Mr. President:
It is really a great honor for me to personally--as well as President of the United States--welcome you to our country. We established in Salzburg a warm, personal friendship, which I look forward to expanding during your visit to the United States.
I am particularly pleased that Mrs. Sadat and other members of your family are with you on this historic first state visit to the United States by an Egyptian leader.
The United States Government respects your farsighted statesmanship and wisdom and your unswerving dedication to the well-being of the Egyptian people and to all of the Arab people.
You, Mr. President, have helped to bring about historic new developments in the Middle East. It is our fervent hope that these developments will lead to a durable peace for all peoples of that region.
The overriding purpose of our discussions will be to assure that progress toward peace will not stop. The process of peaceful negotiations between the Arab States and Israel must move to new fronts and to new issues.
United States policy in the Middle East has two primary objectives. First we seek peace. We have made extraordinary efforts in the last 2 years to help the nations of the Middle East find peace. Much has been achieved.
The world has seen that it is possible to negotiate in the Middle East and that agreements can be reached, despite a legacy of bitter conflict and mutual distrust. The process of peace has only begun. We are committed to continue it. The efforts of the United States will continue until the nations directly concerned achieve a peace just to all the peoples of the Middle East.
Second, we desire a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with every nation in the Middle East. The quality and the growth of relations between Egypt and the United States during the past 2 years give us a deep satisfaction.
Your visit to Washington, Mr. President, is a symbol of the new dimensions of our relationship. Egyptians and Americans in all walks of life have established ties of friendship and cooperation in many areas of mutual benefit, building an historic tradition.
We seek, with every nation of the Middle East, a relationship which is beneficial to the interest of both sides. We are pleased, Mr. President, that our objectives coincide with yours.
You have clearly stated your desire for a peace that will permit you and your countrymen to turn your energies and your resources to the improvement of life in Egypt. And we are proud to work with you toward that goal.
During your visit, Mr. President, you will find that many of our people have come to know you through news reports and through the many interviews you have granted so graciously to representatives of our media, to Members of our Congress, and to many other Americans. Your sincerity, your moderation, and your wisdom have made an impression on all who have come in contact with you.
I am delighted that your visit to Washington and to other American cities will permit more of our people to know you personally. You will find Americans deeply concerned over the issues which are important to you--peace and justice in the Middle East--issues which are vital to the future of the whole world.
We are delighted by this opportunity to show the depth of our respect for you and for the Egyptian people, and to demonstrate our dedication to the high ideals shared by Americans and Egyptians.
On behalf of the American people, Mr. President, and as a personal friend, I welcome you to the United States.
Note: The President spoke at 11:17 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House, where President Sadat was given a formal welcome with full military honors. President Sadat responded as follows:
Mr. President:
It is a great honor to me to meet with you again after we have met last June in Salzburg. It is a great honor for me to meet with you here and to meet with the American people for whom my people cherish always admiration.
Since we met last June, there has been great events. And I must say in full frankness, that what you have already, in the name of the people of the United States, what you have done and what you have strived has made it possible that great events happen in the area where we live, where it is the most dangerous area in the whole world. Great events have taken place in our area since our meeting, thanks to you and to the people of the United States that are behind you in seeking peace based on justice.
It is a great occasion for me and for my people also to get to know each other, and I must, on behalf of the Egyptian people and of the delegation and myself, I must thank you, Mr. President, for the warm welcome that you have given us since we landed on the United States land yesterday night, up to this moment.
We have come here with open hearts and open arms. We have come to put the relation between our two countries in its proper position and to thank you, Mr. President, personally, for what you have done since last June up until this moment, which could be considered as a turning point in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the area that we live.
I shall always look forward to welcoming you, Mr. President, in Egypt. I assure you that my people will hail you for all the efforts, the sincerity, the honesty that you have pushed the peace process in the last months. And we have achieved together the second disengagement agreement which will be a very important milestone on the road of peace in our area.
Again let me thank you, Mr. President, and thank the American people for all you have done. And 1 must mention now how my people are grateful for the great help they received from the United States in preparing the Suez Canal for navigation again and for the prosperity of the whole world.
I assure you, Mr. President, and our friends the American people that we shall always work for peace together and achieve for the coming generations all of what we feel of inspirations built on peace based on justice.
Thank you very much.
Gerald R. Ford, Remarks of Welcome to President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256832
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