AMBASSADOR Robert Holmes Tuttle

Speeches, Remarks & Events

28 February 2007
Ambassador Tuttle and Mrs. Tuttle travel to Cardiff for St David's Day

Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle and Mrs. Tuttle traveled to Cardiff, Wales on February 28 in honor of day dedicated to St. David, the patron saint of Wales. During the visit, Ambassador Tuttle met with First Minister Rhodri Morgan and members of the National Assembly for Wales. In his remarks, Ambassador Tuttle carried President Bush's greetings wishing the Welsh everywhere a happy St David's Day. Ambassador Tuttle also discussed U.S. Welsh relations, and reaffirmed the strong ties between Wales and the United States.

	The Ambassador also delivered remarks to the Cardiff Business Club during a luncheon, noting that the U.S. is Wales' largest investor year-on-year. Some 180 American companies are operating in Wales.
Ambassador Robert Tuttle (right) meets with Rt. Hon Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the Welsh National Assembly.

Ambassador Tuttle and Mrs. Tuttle also toured Cardiff Castle, which gets thousands of American visitors a year and attended a performance by the Welsh National Opera at the Wales Millennium Centre.

Address by Ambassador Robert Tuttle to the European and External Affairs Committee of the Welsh National Assembly

(as prepared for delivery)

It is my honor and my privilege to address you in this magnificent building, so resplendent in the materials that literally make up the fabric of Wales.

One year ago, my wife and I came to this building on St. David's Day to represent the United States at your official opening ceremony. A grand occasion for an historic moment.

I then had the honor to be the guest speaker at a St. David's Day dinner with your compatriots in London, and I told them a story about John Adams.

In 1790, America's founding fathers selected a site along the Potomac River for their new capital city, including the residence for the president.

Like this building, it took eight years from conception to fruition - and it changed names in the process.

Thus, it was not President Washington who was to be the first to live in what eventually became known as the White House but our second President, John Adams.

As Adams moved in, he set out his hopes for that building in a letter to his wife. He wrote:

"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house, and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof!"

That quote is now inscribed over a mantle in the White House.

May the same apply to your new house!

I am confident that will be the case, because it is clear from any reading of early American history - from the many signers of the Declaration of Independence, to a long line of presidents - including Thomas Jefferson - that the Welsh played a crucial role in the development of what we know today as a radical approach to freedom and government.

But not only did Welsh people help build our government; they built our country's art and infrastructure through architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, and they helped to rebuild Europe 60 years ago through George Marshall and the recovery plan that bears his name.

In education, the founders of Harvard and Yale had Welsh roots, and started a tradition of knowledge-sharing that continues to this day, with the 2006 Fulbright Fellow in British history, Dr. Richard Allen, from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth.

Writers, financiers, and entertainers, and, saving best for last, my wife Maria, all have roots in this land of freedom-loving poets, minstrels, and warriors.

To me, the lyrical call of freedom from your "ancient land" to the United States, "where freedom rings," remains undiminished by distance, and unbroken by time, because I believe that those who have shared a dream of freedom, also share the future.

And the story of Wales is the story of the future.

If the history of the 20th century was about terrority and power, I believe the politics of the 21st century will be about nationhood, identity, and freedom.

And here, in this place, the Welsh people are once again shaping the most basic structures of a new government, and leading an ambitious and pragmatic people.

But rather than abandon your heritage in the face of external pressure, you have been refreshing your language, and updating your traditions.

You are building new industries to compete in a global marketplace, by creating thriving innovative businesses - while protecting your communities and livelihoods - be they hill farmers or high techs.

Diversity encourages innovation and growth at home, and it encourages investors to the United Kingdom - and specifically to Wales.

Since 1996, American companies have invested in 173 projects in Wales, compared to 62 by Japan and 43 by Germany.

Approximately 180 American companies have a presence in Wales. With a combined investment of eight billion dollars, they provide employment for over 30,000 people.

We are proud to be your biggest investor.

And I am sure your new "International Business Wales" team will make even more progress, finding attractive opportunities for the United States to invest in Wales. At the same time, I hope Welsh companies find investment opportunities in the United States that will help them expand their businesses in the world's largest market.

The people of Wales are responding to a sense of renewal in politics, business, culture, and civil society.

I mentioned Thomas Jefferson, renowned for his faith in the people, and in the necessity of liberty, for the fulfillment of man's potential.

Inspired by his Welsh roots as well as his own observations of American political life, he once wrote:

"No man has greater confidence than I have, in the spirit of the people. . . . whatever they can, they will."

I am sure you have the same confidence in the Wales of today.

I would like to conclude with a greeting in honor of St. David's Day from the President:

"I send our warmest greetings to the people of Wales from the United States of America.

"On behalf of the American people, and from my family to yours, I wish the people in Wales and Welsh people everywhere a wonderful St. David's Day"

Thank you.

Listen to the Ambassador comment on:

    U.S.-UK Relations (MP3)
    Wales As a Market in the U.S. (MP3)
    Wales as a Draw for Americans (MP3)

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