United States Diplomatic Mission to Germany

As prepared for delivery.

American Chamber of Commerce Thuringia
New Year’s Reception
Thuringia State Chancellery, Erfurt
January 26, 2011
Ambassador Philip D. Murphy

Thank you, Fred.
Frau Ministerpräsidentin Lieberknecht,
Herr Oberbürgermeister Doht,
Herr Oberbürgermeister Schröter,
Herr Hertwig,
verehrte Mitglieder und Freunde der American Chamber of Commerce in Thüringen:

Ich wünsche Ihnen allen ein glückliches neues Jahr.

Es ist mir ein Vergnügen, heute Abend hier bei Ihnen zu sein. Im letzten Jahr habe ich auch eine Einladung zu Ihrem Neujahrsempfang erhalten und angenommen, musste dann aber leider sehr kurzfristig absagen. Ihren Empfang habe ich also verpasst, aber Generalkonsulin Brucker und ihr ausgezeichnetes Team in unserem Konsulat in Leipzig haben später einen erneuten Besuch in Thüringen für mich organisiert. Es freut mich sehr, wieder in Ihrem wunderbaren Bundesland und der historischen Stadt Erfurt zu sein. Als ich Erfurt im vergangenen April besuchte, erfuhr ich etwas über die Geschichte der Stadt und dieses Raumes. Ich habe in Geschichte wohl doch nicht so gut aufgepasst, wie ich dachte, denn ich war erstaunt, welche Bedeutung dieser Raum für die deutsch-amerikanische Partnerschaft hat. Vielleicht konzentriere ich mich zu sehr darauf, Deutsch zu lernen. Apropos, Frau Ministerpräsidentin, ich habe gehört, dass Sie Mark Twain mögen und möchte Ihnen sagen, dass ich Deutsch keineswegs für eine schreckliche Sprache halte. Ich liebe es. Dennoch hoffe ich, dass Sie einverstanden sind, wenn ich auf Englisch fortfahre.

[Happy New Year! It is a pleasure to join you this evening.  I received and accepted an invitation to your New Year’s reception last year but unfortunately had to cancel at the last moment.  Although I missed your reception, Consul General Brucker and her great team at our Consulate in Leipzig re-scheduled a visit to Thuringia at a later date.  It is a pleasure to return to your wonderful state and to the historic city of Erfurt.    When I visited Erfurt last April, I learned about that history and about the history of this room.  I am obviously not as good a student of history as I thought I was because I was surprised to learn about the significance of this room to the German-American partnership.  Maybe I am putting too much effort into being a student of the German language.   And incidentally, Minister President Lieberknecht, although I understand you are a fan of Mark Twain, let me say here that I do not think of German as an awful language.  I love it.   Nevertheless, I ask for your kind permission to carry on in English.]

And so, as I was saying, I was surprised to learn about the significance of the Staatskanzlei here in Erfurt to the trajectory of the German-American partnership.   In the spring of 1945, American troops used this building as their headquarters as they moved through Germany on the way to meeting up with Soviet allies.   A few short months later, on the 3rd of July, the building changed hands and became the regional headquarters of the Soviet occupying forces.  The tone of the conversation between allies was already changing and an Iron Curtain was beginning to descend through Europe.  There were, of course, many pieces to the mosaic of German history and the roles that both my country and the Soviet Union played here; but there is one important lesson of history to be learned here – out of dictatorship, war, repression, and division were born a concept of global partnership and citizenship.  The partnership between our two countries has grown over the past seventy years from adversaries, to occupiers, to rebuilders, and here in the East to almost strangers.  And let me also add that today, we are here in this place, at this time because of the courage of those who stood up and took risks to say that freedom is a right for all people.  Today we are in every sense of the word partners "auf augenhöhe"– true and free.  We may not always agree on the means to achieve an end, but we very rarely disagree on our final goals.  I have just recently seen very vivid proof of how we work and learn from each other.  Earlier this month, I visited Afghanistan where I had the opportunity to meet with German soldiers and civilians who are working alongside Afghanis, Americans and many other nationalities to meet those important goals in service of our common values.  I know there are times when my government makes decisions that some Germans didn’t agree with; but I also know – and you know  – that even those who disagree are still, first and foremost, friends of America.

