U.S. Efforts To Promote The Rule of Law

US Department of State Dispatch, Nov, 1998

October 29, 1998

Remarks at the Condon-Falknor Distinguished Lecture, University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington.

Thank you, Dr. McCormick, for that introduction. Officials of the university, members of the faculty, students of the law school and the Jackson School of International Studies, guests, and friends: I am delighted to be here and honored to participate in the Condon-Falknor Lecture Series.

I happen not to be an attorney, but I am known around my household as the mother of all lawyers. I have not one, but two daughters who are lawyers, not to mention two sons-in-law. So I feel right at home.

I also love academic surroundings because, in my former life, I was a professor. And after spending the last week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, I have concluded that when it comes to lectures, it is, indeed, more blessed to give than to receive.

This afternoon, while speaking to community leaders in the port of Seattle, I thought to myself that I have always associated this part of the country and especially the State of Washington with the future. As the career of your great Senator, Henry Jackson, attests, the Evergreen State has always been a little bit ahead in understanding the importance of American leadership abroad. Since before we were a country, Americans have looked west. Here in Washington, when you look west, you see the East. And you know that, in our era, the vast Pacific that once separated America from the outside world has become little more than a pond.

With this reality in mind, I want to discuss with you some of the choices that we as a nation face. For nations are like people. Each must choose whether to live selfishly and complacently or to act with courage and faith.

We are privileged to reside in a country that, through most of this century, has chosen the latter course--to lead. So that today, we are helping to shape events in every region on every continent in every corner of the world.

We exercise this leadership not out of sentiment but out of necessity. For we Americans want to live, and we want our children to live, in peace, prosperity, and freedom. But as the new century draws near, we cannot guarantee these blessings for ourselves if others do not have them as well. One way to make progress toward that goal is to promote the rule of law. And this evening, I would like to discuss our efforts to do precisely that.

Law is a theme that ties together the broad goals of our foreign policy. It is at the heart of virtually everything we do at the Department of State--from the negotiation of arms control treaties to seeking a fair deal for our salmon fishermen to guaranteeing that the intellectual property rights of our software companies are protected. And one of the great lessons we have learned is that the rule of law and global prosperity go hand in hand.

Five years ago, in this city, President Clinton brought together for the first time the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Those leaders agreed to pursue economic rules of the game that would bring down barriers to trade, increase investment, promote growth, and open new opportunities from Seattle to Singapore and from Santiago to Seoul. There followed, in our country, a period of sustained growth that has created record numbers of jobs, boosted wages, and enabled our people to look forward with confidence and hope.

The Clinton Administration has worked hard to spur this growth. Since the President took office, we have negotiated more than 250 agreements to increase beneficial trade. These efforts have paid off, especially here in Washington, where the value of exports per person is the nation's highest and one out of every four jobs depends on trade.

Our goal is to create a legal framework for fair trade and sound investment that will open markets and lead to long-term economic health in America and around the world. These efforts will continue at the APEC summit in Malaysia next month.

At the same time, the global financial crisis requires that we focus not only on the rules governing international trade but also on the rules governing the regulation and management of economies within nations. For it is clear that an insufficient commitment to the rule of law in key countries was a major contributor to the current crisis.

In this context, the rule of law means having governments that answer to voters. It means having financial institutions that are accountable to customers, stockholders, and regulators. It means having contracts that are enforceable in courts that are impartial. It means having a system for collecting taxes that is effective and fair.

Above all, it means recognizing corruption as the insatiable parasite that it is. In the movie Wall Street, Gordon Gekko declares that "greed is good." But the greed that spawns crony capitalism and vast disparities of wealth within a society is not good. Nor is it sustainable. For if a country wants to attract long-term investment, it must create a climate in which the rule of law is respected and enforced.