Remarks at the Opening Session of the 26th World Conference of the International Chamber of Commerce in Orlando, Florida

Thank you, Governor Askew, Secretary General Waldheim, President McGregor, delegates and officers of this great congress, distinguished guests:

It's indeed an honor to be here for many reasons. I'm especially grateful to be on the same program with Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, who has my deepest admiration and appreciation, who leads the United Nations with courage and sensitivity and effectiveness, and with whom I sympathize very deeply. I have 50 States to deal with; he has 150 states. And his complicated responsibilities greatly transcend my own.

I'm also glad to come to Disney World. me so graciously in his remarks. We worked very closely on many occasions, and it's a reassuring fact for myself and all other national leaders to have him in that position of responsibility.

I'm also glad to come to Disney World. I was looking forward to seeing Fantasy Land, particularly because it's the source of inspiration for my economic advisers. [Laughter] I think perhaps some of you can see the origin of ideas that you get from advisers as well while you're down here.

I think it's a wonderful thing that you have assembled in our country. And I'm very pleased to welcome the International Chamber of Commerce to its third conference on United States soil and proud that you've returned here, even though the interval has been 20 years. It's a tribute to Governor Reubin Askew and your other gracious hosts in Florida that now, for the first time in your history, I understand you are not meeting in the capital city of the host nation.

I come here proud, but also sobered. A few hours ago, I walked among the launching pads at Cape Kennedy and placed medals around the necks of five astronauts who had led the way to space, and in the hands of one widow, Mrs. Virgil Grissom, whose husband gave his own life after great and courageous feats. There is no prouder testimony than that center of space exploration to what mankind can accomplish, calling on our creativity, our resources, using our vast technology for exploration rather than conquest, channeling our competition internationally into peaceful means and peaceful ends. These are the accomplishments of a privileged nation, privileged in our resources, privileged in our place in the world.

It is these very privileges that sober me, for I believe that they constitute the moral obligation of our times. I want to talk tonight about the responsibilities that privilege imposes, especially on those who hold positions of leadership, as do all of you, whether in government or private corporations, or who lead our societies in other ways.

We meet at an unusual time in our world's history. It's a moment of relative calm. We are more or less free of overt, international warfare, more or less free of the severe dislocations that have disrupted our economies in the past. Yet, in this moment, we must face the deeper problems of humanity. None of us can ignore hunger, although we may never personally experience hunger. We cannot ignore the problems of overpopulation or the unequal division of the world's goods, even though we might obviously have gotten and retained more than our share.

We've all learned that in an interdependent world, we can only advance when we advance together. As human beings, our sense of mercy and justice is offended when injustice so freely reigns.

It's in this time of relative calm that we can assess our reasons, weigh our obligations, and decide how best to exert and apply our efforts to these great obligations that you and I face together as leaders.

There is one responsibility that transcends all others, and that is the cause of peace. Leaders often underestimate the wisdom of our people and how much our people desire peace.

We saw a dramatic demonstration of this recently. Almost a year ago, when two brave leaders, President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin, took the first long step toward peace, their people rejoiced on the streets. Where they expected hatred, there was obvious demonstration of friendship and even love. Where they expected dis. pleasure or condemnation, there was overwhelming rejoicing.

My belief is that the great hunger for a peaceful world imposes on us the obligation to use the resources we control constructively, to use them to minimize frictions that can lead to war. And my belief is that the people of other neighboring countries, even in the Middle East, also equally yearn for peace, even though some leaders may not yet recognize this fact.

As the leader of my own Government, there is no responsibility that I take more seriously. It guides every decision I make about our Nation's defense forces. For I know that our unquestioned strength is the surest guarantee for liberty for ourselves and perhaps even stability and security in the world.

But I also know that the pursuit of military strength alone is not enough. We must have the confidence and the courage to pursue every avenue for peace, and to realize that this pursuit is not a sign of weakness. That is why Secretary Vance and I have just spent long hours, even yesterday, with Foreign Minister Gromyko, negotiating in earnest hope of an early agreement on a strategic arms limitation treaty between our countries.

But government does not bear the sole responsibility for peace. Throughout history, the forces that can unite us also have often driven us apart. Ideology, religion, allegiance to national soil, all have the power to bring war among peoples, or to enable them to find peace and concord.

