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Ambassador Timken Presents Credentials to German President Köhler and Meets with Foreign Minister Fischer

September 2, 2005

Ambassador Timken and Federal President Köhler. (Photo: BPA)

Ambassador William Robert Timken, Jr. presented his diplomatic credentials as President Bush's representative in Germany to Federal President Horst Köhler on September 2, 2005 at the Guesthouse of the Federal President. Shortly after the ceremony, Ambassador Timken met with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. At the meeting, Minister Fischer reiterated German government offers of assistance for the victims of Hurricane Katrina made earlier in the day by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.


Press Conference Following Meeting with Foreign Minister Fischer
Berlin, September 2, 2005
Remarks by Ambassador Timken

Thank you, Minister Fischer,

I am very happy to be here in Berlin. I wish it were at a better time than the tragedy in New Orleans, but I am honored that President Bush has asked me to represent the United States in Germany.

On behalf of the President and all Americans, Minister Fischer, I would like to thank Chancellor Schroeder and you for your condolences and the assistance from the German government in dealing with the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. Residents of the Gulf Coast affected by the hurricane have lost their loved ones, lost their homes, and been displaced from their communities of long-standing. The concrete offers of support -- such as the much needed materials as medical supplies, search and rescue equipment, and water treatment facilities -- that you and the German government have offered to me today at our meeting is very much appreciated; and I will be conveying this to Washington immediately after we're finished.

I would also like to thank the German people for their pledges of support and the overwhelming outpouring of sympathy that we have received. In the past few days, we have received phone calls, letters, emails from people from all walks of life from every part of the country. Those sincere and heartfelt condolences are evidence, I believe, of the depth and the strength of our relationship.

I appreciate the opportunity to meet with you so soon after presenting my credentials to Bundespräsident Köhler today, and I look forward to working with you, Minister Fischer, and your colleagues in the German government to strengthen bilateral cooperation on the broad range of issues that we face today. Effective U.S.-German cooperation is in both of our two countries’ national interests -- and I believe it is also very much in the interest of the world.

Post World War II experience has shown that when the United States and Germany work together, we are a powerful force in support of peace, prosperity and democracy around the globe. The global challenges of the 21st Century – terrorism, nuclear proliferation, failing states, hunger, poverty, international crime, and HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, as well as natural disasters, now define the transatlantic agenda.

These are indeed times of great challenge but also great promise. I am an optimist, and the world looks to America and to Germany for leadership.

As I said in my testimony before the United States Senate, “I am convinced that the next few years will be decisive for the future of the transatlantic relationship. I will do my very best to contribute to making it successful.”

Thank you.

Minister Fischer: One question, since we both have other business this evening.

Question: Mr. Ambassador, the Chancellor in his speech emphasized that Germany is ready to give help in the event there is a concrete demand from the U.S. administration. Do you have any idea when this demand could come and in which branches of this offer it will come from?

Ambassador Timken: Well, we're a long way from New Orleans here. I'm very familiar with the city of New Orleans. It is a complex city in itself and I'm sure, from what we read and understand and know, that it is a very complex problem -- how to take care of the people and make sure that their suffering is ended as quickly as possible as well as improve the city. We will be forwarding this list. Obviously Germany, as the No. 3 economy in the world and a great country for technology, has some very important ideas and equipment, and I'm quite sure that as soon as people can decide what is required – we don't want to ask for unnecessary help – that we will be responding and I'm sure that, based on what the Germans have offered, there will be some things that are required.

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