YouSaid · the spoken record

Ronald Reagan

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS RONALD REAGAN

lines on the record: 71
first: 1987-09-24
most recent: 1988-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Some time ago the Czech dissident writer, Vaclav Havel, warned the world that "respect for human rights is the fundamental condition and the sole genuine guarantee of true peace". And Andrei Sakharov, in his Nobel Lecture, said: "I am convinced that international confidence, mutual understanding, disarmament, and International security are inconceivable without an open society with freedom of information, freedom of conscience, the right to publish, and the right to travel and choose the country In which one wishes to live." Freedom serves peace. The quest for peace must serve the cause of freedom. Patient diplomacy can contribute to a world In which both can flourish. We are heartened by new prospects for improvement in East-West and, particularly. United States-Soviet relations.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“You must hold free and fair national elections. The media must be truly free - not censored or ' intimidated or crippled by indirect measures such as the denial of newsprint or threats against journalists or their families. Exiles must be allowed to return, to minister, to live, to work, and to organize politically. Then, when persecution of religion has ended and the jails no longer contain political prisoners, national reconciliation and democracy will be possible. Unless this happens, democratisation will be a fraud. And until it happens, we will press for true democracy by supporting those fighting for it. Freedom in Nicaragua, or Angola, or Afghanistan, or Cambodia, or Eastern Europe, or South Africa or anyplace else on the globe is not just an internal matter.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“In this 200th year of our own Constitution, we know that real democracy depends on the safeguards of an institutional structure that prevents a concentration of power. It is that which makes rights secure. The temporary relaxation of controls - which can later be tightened - is not democratisation. Again, to the Sandinistas, I say: we continue to hope that Nicaragua will become part of the genuine democratic transformation that we have seen throughout Central America in this decade. We applaud the principles embodied in the Guatemala agreement, which links the security of the Central American democracies to democratic reform in Nicaragua. Now is the time for you to shut down the military machine that threatens your neighbours and assaults your own people. You must end your stranglehold on internal political activity.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“This is why, despite a billion dollars in Soviet-bloc aid last year alone, despite the largest and best equipped army in Central America, you face a popular revolution at home. It is why the democratic resistance is able to operate freely deep in your heartland. But this revolution should come as no surprise to you. I' is only the revolution you promised the people, and that you then betrayed. The goal of United States policy towards Nicaragua is simple. It is the goal of the Nicaraguan people and the freedom fighters as well: it is democracy - real free, pluralistic, constitutional democracy. Understand this: we will not, and the world community will not, accept phoney "democratisation" designed to mask the perpetuation of dictatorship.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“I pledge that, once the Soviet Union shows convincingly that it is ready for a genuine political settlement, the United States is ready to be helpful. Let me add one final note on this matter. Pakistan, in the face of enormous pressure and intimidation, has given sanctuary to Afghan refugees. We salute the courage of Pakistan and the Pakistani people. They deserve strong support from all of us. Another regional conflict we all know is taking place in Central America - in Nicaragua. To the Sandinista delegation here today I say: Your people know the true nature of your regime. They have seen their liberties suppressed. They have seen the promises of 1979 go unfulfilled. They have seen their real wages and personal income fall by half - yes, half - since 1979, while your Party elite live lives of privilege and luxury.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Those proposals have failed the only significant test: they have been rejected by the Afghan people. Every day the resistance grows in strength. It is an indispensable patty In the quest for a negotiated solution. The world community must continue to insist on genuine self-determination prompt and full Soviet withdrawal and the return of the refugees to their homes in safety and honour. The attempt may be made to pressure a few countries to change their vote this year, but this body# I know, will vote overwhelmingly as every year before, for Afghan independence and freedom. We have noted General Secretary Gorbachev's statement of readiness to withdraw. In April I asked the Soviet Union to set a date this year when this withdrawal would begin. I repeat that request now, in this forum for peace.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The United States hopes the Soviets will join the other members of the Security Council in vigorously seeking an end to a conflict that should never have begun, should have ended long ago, and has become one of the great tragedies of the post-war era. Elsewhere in the region, we see the continuing Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. After nearly eight years, a million casualties, nearly 4 million others driven into exile, and more intense fighting than ever, it is time for the Soviet Union to leave. The Afghan people roust have the right to determine their own future free of foreign coercion. There is no excuse for prolonging a brutal war or propping up a regime whose days are clearly numbered. That regime offers political proposals that pretend compromise, but really would ensure the perpetuation of the regime's power.