Italy: Visit to American Embassy Remarks to Embassy Employees and Members of the American Community in Rome.

As I stand on this United States land in the midst of a friendly nation, I bring you greetings from the motherland and the deep thanks of all Americans for the wonderful work that you're doing here. Thank you from the bottom of our heart.

I would be remiss if I did not particularly thank Ambassador Richard Gardner and his wife, Danielle, who is from Venice and who will be helping us to see the beautiful city there beginning this afternoon.

As you know, there are about 20 million American citizens who have ties of blood and kinship with the people of Italy. They've come to our Nation over the last 200-year period, looking not only for a different life, a new life, an exciting life, but at the same time, retaining their hopes and their dreams, their deep commitment to their heritage and their religion. And those bonds of friendship and of kinship are very dear and very precious to all the citizens of our Nation.

During this last 2 days, I've had a chance to meet with the Prime Minister of Italy, Mr. Cossiga. I've had a chance to meet with all the leaders of the political parties that comprise the coalition which has formed such a close alliance with the United States of America—their predecessors, as well, in the coalition who were equally strong in their commitment to our Nation and to the strength of friendship and mutual purpose.

We've spent a lot of time with President Pertini, who has captured all the Carter women—my mother, my wife, my daughter, all of whom preceded me here, as you know. As we've had a chance to speak with him in quiet moments and in moments of ceremony, it's been an inspiration to know that for the cause of freedom and for the cause of democracy, he spent 15 of his years in prison, never yielding in his commitment to the principles and to the ideals which are the foundation for our own Nation's commitments for now and in the future.

Ours is a strong nation, the strongest nation on Earth. We're strong militarily, and we will remain so, because we know that peace can only be maintained through strength. But we are also strong economically, and we are strong politically. Our commitment to human rights, our commitments to morality and to the principles that guide the yearnings of the most insignificant and the most powerful human beings is a basic element of the strength that does not change.

This is a troubled time. We are sometimes facing challenge. We are sometimes facing difficulty. We are sometimes facing change, which is unpredictable. We are sometimes even facing danger. I particularly want to express my thanks to all of you for being willing in a time of change and trouble and challenge—for being willing to serve our Nation in a foreign land.

The military here are a constant reminder to me of what has happened in Iran and in other places around the world when diplomatic personnel, knowing that they were in danger, served their nation without flinching and without complaint and effectively. We are thankful that the good relationships that exist with Italy remove that kind of danger from your lives. But I know that every day of my own life I think constantly about the 53 innocent Americans who are the victims of international terrorism, supported by the Government of Iran, and we never forget them in our prayers and in our considerations for the future.

As soon as I leave here I will go to meet with the Pope, who is a man revered and admired by Americans of all faiths.

His visit to our country was one of unbelievable triumph. In Chicago a million and a half people assembled to hear him speak and to perform the ceremony of the Mass. Many of those in Chicago, as you know, were Italian Americans. And this is a time of deep appreciation for what he means to the entire world—his commitment to peace, his commitment to the control of weapons, his commitment to the alleviation of suffering and hunger, his commitment to the plight of refugees who are seeking to escape from persecution and from totalitarian governments. These commitments of his are shared by us. The official position of our own Government mirrors exactly those kinds of commitments exemplified by the life of this wonderful religious leader.

And then this afternoon I'll go down to Venice to meet with our allies and friends in the industrialized nations of the West, not only the European allies but also our friends from Canada and from Japan. We'll be talking about how to give within the concept of peace a better life for all our people and, therefore, a better life for the people of the entire world.

Sometimes you hear or read in the press about the differences among our governments. Some differences do exist. They're the differences founded on independence, on free will, on the autonomy of nations. We're not a subservient group. Each one of us has our own ideas, our own perspective, our own ultimate goals. But the facet of this relationship that is overwhelmingly important is the common ground on which we stand together.

Those differences among us, highly publicized with a free press and freedom of speech, is a relatively insignificant part of the relationship that binds these Western allies together. We stand staunchly for freedom, for democracy, for progress, for peace through strength, with unchanging principles and unchanging moral commitments.

Those are the aspects of American life which you represent. And as you deal on a commercial basis, to control the spread of drugs, to search out common ground with the people of Italy, you carry out those principles in a fine, dedicated, sometimes even sacrificial way.

Again, to repeat my first phrases, from the bottom of my heart as President, and on behalf of Secretary Muskie, who's here with me, and the 220 million people who are very proud of you, thank you and may God bless you all.