This audience possesses another such powerful force. Within this century we've seen narrow economic interests cause the friction that led to devastating wars. But we've seen the same economic forces lift humanity above the bitterest previous divisions.

Most of us here can remember the days when the United States was engaged in total war against Germany and Japan, countries that are now our closest allies. Largely through the bonds of trade and commerce, these nations have become our partners in seeking a prosperous global future.

I've often wondered what would have happened if we had the same bonds of trade and commerce before 1939 or before 1941. That's why I'm such a staunch advocate of global commerce. That's why I'm determined to increase substantially United States trade with other nations, including the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

I will not compromise, of course, our Nation's security nor that of our allies, but I believe that fruitful economic relationships can advance the security of all peoples on Earth.

Let me repeat that governments cannot achieve this goal alone. Every company, every corporation, every economic leader involved in international commerce can aggravate tensions by encouraging protectionism, by setting nation against nation and rich against poor, or it can work to overcome and to prevent these same negative forces.

That responsibility weighs heavily on all of us who are in positions of privilege. We know that if power or profit is pursued for itself, and nothing more, that we are not worthy of our gifts, but more importantly, our world will suffer. Without leaders of vision, we can never solve the problems that most sorely afflict us and those that threaten us even more in the future.

There is another responsibility that is imposed upon us, that of simple justice-justice among nations of the world, justice among the peoples within each nation.

It's not too much to believe that all people should have an equal opportunity to enjoy life's rewards, whether they were born in a poor country or a rich one, whether they were raised by poor parents or by those of wealth.

The world's governments have a responsibility to pursue social justice. In the United States we've increased our foreign aid appropriations and raised a strong voice on behalf of human rights, political rights, social rights, economic rights in our own country and throughout the world. We recognize that trade and free economies also offer a good hope of improving living standards and a better chance of protecting individual freedoms in the broadest definition of the word "freedom."

It's very important that we all work to bring all nations of the world, especially the Eastern nations, the OPEC nations, and the underdeveloped nations, more closely into the world financial and economic organizations, like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, regional banks, and others. To meet our own responsibilities, we're expanding our exports, sustaining our economic growth at the rate which permits us to buy from other nations, and taking tough but sensible steps to preserve the value of the dollar as a reserve currency.

These actions will help to distribute the world's wealth more equitably in the future. But I know as well that you represent multinational companies; some of you can often do more than governments to determine how fairly the world's rewards axe shared.

The International Chamber deserves great credit for the contributions that you've made, for the ethical code you developed, for your work with the United Nations, and your many other progressive and admirable acts. Organizations like your own and the companies your members represent have brought the benefits of trade, technology, education, and medicine to parts of the world that had been too long without them.

But you realized as well as I how often a few corporate leaders have been known to exploit weak nations, to abuse poor and inarticulate workers, to tolerate racism, and often to overlook bribery, payoffs, and corruption by trusted employees. You know how often some have been unworthy of the great power and influence they possess. And you know as well as I that power long abused cannot be maintained. It cannot be maintained, not only because it's wrong but because it defies the historical trend of our times.

For the past few decades, nationalism was a vision which inspired and moved people around the world to create a nation that was independent, no matter how small or weak it may have been. Now that revolution, nationalism, has largely been completed. And other goals are emerging—goals of justice, equity, human rights, and freedom.

These are the wave of the present and the wave of the future. We should not fight this wave. We should ride it, be part of it, encourage it, let it nurture a better life for those who yearn and for those of us who already enjoy. If we can marshal our resources in the cause of right, if we can pursue peace and justice as energetically as we pursue power and profit, then we can achieve these goals and in the process win the fight against our other modern evils, such as international terrorism, which threaten many of us.

These are all shared responsibilities, ones you must take as seriously as I. But there are some very specific responsibilities of the United States Government which I would like to mention briefly here this evening, because they affect everyone here and those you represent back home.

The United States has a responsibility to contribute to global economic stability and well-being. There are three important steps our Nation is taking, based on the commitments I made 2 months ago in Bonn.

