Partial Text of President’s Security Council Remarks

Here are exerpts from President Bush’s remarks to the U.N. Security Council on Friday:

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your key role in convening this first-ever summit of the United Nations Security Council.

Fellow members and Mr. Secretary General, congratulations to you, sir, as you take office at this time of tremendous challenge and opportunity. And for the United States, it’s a high honor to participate, to speak at this history-making event. We meet at a moment of new beginnings for this institution and really for every member nation.

And for most of its history, the United Nations was caught in a Cold War crossfire. And I think back to my days here, in the early ‘70s, as a permanent representative, of the way then polemics displaced peacekeeping. And long before I came onto the scene and long after I left, the U.N. was all too often paralyzed by cruel ideological divisions and the struggle to contain Soviet expansion.

And today all that’s changed. In the collapse of imperial communism and the end of the Cold War breathe new life into the United Nations. And it was just one year ago that the world saw this new, invigorated United Nations in action, as this council stood fast against aggression and stood for the sacred principles enshrined in the U.N. Charter.

And now it’s time to step forward again, make the internal reforms, accelerate the revitalization, accept the responsibilities necessary for a vigorous and effective United Nations. . . .

Today, for these brief remarks, I’ll talk not on the economic and social agenda . . . but rather I’ll mention the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts, destabilizing renegade regimes that are on the horizon, terrorism, human rights. They all require our immediate attention. The world also challenges us to strengthen and sustain positive change. And we must advance the momentous movement toward democracy and freedom . . . and expand the circle of nations committed to human rights and the rule of law.

It’s an exciting opportunity for our United Nations, and we must not allow it to slip away. Right now, across the globe the U.N. is working night and day in the cause of peace. And never before in its four decades have the U.N.’s Blue Helmets and Blue Berets been so engaged in the noble work of peacekeeping. . . .

We must be practical as well as principled as we seek to free people from the specter of conflict. We recognize every nation’s obligation to invest in peace. As conflicts are resolved and violence subsides, then the institutions of free societies can take hold. And as they do, they become our strongest safeguards against aggression and tyranny. . . .

We look to the secretary general to present to this council his recommendations to ensure effective and efficient peacekeeping, peacemaking and preventive diplomacy. And we look forward to exploring these ideas together. We have witnessed change of enormous breadth and scope, all in but a few short years. A remarkable revolution has swept away the old regimes from Managua to Moscow. But everywhere, free government and the institutions that give it form will take time to flourish and mature. . . .

Our changed world is a more hopeful world, indeed. But it is not absent those who would turn back the clock to the darker days of threats and bullying. And our world is still a dangerous world rife with far too many terrible weapons.

In my first address here to the United Nations as President, I challenged the Soviet Union to eliminate chemical weapons and called on every nation to join us in this crusade. . . . What greater cause for this great body--to make certain the world has seen the last of these terrible weapons. And so let us vow to make this year the year all nations at long last join to ban this scourge. . . . Our triumph in the Gulf is testament to the U.N.’s mission--that security is a shared responsibility. And today, this institution spearheads a quarantine against the outlaw regime of Saddam Hussein. It is the strong belief of my country that we must keep sanctions in place. . . .

As on all of the urgent issues I’ve mentioned today, progress comes from acting in concert, and we must deal resolutely with these renegade regimes, if necessary by sanctions or stronger measures, to compel them to observe international standards of behavior. We will not be blind to the dangers we still face. Terrorists and their state sponsors must know there will be serious consequences if they violate international law.

Two weeks ago, this council, in unity, sent a very strong message to Libya. And let me repeat today Resolution 731, passed unanimously by this body, by the Security Council, calls on Libya to comply fully with the requests of three states on this council. And I would just like to use this meeting today to call on Libya to heed the call of the Security Council of the United Nations. . . .

Today, we stand at another crossroads. For perhaps the first time since that hopeful moment in San Francisco, we can look at our charter as a living, breathing document. . . . Our mission is to make it strong and sturdy through increased dedication and cooperation. And I know that we are up to the challenge. . . .

So, may God bless the United Nations as it pursues its noble goal. Thank you, Mr. President.