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“When the tension diminishes, so will our presence. The United States is gratified by many recent diplomatic developments - the unanimous adoption of Security Council resolution 598 (1987), the Arab League's statement at its recent meeting in Tunis, and the Secretary-General's visit. Yet problems remain. The Soviet Union helped in drafting and reaching an agreement on Security Council resolution 598 (1987). But outside the Security Council, the Soviets have acted differently. They called for removal of our navy from the Gulf, where it has been for 40 years. They made the false accusation that somehow the United States - rather than the war itself - is the source of tension in the Gulf. Such statements are not helpful. They divert attention from the challenge facing us all - a just end to the war.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“If it is negative, the Council has no choice but rapidly to adopt enforcement measures. For 40 years the United States has made clear its vital interest in the security of the Persian Gulf and the countries that border it. The oil reserves there are of strategic importance to the economies of the free world. We are committed to maintaining the free flow of this oil and to preventing the domination of the region by any hostile Power. We do not seek confrontation or trouble with Iran or anyone else. Our objective is now, and has been at every stage, finding a means to end the war with no victor and no vanquished. The Increase in out naval presence in the Gulf does not favour one side or the other. It is a response to heightened tensions and followed consultations with our friends in the region.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“This month marks the beginning of the eighth year of the Iran-Iraq war. Two months ago the Security Council adopted a mandatory resolution demanding a cease-fire, withdrawal, and negotiations to end the war. The United States fully supports implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987), as we support the Secretary-General's recent mission. We welcomed Iraq's acceptance of that resolution, and remain disappointed at Iran's unwillingness to accept it. In that regard, I know that the President of Iran will be addressing representatives tomorrow. I take this opportunity to call upon him clearly and unequivocally to state whether Iran accepts Security Council resolution 598 (1987) or not. If the answer is positive, it would be a welcome step and a major breakthrough.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Some believe in dictatorship - whether by one man, one party, one class, one race, or one vanguard. To those Governments I would only say that the price of oppression is clear. Your economies will fall farther and farther behind. Your people will become more restless. Is it not better to listen to the people's hopes now, rather than their curses later? And yet, despite our differences, there is one common hope that brought us all to make this common pilgrimage - the hope that mankind will one day beat its swords into the hope of peace. In no place on Earth today is peace more in need of friends than in the Middle East. Its people's yearning for peace is growing. The United States will continue to be an active partner in the efforts of the parties to come together to settle their differences and build a just and lasting peace.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“So this is where I believe we can find the map to the world's future - in the hearts of ordinary people in their hopes for themselves and their children and in their prayers as they lay themselves and their families to rest each night. These simple people are the giants of the Earth, the true builders of the world and shapers of the centuries to come. And if Indeed they triumph, as I believe they will, we will at last know a world of peace and freedom, opportunity and hope, and, yes, of democracy - a world in which the spirit of mankind at last conquers the old, familiar enemies of famine, disease, tyranny, and war. This is my vision - America's vision I recognize that some Governments represented in this Hall have other ideas. Some do not believe in democracy or in political, economic, or religious freedom.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“This "informal economy", as the researchers all it, is the principal supplier of many goods and services, and often the only ladder for upward mobility. In the capital city it accounts for almost all public transportation and most street markets. And the researchers concluded that, thanks to the informal economy, "The poor can work, travel, and have a roof over their heads". They might have added that, by becoming underground entrepreneurs themselves or by working for them, the poor have become less poor and the nation itself richer. Those who advocate statist solutions to development should take note - the free market is the other path to development and the one true path. And, unlike many other paths, it leads somewhere. It works.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“There has been much talk in the halls of this building about the "right to development". But more and more the evidence is clear that development is not itself a right. It is the product of rights: the right to own property; the right to buy and sell freely; the right to contract; the right to be free of excessive taxation and regulation, of burdensome government. There have been studies that determine that countries with low tax rates have greater growth than those with high rates. We are all familiar with the phenomenon of the "underground economy". The scholar Hernando de Soto and his colleagues have examined the situation of one country - Peru - and described an economy of the poor that bypasses crushing taxation and stifling regulation.