 Ladies and gentlemen, the Prime Minister of the French Republic and Mrs. Chirac escorted by the President of the United States and Mrs. Reagan, the National Anthems of the French Republic and the United States of America. Prime Minister Madame Chirac, Mr. Foreign Minister and distinguished guest, Nancy and I offer you our warmest welcome to the United States, to Washington, and to the White House. We greet you, Mr. Prime Minister, not only as the head of government of the French Republic, our nation's oldest ally in war and peace, but as a representative of the people of France, for whom the people of the United States have long had a special affection. We only have to look around us this morning to, if we could, to look beyond the White House lawn to the gracial monuments of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, to be reminded of the historic struggles for freedom and liberty which have bound our nations together for generations. Indeed the park directly across the street from the north entrance of the White House bears the name of a brave Frenchman who as a young man became a trusted aide and almost a son to George Washington, Lafayette. As you know, Mr. Prime Minister, this year we Americans are celebrating the 200th anniversary of our Constitution. In doing so, we are rededicating ourselves to the aspirations of all men to live in freedom and peace, aspirations captured in that ageless document. It was written by Americans, of course, but today it is only right to point out that they were Americans, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and others, who had been influenced by the great names of the French Enlightenment like Montesquieu for one and by the hopes for liberty and human rights so ardently expressed by the French people themselves. Some months ago, Mr. Prime Minister, our two great nations celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. Lady Liberty now beautifully refurbished, her torch rekindled, has rightly become cherished throughout the world as a symbol of human freedom. But even Lady Liberty, as magnificent as she is, would be nothing but an empty symbol had not the American and the French people's time and again joined together in moments of peril, joined together in common sacrifice to preserve and defend freedom itself. Three years ago, I stood on the windy beaches of Normandy, and as Frenchmen and Americans recalled together the most perilous days of the Second World War. In this spring, Americans will join in celebrating the 70th anniversary of the arrival in France of the American Expeditionary Force of World War I. Indeed, Mr. Prime Minister, from Yorktown to Bellow Wood, from Normandy to Beirut, Frenchmen and Americans have stood together and, yes, died together in the name of peace and freedom. Today we continue to face grave challenges together as we seek to ensure a safer world and a more prosperous future, one in which our peoples and those of other nations can live in still greater prosperity and freedom. We both understand that to achieve that end, our friendship must remain deep, our alliance strong and bold, and we both believe that today it is the forces of freedom that are on the march. You have a very busy day ahead of you, Mr. Prime Minister, one that I do not intend to delay. Nancy and I hope during your all-too-brief visit to talk of our common goals, but also to deepen the personal friendship with you and Madame Chirac and with your colleagues. Once again, we offer you and Madame Chirac our warmest welcome, and on behalf of all Americans, soye le bienvenue aux états unis. Monsieur le Président, Madame, mesdames, messieurs, laissez-moi vous dire, Monsieur le Président, la joie, la très grande joie, que mon épouse et moi-même éprouvons à nous trouver aujourd'hui parmi vous, parmi nos amis américains et français à la Maison-Branche. Permettez-moi aussi de vous remercier, Monsieur le Président, de votre invitation à me rendre en visite officielle aux États-Unis, où j'ai ces journées à plusieurs reprises, où j'ai travaillé il y a une trentaine d'années, hélas, comme jeune étudiant français découvrant le nouveau monde. Je veux enfin transmettre aux peuples américains les sentiments d'amitié, d'admiration, de fraternité, d'affection qui prouvent à son égard le peuple de France, et qui sont, Monsieur le Président, aussi, les sentiments que le peuple français éprouve à votre égard et à celui de Mme Reagan. Oui, les sentiments de fraternité, car nos deux pays se sont toujours retrouvés côte à côte dans les grands moments de leur histoire que vous avez évoqué, Monsieur le Président. Vous êtes venu vous-même il y a trois ans commémorer le débarquement des troupes alliées sur le sol de Normandie et vous inclinez devant la tombe de temps de jeunes américains tombés pour la libération de la France et de l'Europe. Vous avez célébré l'année dernière, vous l'avez rappelé, le centenaire de la statue de la liberté, dont du peuple français est surtout symbole du rêve et aussi de la réalité américain. Cette année, 70 ans, presque jour pour jour, après l'entrée des États-Unis, aux côtés de la France et des alliés dans la première guerre mondiale, je suis venu vous dire, Monsieur le Président, la France se souvient en rendant hommage au cours de mon bref séjour à Washington à la mémoire du général Pershing, grand homme, grand soldat, grand américain, je rendrai hommage à tous les boys tombés sur le sol de ma patrie pour la défendre contre toutes les hegemonies en 1917 comme en 1944. En venant aux États-Unis, je viens vous dire aujourd'hui du fond du cœur. Merci, l'Amérique. With all my heart, thank you, America, France has not forgotten, France remembers. Mais, Monsieur le Président, je ne suis pas venu délivrer seulement le message du souvenir. Je