Mr Bush’s Welcome Statement to John Major – 6 June 1992

Below is the text of Mr Bush’s welcome statement to John Major, held at Camp David on 6th June 1992.

PRESIDENT BUSH:

Forty-eight years ago today, Ike and Monty, Churchill and FDR, Allied soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen, heroes all, forged the greatest armada in the history of man, the D-day invasion. Our goal was a legacy of peace. And to achieve it, we first had to win a war. June 6th, 1944, told the world that aggression will not stand. So it’s fitting that the Prime Minister and I meet on this historic anniversary of a new beginning in Europe to talk about our countries’ enduring special relationship and the future challenges that we face in this promising new world.

Already we’ve responded to each other not with just the formal handshake of two allies but with the embrace of two friends. And we meet as leaders of nations joined by a common culture and civilization, recalling how Dwight Eisenhower, beloved in Britain and America, once said of freedom, “To preserve it, the Londoner will fight, and so will the citizen of Abilene.”

Over more than four decades of the cold war, we reaffirmed our relationship. Then came the Persian Gulf where, again, we stood fast so that liberty could prevail. Years from now, people will still marvel at British and American heroism in Operation Desert Storm. People will also note how the last year reaffirmed the strength of our alliance, the value of the rule of law, and that England will always be our friend.

Our nation sprang from England’s belief in the sanctity of the individual. Today, that belief has never been stronger, our alliance never firmer, our desire never deeper to build a free and peaceful world.

So Mr. Prime Minister, let me thank you, sir, for your determination and Britain’s example to the world. Welcome back to the U.S.A., and I look forward to discussing a wide array of subjects with you in the couple of days ahead.

Thank you very much for coming our way again.