TRANSCRIPT: ALBRIGHT AT HO CHI MINH CONSULATE GROUND-BREAKING
(U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City significant mile post)

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, laying the first brick for the new U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, called the event "another significant mile post in the development of U.S.-Vietnam relations."

Joined by U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Douglas "Pete" Peterson for the June 28 ceremony, Albright said: "I am honored to lay in the first brick of what will become the symbol and substance of America's first official diplomatic presence in a quarter century here in dynamic southern Vietnam."

"U.S.-Vietnamese ties have broadened steadily as we have been able to deal more and more successfully with the legacy of the past and thereby been able to focus more and more of our attention on the promise of the future," she said. "And it will be a very, very busy future."

Following is the official text of their remarks:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Hong Kong)

June 29, 1997

REMARKS BY
SECRETARY MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT
GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY AT CONSULATE SITE
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
June 28, 1997

AMBASSADOR PETERSON: Good morning. Your Excellency, Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee, Vu Hung Viet, Your Excellency Ambassador Vu Hai Bong, distinguished guests, I am very pleased to be here at this historic event, my first official public appearance in Ho Chi Minh City. I can think of no happier occasion at which to begin my official duties here. I am doubly honored today, first by the presence of so many distinguished representatives of the government of Vietnam and of this beautiful city, particularly that of Deputy Chairman Viet whose support for the construction of this beautiful building is deeply appreciated. I want to thank Canadian Ambassador Christine Desloges and all the Consul Generals accredited here, academia, business, the American community. I am especially honored by the presence of our Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

Secretary Albright was nominated by the President, confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in as the 64th Secretary of State on January 23, 1997. She is the first female Secretary of the United State and the highest ranking woman in the United States Government.

Prior to her appointment, Secretary Albright served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations and concurrently as a member of the National Security Council. As an educator, she was a research professor of international affairs and director of women in the foreign service program at Georgetown University. She is the mother of three beautiful daughters. She is a woman steeled by her experiences in war, enlightened by work in academia who has demonstrated great wisdom as a public servant. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you the Honorable Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State of the United States.

SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much. Ambassador Peterson, our distinguished friends from Vietnam, members of the diplomatic community, friends and guests, I really am delighted to be here this morning. As some of you know, I have had a little experience lately with opening days. This is, however, the first time at any ceremony that I have been asked to throw out the first brick. More accurately, I am honored to lay in the first brick of what will become the symbol and substance of America's first official diplomatic presence in a quarter century here in dynamic southern Vietnam.

The establishment of this Consulate, and its sister Consulate in San Francisco is another significant mile post in the development of U.S.-Vietnam relations. I want to express my special appreciation and thanks to the authorities here in Ho Chi Minh City who have been of enormous help in preparing the way for this new and magnificent facility.

We stand here in a historical spot and this Consulate-to-be reflects, in particular, the increasing multifaceted nature of our bilateral relationship. U.S.-Vietnamese ties have broadened steadily as we have been able to deal more and more successfully with the legacy of the past and thereby been able to focus more and more of our attention on the promise of the future. And it will be a very, very busy future. When this Consulate General is fully up and running, it will be one of our busiest visa issuing posts. We expect the Consulate to process between 16,000 to 20,000 immigrant visa applications and about 75,000 non-immigrant application per year.

It will provide needed services to the more than 3,000 Americans who live in the area and the tens of thousands annually who visit. It will improve our ability to monitor the effort to achieve our highest priority in Vietnam which is to obtain the fullest possible accounting of Americans still missing or otherwise unaccounted for from the war in Southeast Asia.

It will enhance our capacity to pursue concerns on human rights. It will assist the American business community which is concentrated here in the south and it will accelerate refugee re-processing which has been an important humanitarian goal.

For Ambassador Peterson, a brick from the building in which he was once imprisoned has become a symbolic cornerstone of rebuilding in Vietnam -- re-building not prisons, but businesses and hospital and schools. Re-building, as well, a structure of cooperation between two peoples on a shared journey from tragic conflict to deepening mutual respect.

It is in the same spirit that I will lay in a brick as a symbol of America's renewed diplomatic presence, and of America's commitment to continued progress towards full reconciliation and normalization between our people and the people of Vietnam.

And now the task.

AMBASSADOR PETERSON: On this occasion, the Secretary will lay this brick which will become part of the permanent building when constructed which states, "Site Dedicated by Madeleine K. Albright, June 28, 1997."

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