suis venu vous dire que nous restons animés par les mêmes idéaux de liberté, par la même volonté de faire face aux dangers auxquels nous sommes solidairement confrontés, le terrorisme, la guerre, la faim, la pauvreté, les maladies nouvelles, la drogue, d'autres encore. Devant tant d'épreuves, devant tant de menaces, nous sommes résolus, vous, comme nous, à continuer à nous battre et à affirmer la valeur de nos idéaux. Tous les grands combats nous sont communs. Aujourd'hui, lancé dans l'aventure technologique qui vise à conquérir de nouveaux domaines de l'intelligence, de la biologie, de l'espace, nous devons de plus en plus travailler ensemble, dans la confiance, dans la coopération, dans la libre concurrence. We have to work together to face the challenge of the future. Voici dans quel sentiment. Voici dans quel esprit, Monsieur le Président, j'aborde les deux jours d'entretien qui vont nous permettre, j'en suis sûr, de trouver avec les dirigeants de votre pays les lignes et les conditions conjointes à la mesure de nos ambitions communes. Mr President, Mrs Reagan, ladies and gentlemen, let me first of all, Mr President, tell you how I really delighted my wife and I are to be here with you today among our American friends and our French friends. And let me first thank you, Mr President, for having invited me to come on an official visit to the United States. For I stayed and worked some 30 years ago or last when I was a young student just discovering this new world. And finally, let me convey to the American people the feelings of friendship, brotherhood and admiration and affection that the French people have for them. And also, Mr President, the affection that the French people have towards you, yourself and Mrs Reagan. The feelings of brotherhood, yes, because our two countries have always been side by side in crucial moments of their history. Three years ago, as you mentioned, Mr President, you came to France to commemorate D-Day in Normandy and to honor the resting place, the resting places of so many young Americans who gave their lives to free France and Europe. And last year, you celebrated, as you recall, the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, a gift of the French people and especially a symbol of the American dream and of American reality. This year, almost 70 years to the day after the United States went to war alongside France and its allies of World War I, I have come to tell you, Mr President, this, France has not forgotten. When I go and pay tribute during my brief stay in Washington to the memory of General Pershing, a great man, a great soldier and a great American, I shall be paying tribute to all the American boys who fell on France's soil to defend my country against all kinds of hegemonies in 1917 and again in 1944. And now that I am here in the United States, there is something I want to tell you with all my heart and that is this. Thank you, America. France has not forgotten. France remembers. But, Mr President, I have not come solely to convey this message of remembrance. I have come to tell you that we continue to uphold the same ideals of freedom, to be driven by the same will to face the dangers that confront us all together. Terrorism, war, hunger, poverty, new diseases, drugs and yet other dangers. In the face of so many trials, so many threats, we are resolved, as you are yourselves, to go on fighting and affirm the importance of our ideals. We are side by side in all these great struggles. Today, as we set forth on a technological adventure to conquer new fields of intelligence, biology and space, we must work together in an ever-growing spirit of trust, cooperation and true market competition. We have to work together to face the challenge of the future. With these feelings and in this spirit, I am entering into these two days of talks that will enable us, I am sure, Mr President, to find together with American leaders common guidelines for future action on the scale of the ambitions we share. Prime Minister Shirak and I are pleased to announce today an agreement that will foster international cooperative efforts in research, education and the exchange of technology dedicated to the eradication of AIDS. An agreement has been reached between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Institute Pasteur, which resolves the differences between the two over the patent rights for the AIDS antibody test kit. The two medical groups will share the patent, and each party will contribute 80 percent of the royalties received to establish and support an international AIDS research foundation. This foundation, which will also raise private funds, will sponsor AIDS-related research and will donate 25 percent of the funds that they receive to education and research of AIDS problems in less developed countries. This agreement opens a new era in Franco-American cooperation, allowing France and the United States to join their efforts to control this terrible disease in the hopes of speeding the development of an AIDS vaccine or cure. Mr. Prime Minister, Dr. Bowen and Dr. Doudenday, we thank you all and I hope this is just one of the many cooperative efforts between our two countries in the years ahead. Jack? Well, the President said what should be said. I just want to add how glad I am about this agreement to fight against this terrific disease. We in the United States and France are very, very good and efficient scientists, and they will now work together and also create a foundation to fight against AIDS. And it's, I think, a great step to be successful in this very important battle. And I'm very glad about it. And I thank very much the Department of Health of the United States and L'Institut Pasteur de Paris for all what they have done. All right. That's all.