian hero Kossuth, tens of thousands of people -- literally tens
of thousands filled the streets -- new voices, full of new hope. And
theirs were the faces of Pilgrims on a journey -- fixed on the
horizon, on the new world coming into view.
And they know, as we do, that ultimately, whatever the
odds, freedom will succeed.
It's a lesson the world has learned several times this
century -- a lesson that you know so well -- that the Dutch know so
well. The Netherlands will never -- I was talking at this lunch
today with your able Prime Minister -- The Netherlands will never
forget the nightmare of occupation. Some of you here today suffered
through those long years.
And even then freedom endured. Pieterskerk -- behind
these walls, above the rafters -- resistance fighters, university
students took refuge from the forces of occupation and found safe
haven in this church.
MORE
- 5 -
Daily acts of heroism the church sexton who brought
them food, the neighborhood grocer who collected extra ration stamps
-- kept them alive, kept the spirit of dignity and human decency
alive throughout The Netherlands' dark night.
And why? Why would people endanger themselves to save
others? They did it for the simplest, most human of reasons. In the
words of Jan Campert, poet of the Dutch resistance, they acted
because "the heart could not do otherwise."
Freedom can never be extinguished -- not then, not now.
Even in the Europe behind the wall, the dream of freedom for all
Europe has never died. It's alive today -- in Warsaw and Gdansk, in
Budapest, and yes, across the Soviet Union.
So the challenge that we face is a very clear one. We
must work together toward the day when all of Europe -- East and West
-- is free of discord, free of division. A day when people in every
city and every town across this continent knows the freedoms that we
enjoy.
And here in Leiden, where the pilgrims dreamed their new
world, let us pledge our effort to create a new world in Europe,
whole and free, a new world now within our reach.
Once again, thank you, God bless The Netherlands, God
bless the United States of America, and the friends of freedom
everywhere in the world. Thank you very, very much. (Applause.)
END
4:01 P.M. (L)