Meeting With Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of the Federal Republic of Germany Remarks to Reporters Following the Meeting.

THE PRESIDENT. To the American and the German press and to the people that you inform, I'd like to say that we are very delighted again to have Chancellor Helmut Schmidt coming here representing the Federal Republic of Germany, along with Hans-Dietrich Genscher and other members of his party who have meant so much to us during these recent years.

Although quite often the differences that exist between democratic nations and governments are highly publicized and receive a great deal of attention, it's good at a time like this to reemphasize the common basis on which we deal with international problems, the common approach that we have to these problems, the common goals that we seek to achieve, and the ties that bind our countries together and our people together in an unbreakable fashion. We share our commitment to democracy, to freedom, to peace, to the strength of our alliances, to unrestrained international trade, to the enhancement of the ideals that we share.

And I would like to point out today that during this last 4 years since I have been President, we've had a very fruitful and constructive relationship between myself and Chancellor Schmidt and between the two Governments of our great nations.

This is a time of looking to the future: the control of nuclear weapons, the bringing of peace to the Middle East, the proper dealing with the less developed nations of the world, the enhancement of international trade, the control of inflation, the management of the energy problem, the elimination of the waste of energy, and the construction of facilities for producing alternative forms of energy. All these kinds of questions we share, and the ultimate goals and, on almost every occasion, the means to reach those goals are a common commitment of our two people.

I'm very grateful that we've had the honor and the privilege and the assistance of this visit by Chancellor Schmidt, who's come here to receive a well-deserved award in New York, and I'm also grateful for the personal advice that he's always given to me and the common commitments that we represent among our people.

Chancellor Schmidt, it's an honor to have you in our country again. We look forward to many fruitful years of close cooperation with you and your Government, between our two nations, and we are very grateful for the common goals that we share and have done so well between our countries for the benefit of our people and the world.

Thank you very much. And I'd like to ask Chancellor Schmidt if he would say a few words.

THE CHANCELLOR. This time, Mr. President, I would like to use a little sheet of paper in answering your kind words, a sheet of paper which I've, myself, been working upon this morning.

I would like to thank you very much for what you said this morning, right now, here, and for the long period of cooperation that you and your administration had with our Government and with myself. To listen to you and to talk to you has always been, as much as today, a pleasure and has confirmed to us how close we are to each other, namely, the Federal Republic of Germany on the one hand and the United States of America, their two Governments, and last, but not least, the President and the German Chancellor as persons.

Ladies and gentlemen, I've often called our friendship unshakable, and I want to repeat this here and today in this place that embodies American power and American elegance and also at this time of change in the American Capital.

Your contribution toward the strengthening of the ties which bind us together has been and is significant. You have given the Atlantic relationship a high priority in the policies of your administration, Mr. President, from the very beginning, and you have kept it that way. Of course, the German-American friendship is a very essential ingredient of the Atlantic relationship. We have trusted each other in the past; we have relied upon each other in the past; in the present we shall, and will continue to do so in the future as well. And as long as this remains so, we do not need to lose confidence in our joint future.

Let me thank you, Mr. President, for what you have done and still do. Let me thank you for your friendship, for your trust, your help, your candor. And I would like to, in saluting to the American President, include his aides, secretaries, diplomats, soldiers, armed forces, all those Americans with whom we have worked together over the last 4 years, over the last 30 years, and will work together over the next 4 years and over the next 30 years.

I wish you very heartily all the best, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you, Chancellor Schmidt.