By the same token, as President Obama very wisely points out, Democrats and Republicans are, first and foremost, Americans.  It is no secret that the United States faces a range of domestic and international challenges; and that after the congressional midterm elections last November, many people – both in and outside of my country’s government, and in and outside of the United States – predict a situation of gridlock; a situation that would make it very difficult for the Obama Administration to move forward on any of the pressing issues of the day.   The debates running through the campaigns leading up to the elections – and the results themselves, which President Obama himself tellingly characterized as a “shellacking”– certainly drew attention to the range of opinion about possible solutions.   But just as Germany has a vibrant and dynamic multi-party landscape, in the United States, the two parties exist for a reason. There are real philosophical differences – deeply held principles – which each party embraces.   Rancorous moments in American politics are nothing new.  Think back to the original Boston Tea Party back in 1773. 

The tragic shootings in Arizona earlier this month placed the discussion about partisanship and the necessity for civility and principled disagreements on a different level, but even before Tucson, there was a post-election level of responsibility that in fact augurs well for cooperation.  The American people have never voted for gridlock or partisanship. They vote for government leaders who focus not on their own jobs as President or Governor or member of Congress or any other elected position – but on the jobs of the American people.  Responsible government leaders and politicians share a common responsibility for their constituents and the stewardship of their constituencies.  That means finding common ground on the challenges facing our country.

In both the United States and Germany, there has been a lot of discussion about the partisan atmosphere in the U.S. Congress.  People have compared the midterm status of previous administrations and looked for trends.  People have also compared the midterm status of previous administrations in terms of accomplishments.  Here I believe the Obama Administration has a lot to be proud of: new rules for Wall Street, an arms treaty with Russia, an end to the "don't ask don't tell" policy toward homosexuals in the military, a bipartisan accord to keep taxes low and extend aid to the unemployed, not to mention health care reform.  In what for some might appear to be a prime example of partisanship and politics, the new Congress is now re-visiting the health care legislation.  That depends how you look at it.  This is also an opportunity for the President and his team to work with the Congress around areas where the law can be improved. 

That message of bipartisan discussion and debate set the tone of the President’s State of the Union message yesterday evening.  In laying out his agenda for the next two years, President Obama outlined his resolve to work with Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives – with anyone who has a good idea and the commitment to see it through.  As the recent tax compromise showed, negotiations between the parties offer the potential for collaboration.  There are lessons learned here as well from past presidencies, including the administrations of Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  In this situation, we can learn more from Ronald Reagan whose centennial we celebrate next week than from the slogan popularized by his wife, Nancy. It is not always the best policy to “just say no.”

Republicans and Democrats will have to come together on ways to address the number one issue concerning Americans right now – and that is the economy. 

The American people want government to come together around strategies to accelerate the recovery and get people back to work. They also want government to confront the long-term deficits that cloud our future.   In the so-called lame duck session between the November mid-term elections and the start of the new Congress, Democrats and Republicans came together across party lines to pass a package of tax and unemployment insurance revisions that will spur jobs, businesses and growth.   There are still differences of opinion about the tax cuts. That debate has not gone away and it will continue in 2011.  Many Democrats, the President included, do not believe that it makes sense to provide tax cuts to people above a certain income when the deficit is growing.  Many Republicans have equally strong opinions about other provisions.  Overall, however, the legislation that was passed is good for growth, good for jobs, good for working and middle class families, and good for businesses looking to invest and expand their workforce.  

It also showed that the American federal government is not doomed to gridlock.  There is still, however, much left to be done.  And as President Obama explained yesterday, one of the major issues on his agenda will be the economy.

And so, in the next two years, expect serious debate about the budget and the increasingly urgent question about how to cut the programs that are not working while making the investments that are vitally necessary.  I am talking about investments in education, research and development; or, in other words, all the things that create an innovative and competitive economy.  But when President Obama says that the United States is going to have to “out-innovate, out-compete and out-educate other nations,” do not forget for a minute that a competitive America is important for the world – especially for countries like Germany with whom we share such strong trade and investment ties. 

We are past the crisis point in the economy – perhaps not as far down the road as Germany – but over the next two years, President Obama will not have to focus on rescuing the economy from potential disaster.  The focus will be on jobs and growth.  That means making sure that in every sector, from manufacturing to clean energy to high-tech to biotech, the government will need to make sure that it is a good partner – either as a facilitator or a catalyst – for the private sector.  Because it is clear that the private sector has to be the driving force in the recovery.   In many of these areas, Germany is either a model or a partner – or both.  

