


                         THE WHITE HOUSE

                  Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                               April 8, 1994


                 Statement by the Press Secretary


                      Summit of the Americas

                                 
     The President is pleased to announce that he will host the 
Summit of the Americas in Miami on December 9-10, 1994.  
President Clinton has written to the Hemisphere's democratically 
elected Heads of State and Government to invite them to attend 
this historic event.

     The Summit will crown a process of intensive consultations 
that began last month when Vice President Gore visited Bolivia, 
Argentina and Brazil to meet with the leaders of those nations.  
As the President announced on March 11, the Summit will consider 
two broad themes: first, how to strengthen our democracies, 
defend them collectively and improve our governance; second, how 
to promote economic growth while advancing a strategy of 
sustainable development that protects the environment and 
alleviates poverty.

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