TEXT: GINGRICH 4/1 REMARKS TO JAPAN NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
(U.S.-Japan alliance cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy)

Washington -- The U.S. alliance with Japan is the cornerstone of American foreign policy and the most important bilateral relationship the United States has in the world, according to Newt Gingrich (Republican of Georgia), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Speaking at Japan's National Press Club April 1, Gingrich stressed that the U.S.-Japan alliance "is directed at no country, and it threatens no one."

"It does not depend upon the state of American relations with other countries in the region. It is the political and military dimension of an unconditional friendship between the American and Japanese people, and its strength reflects our common interests and common values," he said.

The strength of U.S.-Japan relations also rests upon the democratic values both countries share, according to Gingrich.

"It is sometimes said that the United States views Asia with a foreign perspective, seeking to impose Western values on Asian societies. Japan is the first and greatest refutation of that charge," he said. "It would be hard to imagine two nations with more divergent histories and cultural roots than ours. Yet we share the same aspirations and principles -- democracy, the rule of law, human rights, civil and religious liberties. These are not solely American or Western principles. They are also Japanese and, now, Korean and Taiwanese principles. Indeed, they are human principles.

"We believe our support of these universal values -- in Asia and around the world -- is not cultural imperialism. It is, indisputably, a reflection of our history, but it also honors and reflects aspirations that are deeply rooted in cultures as diverse as those found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America," Gingrich continued.

Although the United States and Japan have excellent cooperation on security issues, trade "remains an irritant" in the U.S.-Japan relationship, according to Gingrich.

"Although Japan is our second biggest trading partner, the United States continues to face frustration in seeking access to the Japanese market," he said. "Our two countries may have negotiated over twenty agreements on a broad range of topics over the past four years, but important differences remain in the automotive sector, telecommunications, paper products, agriculture, and photographic film, just to name a few."

Gingrich warned that seeking stronger economic growth through "predatory export policies and a restricted domestic market" will not only fail to reinvigorate Japan's economy, but also will increase trade tensions between the United States and Japan.

"The way to gain broader economic growth in both our countries is through a deeper commitment to economic freedom and deregulation," he said. "Deregulation and greater freedom for every business leader and entrepreneur -- not manipulation of the economy by the government -- will fuel robust economic growth and lead to closer economic ties between our countries.

"Pursuing deregulation will not only spur the domestic Japanese economy, it also will increase market access by removing current restrictions. Both will lead to a more equitable balance of trade between our two countries," Gingrich said.

Following is the as-delivered text of Gingrich's remarks:

(begin text)

SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NEWT GINGRICH'S ADDRESS TO
THE JAPAN NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

TOKYO, JAPAN
APRIL 1, 1997
(AS DELIVERED)

Thank you. It's been a privilege to come to Japan to talk about some of the most important issues facing our two countries and to reaffirm the centrality of the Japanese-American relationship.

Our relationship has been remarkably close over the last fifty years. The security arrangements involving Japan and the United States have been a bulwark of regional stability throughout the Cold War era, and they remain vital as we enter a new era that is in some ways more complex and just as dangerous.

Together, Japan and the United States represent the world's two largest economies, with a sometimes unhappy but always unparalleled trading relationship.

And in a world where democracy is on the march, our shared commitment to democratic values inspires our cooperation and enhances our joint impact throughout the region and the world.

I want to focus on the most important and enduring aspects of U.S.-Japanese relations -- the friendship and alliance between our two countries, our common economic interests, and the values and principles that we share as people.

I have taught and studied the history of many nations for many years, and I know of no more moving episode than the story of Japanese-American reconciliation after the Second World War. I might mention that both Marianne and I studied with Edward Deming, so we have a particular interest in the experience of Japan and its economic growth.

The ability of two great and proud nations to move from warfare and hatred to an unshakable friendship and alliance -- not merely between governments but between peoples -- is in my view the greatest success story of the postwar period. This alliance is, and will remain, the cornerstone of American foreign policy in Asia, the most important bilateral relationship we now enjoy in the world.

Our alliance is directed at no country, and it threatens no one. It does not depend upon the state of American relations with other countries in the region. It is the political and military dimension of an unconditional friendship between the American and Japanese people, and its strength reflects our common interests and common values.