A focus on jobs and growth also means dealing effectively and responsibly with both debts and deficits.  Here too, trade and investment play a central role.  A year ago, President Obama launched a new National Export Initiative.  It addresses imbalances in U.S. trade and current accounts and sets the ambitious, but attainable, goal of doubling exports within five years.  It also emphasizes overall the importance of global trade and investment for all countries.  And finally, the National Export Initiative recognizes that, as a country, America has gone too far down the road of de-industrialization and must now re-industrialize.

Deindustrialisierung, Reindustrialisierung, Nationale Exportinitiative, Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen – Frau Ministerpräsidentin Lieberknecht, an all diesen Wörtern hätte Mark Twain seine Freude gehabt. Vielleicht hätte er, um die Bedeutung des Konzepts zu unterstreichen, sogar eine Möglichkeit gefunden, sie alle zu einem Wort zu verbinden.

[De-industrialization, re-industrialization, National Export Initiative, job creation – these are all words, Minister President Lieberknecht, that Mark Twain would have had enjoyed.  Possibly to emphasize the importance of the concept, he might have even have found a way to make one word out of all them.]

Regardless of how you describe the pre-conditions required for economic recovery in the United States, American prosperity is important for Germany.  German prosperity is also important for the United States.  History has taught us in many different ways and at many different times, that national prosperity creates the parameters for global security.   We have also learned that global security is dependent on a host of economic, but also political and social factors – at the local, national, and international levels.  One decade into this new century and two decades after the end of the Cold War, we see that there are more moving pieces on the playing field; and that individual players and teams are incrementally stronger, faster, and able to carry the ball further than ever before.  Germany is a prime example. During the Cold War, American foreign policy and military strategy was largely all about Germany.  Today Germany is one of America’s most important partners in addressing common global foreign policy goals that are important to both of our two countries.  I tell people all the time that the lion’s share of our relationship is now multilateral, as we work together to address problems around the globe.  I said earlier that Americans want their government to focus on the economy.  Americans also want their government to focus on their safety and security.  In both respects, Germany, the centerpiece of the European Union, is an anchor of our global diplomatic engagement.

This evening, I have focused for the most part on domestic and economic issues.  I would like to close with some comments on foreign policy.  There is an old saying that politics stop at the water’s edge.  That principle, that tradition of bipartisan support for the role of the United States in the world, is one we must continue to uphold.  In the past three months, the United States and the European Union have met at five successive summits – each one a reflection of the importance of the relationship. The NATO summit, an ISAF summit with troop and other contributors to Afghanistan, a NATO-Russia Council summit, US-EU summit, and the OSCE summit is Askana were unprecedented opportunities for engagement with our partners in Europe and Eurasia.

Another example of the bipartisan nature of congressional foreign policy negotiations beyond the water’s edge is the long-year participation of members of Congress from both sides of the aisle at the Munich Security Conference, alongside high-ranking members of the Administration.  This year will be no exception.  In addition to a large Congressional delegation, we are expecting Secretary Clinton and many members of the broader American foreign policy community – the same foreign policy community that, by the way, was absolutely convinced of the necessity of ratifying the new START treaty.  It is the most significant arms control agreement in nearly two decades; and the ratification in December at the end of the last Congress was a signal that Republicans and Democrats indeed do stand together on behalf of our security.  As with many of the achievements of the past two years, there were some who said it could not be done.  But it was done; and it is part of a tradition of which all Americans can be very proud.   It is also evidence that, again to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of President Obama’s political agenda have been greatly exaggerated. 

Americans are also very proud of the alliance that began 60 years ago and that has resulted in a Europe that is more unified, freer and more prosperous than ever before.  There have also been times when pundits reported on the demise of the transatlantic relationship.  In the post Cold War years, they talked about “the end of history.”  In the years following 9/11, they talked about a “parting of the ways,” about a partnership of mere convenience on its way to outright rivalry.  Well, Mars (or the United States) and Venus (Europe) have come back down to Planet Earth.  Today, with a strong and committed Germany at its core, Europe is America’s strongest ally.  American and European leaders recognize that cooperation and collaboration are absolutely critical to achieving the security objectives that we all share. 

Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit. Ich wünsche Ihnen ein glückliches, gesundes und erfolgreiches neues Jahr.

[Thank you for your attention and again, my best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.]