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The nations of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Korea and Taiwan have created the true economic miracle of the last two decades, and in each of them much of the magic came from ordinary people who succeeded as entrepreneurs. In Latin America, this same lesson of free markets, greater opportunity and growth is being studied and acted on. President Sarney of Brazil spoke for many others when he said that "Private initiative is the engine of economic Development. In Brazil we have learned that every time the state's penetration in the economy increases, our liberty decreases." Yes, policies that release to flight ordinary people's dreams ate spreading around the world. From Colombia t Turkey to Indonesia, Governments are cutting taxes, reviewing their regulations, and opening opportunities for initiative.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“And many of our new high technologies were first developed in the garages of fledgling entrepreneurs. Yet America is not the only or perhaps even the best example of the dynamism and dreams that the freeing of markets set free. In India and China, freer markets for farmers have led to an explosion in production. In Africa. Governments are rethinking their policies, and where they ate allowing greater economic freedom to farmers, crop production has improved. Meanwhile, in the newly industrialized countries of the Pacific Rim, free markets in services and manufacturing as well as agriculture have led to a soaring of growth and standards of living.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“But this world-wide movement to democracy is not the only way in which simple, ordinary people are leading us in this room - we who are said to be the makers of history - leading us Into the future. Around the world, new businesses, new economic growth, new technologies are emerging from the workshops of ordinary people with extraordinary dreams. Here in the United States entrepreneurial energy - reinvigorated when we cut taxes and regulations - have fuelled the current economic expansion. According to scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, three quarters of the more than 13.5 million new jobs that we have created in this country since the beginning of our expansion rate from businesses with fewer than 100 employees - businesses started by ordinary people who dared to take a chance.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Haiti, too, is making a transition. Some despair when these new young democracies face conflicts or challenges, but growing pains are normal in democracies. The United States had them - as has every other democracy on earth. In Latin America, too, one can hear the voices of freedom echo from the pea з and across the plains. It is the song of ordinary people marching, not in uniforms and not in military file, but, rather, one by one in simple, everyday working clothes - marching to the polls. Ten years ago, only a third of the people in La in America and the Caribbean lived in democracies or in countries that were turning to democracy. Today over 90 per cent do.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Neither is it in national reserves of blood and iron or on the other hand, of money and industrial capacity, although military and economic strength are also, of course, crucial. We begin with something that is far simpler and yet far more profound - the human heart. All over the world today, the yearnings of the human heart are redirecting in course of international affairs, putting the lie to the myth of materialism and historical determinism. We have only to open our eyes to see the simple aspirations of ordinary people writ large on the record of our times. Last year in the Philippines, ordinary people rekindled the spirit of democracy and restored the electoral process. Some said they had performed a miracle, and, if so, a similar miracle - a transition to democracy - is taking place in the Republic of Korea.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Now diplomacy, of course, is a subtle and nuance craft - so much so that it is said that when one of the most wily diplomats of the nineteenth century passed away, other diplomats asked, on reports of his death, "What do you suppose the old fox meant by that?" But true statesmanship requires not merely skill but something greater, something we call vision, a grasp of the present and of the possibilities of the future. I have come here today to map out for you my own vision of the world's future - one, I believe, that, in its essential elements, is shared by all Americans. And I hope those who see things differently will not mind if I say that we in the United States believe that the place to look first for the shape of the future is not in continental masses and sea lanes, although geography is obviously, of great importance.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Let me first welcome the Secretary-General back from his pilgrimage for peace in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands have already fallen in the bloody conflict between Iran and Iraq. All men and women of goodwill pray that the carnage can soon be stopped, and we pray that the Secretary-General proves to be not only a pilgrim but also the architect of a lasting peace between those two nations. Mr. Secretary-General, the United States supports you, and may God guide you in your labours ahead. Like the Secretary-General, all of us here today are on a kind of pilgrimage. We come from every continent, every race and most religions to this great Hall of hope where, in the name of peace, we practise diplomacy.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)