The U.S. Congress clearly recognizes this reality, which is why a bipartisan consensus supports the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty. That consensus reflects the sentiment of the American people on the importance of the U.S.- Japanese relationship. Both Democrats and Republicans are committed to the continued presence of U.S. forces in the region, including dependable, bipartisan support for the forward basing of 100,000 U.S. troops in Northeast Asia.

We appreciate the strong support given by the Government of Japan and the Japanese people to United States Forces based in Japan, and in particular the commitment of the Japanese Government to the resolution of outstanding issues regarding basing of U.S. forces in Okinawa. Such support has been an important element in maintaining the strong military ties between our two countries.

Our visit to Korea has reminded me once again of the critical importance of theatre missile defense for the free nations of this region. I believe that the United States must develop and deploy an effective missile defense as a critical component of our own security and of the security of Japan and all of our allies.

Frankly, I am puzzled by questions about whether the U.S. will remain a power in the Pacific. In our congressional delegation, we have one representative from the state of Washington and three from California. Those states are as much in the Pacific as Shanghai or Pusan or Tokyo. Alaska stretches far into the North Pacific, and Hawaii is one-third of the way across the central Pacific from our western coast. The U.S. will remain a power in the Pacific because the U.S. is in the Pacific.

Furthermore, the U.S. is today the only global superpower. Our delegation represents a bipartisan commitment to the defense investment necessary to remain the world's uncontested leader. America's overhead satellites, aircraft carriers, submarines, B-2 bombers, and advanced conventional forces provide overwhelming superiority wherever they are focussed. In the next 30 years, we will increase our global reach and our ability to project power globally.

When our forces are needed they will provide decisive intelligence and military superiority for our allies. Combined with Japan's self defense force and its financial and political commitment to a continued U.S. presence in the region, we can provide decisive security for East Asia for the lifetime of every person in this room.

While we have exceptional cooperation on security issues, trade remains an irritant in our relationship. Although Japan is our second biggest trading partner, the United States continues to face frustration in seeking access to the Japanese market.

Our two countries may have negotiated over twenty agreements on a broad range of topics over the past four years, but important differences remain in the automotive sector, telecommunications, paper products, agriculture, and photographic film, just to name a few. Although our trade deficit with Japan had been declining, it has begun to increase substantially.

Understandably, Japan wants to boost economic growth. In an economy led by export industries, driving up exports becomes a simple answer. However, seeking stronger growth through predatory export policies and a restricted domestic market will not only fail to reinvigorate Japan's economy, it also will inflame trade tensions between our two countries.

In addition, I believe it would be equally disastrous to pursue a demand-led recovery through a lax monetary or fiscal policy. The result of such a flawed policy, as we in the U.S. know from our own experience, is not higher economic growth without inflation, but rather rising deficits and rampant inflation.

The way to gain broader economic growth in both our countries is through a deeper commitment to economic freedom and deregulation. Deregulation and greater freedom for every business leader and entrepreneur -- not manipulation of the economy by the government -- will fuel robust economic growth and lead to closer economic ties between our countries.

Pursuing deregulation will not only spur the domestic Japanese economy, it also will increase market access by removing current restrictions. Both will lead to a more equitable balance of trade between our two countries.

We recognize the impact of unwarranted regulation on our own economy. In the United States, a recent study estimated the cost of federal regulation at $700 billion, the equivalent of a fifty percent surcharge on total taxes imposed by the federal government. It is a hidden and indirect cost of government, but it is just as burdensome as an income tax or a value added tax.

Japan faces similar challenges, having just completed a review of the most recent three-year deregulation initiative. While the government has taken steps towards deregulation in areas like financial services and telecommunications, the Japanese economy remains overregulated. This overregulation disadvantages our imports and limits our investment opportunities, the primary source of tension in our relationship.

As we struggle with deregulation ourselves, we know the difficulty of clearing out entrenched policies. Protected constituencies resist any change that affects the advantage that government control provides to them. Political leaders often respond to popular pressure by enacting laws that protect citizens and communities -- at least temporarily -- from a free and unpredictable economy.

However, the resulting policies may actually have the opposite effect from what is intended. The economist Robert Samuelson argues that if political leaders strive too much to protect people from economic change, "They may sanction policies and practices that -- over long periods -- sow the very instability they seek to avoid."

The challenge of deregulation is often not in knowing what to do. It is in knowing how to do it. Any move toward deregulation must involve increasing the influence of directly elected representatives at the expense of an unaccountable bureaucracy.

