Bill Clinton: “Summit of the Americas in Miami December 9, 1994 Let's give all our distinguished guests a hand here. [Applause] To our…”

“Summit of the Americas in Miami December 9, 1994 Let's give all our distinguished guests a hand here. [Applause] To our distinguished heads of state, Vice President and Mrs. Gore, Members of the Congress and the Cabinet, Governor and Mrs. Chiles, Lieutenant Governor and Mrs. MacKay, Mayor Clark, to the distinguished leaders from the business community and nongovernmental organizations that work so wonderfully together, to the co-chairs and others from the host committee who have done such a wonderful job of putting together this extraordinary event, and to all of our distinguished guests from other lands, let me say a hearty welcome to this remarkable summit. Let me begin by thanking the wonderful city of Miami for rising so magnificently to the challenge of hosting the Summit of the Americas. If we leaders can match the dedication of the citizens of Miami and south Florida to the work of this week, we will truly bring our people and our hemisphere closer together. The end of the cold war has given all of us a great opportunity to build bridges where, for 50 years, only barriers stood. We in the United States have worked hard to seize this moment for peace and prosperity, from the Middle East to Northern Ireland to southern Africa to Haiti. And through our commitment to expanded trade through NAFTA and the GATT agreement, we are doing our best to demonstrate our willingness to reach out to the rest of the world to promote the peace and prosperity we all want.…”