 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and Mrs. Reagan, ladies and gentlemen, the national anthems of Luxembourg and the United States of America. Your Royal Highnesses, on behalf of the American people, Nancy and I welcome you to the United States. America and Luxembourg are bound together by the golden cords of friendship and family. Beginning more than a hundred years ago, thousands of Luxembourgers made the difficult journey across the Atlantic to the shores of the New World and most traveled far inland and they played a vital role in settling the plains and forests of Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Today in the hearty town of Rolling Stone, Minnesota, people still celebrate your national festivals and speak the language of your country. It's literally true, Your Highness, that the people of America and Luxembourg are cousins. Yet perhaps the strongest tie between us is the sturdy bond of common ideals and heritage. For Luxembourg and America share the glorious background of American or of Western history, I should say, all the lessons that men learned during the centuries-long passage to civilization. Both our nations cherish tolerance and the rule of law. Both are guided by the will of the majority while respecting the rights of the minority. Above all, both our peoples firmly believe that men and women can only achieve peace, prosperity, and self-fulfillment when they live in liberty. In the words of Pope John Paul II, freedom is given to man by God as a measure of his dignity. In the past, the people of Luxembourg and America have stood together and fought together in the name of human liberty. Your Highness, you yourself fought side by side with American soldiers at Normandy just 40 years ago. The American Third Army under General George Patton played a central part in the liberation of Luxembourg, and in a graveyard outside Luxembourg City, General Patton and more than 5,000 American troops are laid to rest. Today, Luxembourg and America stand together still. Luxembourg offers stalwart support to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of which we are both members. Your nation works tirelessly to keep the Western Alliance strong by keeping it vigorous, and in particular by promoting a firmly united Europe. Luxembourg hosts the European Investment Bank, the Secretary of the European Parliament, and the Court of Justice. Just as we have shared the great challenges of the past, so Luxembourg and America share the bright hopes of the future. Your Highness, our peoples are industrious and innovative, and despite the difficulties that often go with changing economic circumstances, we in America are seeing a sustained economic expansion while you in Luxembourg are experiencing the growth of new industries and services. In freedom, our peoples are conquering material need and making breakthroughs that will help millions to lead longer, fuller and happier lives. Your Highnesses, Luxembourg is a proud and beautiful land, a country of lush forests and dramatic valleys of rolling farmland and vigorous towns. It is our honor to welcome Luxembourg's beloved Grand Duke and Duchess to America, and it's our hope that while you're here, you will come to see some of our own nation's beauty and pride. May your time with us be joyful and rewarding. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, the Grand Duchess and I are deeply moved by your so kind invitation, the warm welcome and the numerous courtesies extended to us and to our party since our arrival in the United States. Mr. President, this ceremony has for me a particular significance. How indeed could I forget that more than 40 years ago, in February 1941, I had the pleasure to accompany my mother, Grand Duchess Charlotte, and my late father as personal guests of President and Mrs. Roosevelt at the White House. In bitter times when the independence of our small country was at stake, we found comfort and guidance from a great president whose determination and leadership ultimately led to the final victory and recovery of democracy and freedom. It was indeed a long and painful way to go before United States and Allied forces hit the beach heads of Normandy on June 6th, 40 years ago. The marble crosses, thousands in number, reminded us both in the other heads of Allied countries assembled at the Normandy memorials in June of their sacrifice. We pledge never to forget the example, and I assure you that this promise is shared by all my fellow Luxemburgers linked by a particularly strong bond to the men who gave their utmost during the battle of the bulge. More than 5,000 rest forever in our soil with one of the great American soldiers, General George S. Patton. Restoring peace and democracy was certainly not easy and easy venture. It appeared, however, that preserving them would be even harder and more challenging and would certainly have been impossible without the commitment of the United States. The American engagement in Europe has provided the foundation for one of the longest periods of peace and prosperity our continent has ever enjoyed, to a large extent our countries to build the European community. And I recall in this respect, Mr. President, the declaration you made at Bonn in your speech on June 9, 1982, Europe's shores are our shores, Europe's borders are our borders. We will stand with in defense of our heritage of liberty and dignity. We thank you for this statement, and I'm pleased to assure that the fundamental values of the Atlantic Alliance remain unchallenged on both sides of the Atlantic. The links of my country with America are manifold. They go back to the times more than a century and a half ago when many of my countrymen immigrated to the North and Northwestern region. We are very proud of the fact that our blood keeps circulating in American veins and that your country has been also built up by the labor of my compatriots. Yet these ties have deepened since the last war. For some decades now the ties of political life and of military defense have steadily strengthened. For about 20 years economic realities of every kind provide us with an American presence in Luxembourg. My countrymen and I are very proud of the links which thus unite the smallest country of the European community to the great American nation. Such is the message I should like to transmit to you, Mr. President, with all my congratulations and best wishes for your new presidency.