For my entire life, I have heard politicians listen patiently to people's frustrations before explaining that they have little control over governmental bureaucracy. Here I am referring to the American politicians and the American bureaucracy. Again and again, I have seen people go to their elected representatives and bring evidence of some particularly harmful, arrogant, or wasteful behavior. They often only get sympathy, not action.

This attitude undermines the legitimate power and authority of elected officials, the agents of democracy. Elected representatives are directly responsible to the people, and they must guard their own ability to protect freedom.

In the United States House of Representatives, we have looked for ways to challenge destructive government regulations more directly.

One approach we have established is called Corrections Day. At regular times and under expedited procedures, the House of Representatives meets to rescind or amend regulations that are particularly flawed. Last year, seventeen laws overturning actions by the government became law as a result of the Corrections Day process.

Similarly, we enacted legislation last year that gives Congress the ability to review each new bureaucratic rule and to have the chance to overrule it. Agencies have to submit a report to Congress with each rule, stating what its cost would be and what impact it would have on the rights of individuals and local governments.

Together with these changes, we have made fundamental reforms to return power held by the central government to the state and local authorities. While we recognize the needs of commerce often require uniformity in the law, we also believe that important responsibilities of government are best served by the diversity of local control.

Last year, the Congress enacted legislation that returned much of the responsibility for social welfare programs to the states, reversing 60 years of government policy. We did this not only to remove a layer of government bureaucracy. We believe that different experiments across the states offer the best hope for finding solutions to difficult social problems.

Empowering elected representatives and reducing the reach of the central bureaucracy will clear the way for the deregulation that the economy needs and the voters will demand.

While recognizing the centrality of our security relationship and economic ties, I believe the most important impact of our alliance rests upon the democratic values we share. It is sometimes said that the United States views Asia with a foreign perspective, seeking to impose Western values on Asian societies. Japan is the first and greatest refutation of that charge. It would be hard to imagine two nations with more divergent histories and cultural roots than ours. Yet we share the same aspirations and principles -- democracy, the rule of law, human rights, civil and religious liberties. These are not solely American or Western principles. They are also Japanese and, now, Korean and Taiwanese principles. Indeed, they are human principles.

We believe our support of these universal values -- in Asia and around the world -- is not cultural imperialism. It is, indisputably, a reflection of our history, but it also honors and reflects aspirations that are deeply rooted in cultures as diverse as those found in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Look around the world today. We are in the third decade of a global democratic revolution. From Portugal and Spain in the mid-seventies, to Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union, the old oppressive regimes have been replaced with new democracies.

In some cases, like the former Soviet Union, political change preceded the creation of free markets, while in others, like the Republic of Korea, there was a substantial transformation of the economic system before political freedom gained root.

Yet each country found that freedom ultimately was irresistible. As Americans, we believe freedom has this power not because it is the gift of any government, but because it is a right bestowed by our Creator.

If you visit the memorial in Washington dedicated to our third President, Thomas Jefferson, you will find these words inscribed on the wall: "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them."

Let me repeat this because I think it is at the core of understanding America in the world. "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them."

If you walk across to the Lincoln Memorial, you will find etched in stone the Second Inaugural Address, which President Abraham Lincoln delivered near the end of our great Civil War in 1865. It's short enough to be on one wall, yet it refers to God twelve times.

If you read our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, you will find the fundamental belief that our Creator has given us the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This system of Creator-endowed rights based on self-evident truths is as current as Microsoft, biotechnology, and the space shuttle. However, its roots go back through our Founding Fathers to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, the creation of Roman law 300 years before Christ, the rise of Greek democracy 500 years before Christ, King David's establishment of Jerusalem as his capital 3000 years ago, and, ultimately, to the statement of God's law given to Moses in the earliest period of recorded history.

The belief in freedom has been at the heart of America's relationship with the world. For over 200 years, Americans have worked, fought, sweated, and bled to extend freedom to all people of all backgrounds from all races and countries of the world.

Today, the Japanese-American relationship represents an alliance of two ancient traditions with the common purpose of expanding freedom. If we can extend the reach of democracy in this region of the world, we will accomplish the stability which is the goal of our military partnership. If democracy flourishes in Asia, we inevitably will increase the opportunities available to our two economies. And, most importantly, if democracy triumphs we will make the blessings of liberty available not only to ourselves but to the rest of the world.

We have come a long way in the last fifty years. If we join hands, we can help the entire world go a long way in the next fifty years.

Thank you very much.

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