The first is to reduce inflation. I will soon announce a tough new program designed to bring inflation under control. We've already acted to make sure that the Government sets an example, cutting unnecessary spending, reducing Federal pay increases, removing unnecessary regulations, cutting the Federal deficit, and letting the free market set prices wherever it can.

We've tried a quick experiment relating to the international and domestic airlines. Fares have been drastically reduced. The number of passengers has been greatly increased. The profits of the airlines have also grown. Soon I will ask for an expanded anti-inflation program with balanced and reasonable sacrifices from business, labor, and every other segment of our economy, along with government.

The second step is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We are on the verge of enacting a comprehensive energy program—I predict that it will be done before the Congress adjourns which will increase our domestic production, shift to more plentiful supplies of fuel, and reduce the waste of all forms of energy in our country.

Energy is a worldwide problem, and our responsibilities extend far beyond our own borders. We will never attempt to obstruct exploration and the development of worldwide energy resources. Our great technology is available for others to use.

The third pledge we made at Bonn was to expand our export and to broaden world trade and investment, and I might add, while discouraging the excessive speculation in currencies that unsettles foreign exchange markets. We will expand our exports to get our current account deficit under control.

Recent statistics are encouraging. And factors that have already come into existence will enhance this trend in the coming months. The rate of growth of our Nation is now much more in phase with the rate of growth of our trade partners. A lower valued dollar will make our own products more attractive. And controlling inflation in our country, minimizing the imports of oil over a period of time, will help to expand our exports as contrasted with our imports.

U.S. trade relationships and export performance are not just a domestic concern. As our trade encourages peace, our export growth will spur the world economy.

U.S. food production is a great world resource, and more stable storage and supplies will increase agricultural exports at more predictable and reasonable prices to help feed the hungry people of the world. It also reduces our trade deficit, which in turn strengthens the dollar.

We accept and will honor the responsibilities that go with the dollar's role as an international reserve of currency. Our present policies are designed to fight inflation and achieve that goal, and I have no doubt that the dollar will rise in response to its fundamental value and the emerging economic trends which I have just described. Stable, noninflationary growth enables public and private institutions to meet their obligations to the poor two-thirds of the world.

We must do more to help these countries by trade, by aid, by other measures. Private enterprise has a large responsibility here. World prosperity depends at least as much on the wisdom and foresight of private business leaders as on the good sense of government.

I described the steps the U.S. Government is taking, not because they will solve all our problems—because they won't-nor because they are unusually brave ones—because they are not. I mention them as an indication of how deeply I believe my Nation has a responsibility in the world.

Each of these steps involves some sacrifice for the American public. In many cases they require deferral of goals we would prefer to pursue. But the American public is ready to meet this challenge. I have no doubt about that. I think my Nation has come to the recognition that only through vision, accommodation, and occasional sacrifice can we be worthy of our privilege, that only by fulfilling our obligations can we win many of the rewards that are truly worth possessing.

I believe, as I know you do, that the best way to achieve the world we seek is through a free political and economic system. This means a political system in which governments answer for their actions to their people. It means an economic system in which resources are allocated as much as possible by private, not government decisions.

I believe in a free market system. I prospered in it as a business man. I know it's the best route for progress for all. But here, again, it would be a mistake to blame government for protectionist decisions. Hardly a week goes by that I don't have some very conservative businessman or a group of businessmen come to me to ask for government protection of his own interests, at the same time deploring protectionism for all others.

In choosing the theme for your 26th conference, "Enterprise, Freedom, and the Future," the International Chamber has recognized the essential linkage between free people, free nations, and free enterprise. Our future course will be determined by our ability to sustain these freedoms. We must meet our responsibilities to others, to keep and enhance these freedoms which we cherish. Any abuses of our power and influence will lead to international constraints and controls and a lack of freedom.

Peace and freedom are our first priorities. So long as we have a free play of ideas and information, so long as we maintain a climate that stimulates invention, innovation, competition, our public and private institutions will have the intellectual ferment and the technological progress we need to produce social and economic progress. I know the deliberations that follow here in Florida will be stimulating and productive. And I'm sure that you will leave Disney World ready to launch a new assault on the problems that command our future attention.

I now declare the 26th Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce opened.

Thank you very much.