 It's more than sign your name, you wrote more than your name. It's more than sign your name, you wrote more than your name. So much of it lay in ruins. All cities have been destroyed. Children played in the rubble and begged for food. And by this day 40 years ago, over 40 million lay dead. And the survivors, they composed a continent of victims. And to this day we wonder, how did this happen? How did civilization take such a terrible turn? After all the books and documentaries, after all the histories and studies, we still spoke of the banality of evil. We know there were totalitarians who used the state which they had elevated to the level of a god to inflict war on peaceful nations and genocide on innocent peoples. We know of the existence of evil in the human heart. And we know that in Nazi Germany, that evil was institutionalized. Given power and direction for the state, and those who did its bidding. We also know that early attempts to flaking the totalitarians did not save us from war, after days. Who could forget the hard days after we can't help but look back and think? Life was so difficult. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A partnership aimed at seeing the kind of tyrants that a tormented Europe would never, torment reading ground for new extremist philosophies. You resisted the totalitarian temptation. Your people embraced democracy. They re-celebrate the leaders who led the way. Churchill and Monet, Adnaug and Schumann, the Gasperry and Spock, Truman and Marshall. If any doubt their success, let them look at you. In this room are those who fought on opposite sides 40 years ago, and their sons and daughters. Now you work together to lead Europe democratically. You buried animosity and hatred in the road. There is no greater testament to reconciliation and to the peaceful unity of Europe than the men and women in this chamber. And Adam Smith came from Europe. And the geniuses who ushered in the modern industrial technological age came from, well, I think you know. But two examples will suffice. Marconi, who invented the radio, thereby providing a living for a young man from Dixon, Illinois, who later went into politics. I guess I should explain. That's me, Blaine Marconi. In 1949, through the early 1970s, Soviet aggression was effectively deterred. The strength of Western economies, the vitality of our societies, the wisdom of our diplomacy. First in Angol in 1975, then when the West failed to respond in Ethiopia, in South Yemen, in Kampuchea, and ultimately in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union began courting more risks than it can not least the crisis of self-confidence within the American body politic wrought by the Vietnam experience. But just as Soviet decision-making in the earlier post-war era had taken place against a background of overwhelming American strategic power, so the decisions of the late 70s were taken in Moscow clear arsenals to compete with the Soviet Union in this field, not in the pursuit of superiority, but merely of balance. It is thus essential that the United States maintain a modern and survivable nuclear capability in each leg of the strategic triad. The Soviet Union, however, does not share our view of what constitutes a stable nuclear balance. It has chosen instead to build nuclear forces clearly designed to strike first and thus disarm their adversary. The Soviets open the closest possible fashion with our elements, and when the time for decisions on the possible production and deployment of such systems comes, we must and will discuss and negotiate these issues with the Soviet Union. Both for the short and the long term, unconfident the West can maintain effective military deterrence. But surely we can aspire as today is whether we have learned with the Soviet Union based upon effective deterrence and the reduction of tensions. I believe we can. I believe we've learned that fruitful cooperation with the Soviet Union must be accompanied by successful competition in areas, particularly third world areas, where the Soviets are not yet Achieve military superiority efforts to sustain a productive dialogue with the Soviet Union. We're reminded of the obstacles posed by our so fundamentally different concepts of humanity, of human rights, of the value of human life. The murder can evolve into a risk reduction mechanism for rapid communication and exchange of data in times of crisis. These proposals are not curable for our current problems. They will not compensate for the deaths which have occurred. But as terrible as past events have been, our ideals of freedom and democracy and our economic systems have proven their ability to meet the needs of our people. Our adversaries can offer their people only economic stagnation and the corrupt hand of a state and party bureaucracy, which ultimately satisfied the constancy of the American purpose. We were at your side through two great wars. We have been at your side through 40 years of a sometimes painful peace. We're at your side today because like you, we have not veered from the idea that we do not deny any nation's legitimate interest in security. We share the basic aspirations of all the peoples of Europe, freedom, prosperity and peace. But when families are divided and people are not allowed to maintain normal human and cultural context, this creates international tension. Only in a system in which all feel secure and sovereign can there be a lasting and secure peace.