Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
And tonight, we declare anew to our fellow citizens of the world: Freedom
is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few; it is the universal right of
all God's children. Look to where peace and prosperity flourish today. It
is in homes that freedom built. Victories against poverty are greatest and
peace most secure where people live by laws that ensure free press, free
speech, and freedom to worship, vote, and create wealth.
Our mission is to nourish and defend freedom and democracy, and to
communicate these ideals everywhere we can. America's economic success is
freedom's success; it can be repeated a hundred times in a hundred
different nations. Many countries in east Asia and the Pacific have few
resources other than the enterprise of their own people. But through low
tax rates and free markets they've soared ahead of centralized economies.
And now China is opening up its economy to meet its needs.
We need a stronger and simpler approach to the process of making and
implementing trade policy, and we'll be studying potential changes in that
process in the next few weeks. We've seen the benefits of free trade and
lived through the disasters of protectionism. Tonight I ask all our trading
partners, developed and developing alike, to join us in a new round of
trade negotiations to expand trade and competition and strengthen the
global economy--and to begin it in this next year.
There are more than 3 billion human beings living in Third World countries
with an average per capita income of $650 a year. Many are victims of
dictatorships that impoverished them with taxation and corruption. Let us
ask our allies to join us in a practical program of trade and assistance
that fosters economic development through personal incentives to help these
people climb from poverty on their own.
We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that's not innocent; nor can we
be passive when freedom is under siege. Without resources, diplomacy cannot
succeed. Our security assistance programs help friendly governments defend
themselves and give them confidence to work for peace. And I hope that you
in the Congress will understand that, dollar for dollar, security
assistance contributes as much to global security as our own defense
budget.
We must stand by all our democratic allies. And we must not break faith
with those who are risking their lives--on every continent, from
Afghanistan to Nicaragua--to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure
rights which have been ours from birth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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