The President's Trip to the Federal Republic of Germany Remarks on Arrival at the White House.

THE VICE PRESIDENT. Mr. President, Rosalynn, and Amy:

We're delighted to welcome you back home again from an extraordinarily successful trip. I think if you asked Americans what concerned them most, it would be inflation, economic growth, the need to deal with energy. And your success on all counts in this most effective international economic summit is something that thrills us all.

We were also very gratified by the very strong and specific steps that the Western industrial democracies will now take against air piracy and terrorism. And also, I know that all Americans stood solidly behind you when you visited Berlin and reaffirmed the longstanding and unwavering commitment of the American people to the continuing freedom of that city.

Mr. President, we're delighted to have you back from this most successful trip.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much.

When I was far from home in West Germany, there were two basic issues that were constantly on my mind. One was the strength and the freedom of the Western World. I told the people in Bonn, Frankfurt, throughout West Germany, that their security was our security, because we know that the defense of the United States itself is dependent upon the strength of the NATO Alliance.

We have 300,000 members of the American Armed Forces in Europe—in the Marines, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Army. I was able to visit with some of those, to talk to them personally, to talk to their families. They serve there at great personal sacrifice, but they know their purpose in life. They recognize why they make that sacrifice. They are there not only to defend territory but to defend the spirit of freedom.

We saw a demonstration of that spirit in a very exciting visit to West Berlin, a free city that could be called an island of liberty. There was an outpouring of friendship there as I rode through the streets, a demonstration that the Berliners, the Germans, the Europeans know the value of our partnership. I think the impression that went through my mind in those exciting moments was that we define ourselves by the values that we are willing to sacrifice to defend, and the values that we defend in Europe can indeed make all Americans proud.

The other basic issue was the interdependence in the economic world. I met with the leaders of six other great nations to try to ensure a better life for people of our own country, a higher standard of living, more jobs, lower costs for the goods that we consume.

I can tell you in complete candor that our allies in other nations were willing to make economic sacrifices for the good of us all, so that we might sell our own products more successfully, that we might have in that way more jobs for the people of this country.

We made promises also that I intend to keep: to hold down inflation and to meet the greatest single concern of others, and that is the excessive waste of energy in this country and the excessive imports of foreign oil.

We recognize the strength of the free world. We have some problems that we've addressed very thoroughly. But overall our feeling was one of confidence, of mutual purpose, of the willingness to address the difficult issues without timidity and without fear.

So, to summarize, we realize that freedom is priceless. We realize that our own well-being at home is dependent upon the partnership that we enjoy with wonderful allies around the world. It was a good trip for us. I was proud to represent the greatest nation on Earth. And we are very glad to be home. Thank you very much.