Ambassadors' Speeches
Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Donald Booth On the Occasion of the 233rd Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America, Lusaka, July 2, 2009.
Lusaka. July 2, 2009.
I warmly welcome you today to the celebration of the 233rd anniversary of the independence of the United States of America. This year, both the United States and Zambia will celebrate our independence days, governed by presidents whom our citizens democratically elected only days apart late last year. We pray for their enlightened leadership during times of both great challenge and great opportunity. We live in times that require change we can believe in.
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke of the sacrifice Americans’ ancestors made so that we might live a better life. Our ancestors saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction. He said, “Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must … begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift. And we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.”
President Obama has heightened Americans’ awareness of the fact that our world is changing before our very eyes. There is no turning back to the way things were.
History is full of defining moments. America’s founding fathers believed that citizens are endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness --that citizens must be free to pursue both their individual and collective dreams. They believed then, as Americans do today, that self reliance, not dependence on others, including government, is the most powerful determinant for insuring economic prosperity for all.
Our global economic system is based upon ever increasing economic activity – an environment where all participants can gain collectively and not at the cost of someone else’s loss. Market principles and self reliance have been powerful engines in expanding economic activity, the result of which has lifted hundreds of millions of persons out of poverty in the past decade alone. The middle class has expanded on every continent, including Africa. More mothers are surviving childbirth, more children are protected against childhood illnesses, more communities are getting access to clean water, more children are going to school. Event in the remotest villages people are using cell phones.
One consequence of this enormous economic growth has been an imbalance between production and consumption. In some countries, we consume more than we produce; in other places, we produce more than we consume. This imbalance together with unproductive and unsustainable financial practices, have created huge distortions in the market place, creating in its wake, the global recession. Just as at other key moments in modern history, we know that change is imperative – change in how we do business, how manage capital, how as consumers we save and spend, and how we conserve and protect vital natural resources and the ecological health of the planet.
Globalization has affected all of us. We realize just how integrated and connected we are as inhabitants of this planet. The recession has not just laid off workers in New York and London, but also Kitwe and Ndola. Some of these jobs will not return. We have seen more recently, how the H1N1 flu – just like avian flu and SARS before it - can reach persons across the globe in our highly mobile populations. We are most certainly connected to each other.
So, despite our differences in language, in culture, in dress, in religion, and skin color, we find that all of us want essentially the same things - access to good health care, a good education for our children, a decent place to live, a steady job, and the chance to pursue our own happiness. This was the dream of America’s founding fathers, just as it was for Zambia’s. Americans struggled for their independence, just as Zambians did. We both started as developing countries and relied on foreign capital to help promote our economic development and expansion. And in fact, foreign capital remains essential in the U.S., as in Zambia, for creating jobs and wealth. And we both need to be ever vigilant that public resources are used effectively for the public good.
Indeed, in his Inaugural Address, President Obama highlighted the need for U.S. government officials to be honest and effective stewards of the public funds they manage. There has been much discussion lately about the stewardship of public funds in Zambia. Revelations of corrupt actions by some officials, if properly and transparently pursued, will, I believe, in Zambia as elsewhere, have the effect of increasing public trust in government, of promoting unity and stability. In uncovering misuse of government funds, the Auditor General’s Office and Anti-Corruption Commission are showing that they are doing their jobs. Going forward, implementation of the new Anti-Corruption Policy, passage of a Freedom of Information Act and regular publication of budget expenditures will all serve to further increase public trust in those who govern. Such are changes the Zambian people can believe in. And such changes should be reported accurately by a free and responsible press.
Mr. Minister, I am grateful for your participation in today’s event. While you have recently moved to a new cabinet portfolio, I know you share my strong passion for education. We know that education is the most essential tool in building and maintaining a prosperous democracy. We recognize that from education, everything else flows. As you educate the child, so you educate and build the nation. And it is not only through the educational curriculum but also the cultural assimilation that takes place within the schools, which builds and reinforces within each student a sense of self-reliance, a vision of change he or she can believe in, and a sense of optimism for the future.
As President Obama said on January 20:
“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.”
I would like to propose a toast: “To the values and dreams shared by Zambians and Americans, and to the health and wellbeing of the Zambian people and their esteemed president, His Excellency, President Rupiah Banda.”