43rd Annual Washington Conference: Vice President Joe Biden Spells Out U.S. Administration Priorities for the Americas

Washington, D.C. May 8, 2013 – “The Western Hemisphere has always mattered to the United States, but I think it matters more today because it has more potential than any time in American history,” Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday at the 43rd Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, an event co-organized by the Council of the Americas and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Speaking before an audience of senior-level public and private sector leaders, the vice president said that the stereotypes that have dominated the relationship United States-Latin America no longer apply. “In the region, we are still viewed by many as disengaged, domineering, or both. But I would argue that's not us anymore. Too many in my country still look south to the region of 600 million people and see mostly pockets of poverty and strife. But that's not you anymore...The changes underway give all of us an opportunity to look at the hemisphere in a very different way,” Biden said.

In a thorough overview of the Obama administration’s vision for Latin America policy, Vice President Biden pointed to initiatives in the fields of energy, immigration, and border security, and announced a new era of cooperation. “I believe we are talking about the hemisphere as middle class, secure, and democratic from Canada to Chile and everywhere in between. So the question, if I’m right, is how do we carry forward on that journey of a middle class, secure and democratic hemisphere? For me the answer is pretty clear: it’s by advancing our shared prosperity, security, and values,” Biden said.

During his remarks, the vice president also revealed that in the coming weeks he will travel to Brazil and Colombia.

An annual highlight of the capital’s international policy agenda, the 43rd Washington Conference on the Americas was an opportunity for top U.S. officials from the executive, legislature, and judiciary to define the priorities of inter-American relations during the current administration’s second term. For more than four decades, the event has served as the top forum for government, industry, and policy leaders to engage in substantive analysis of timely themes affecting the Western Hemisphere.

Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson shared her perspective of President Barack Obama’s May 2-4 trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, noting that trade, energy, and education were top agenda topics during the meetings. "These kinds of forward-looking, globally responsible and responsive conversations were not what we were talking about 10 years ago. The desire to be responsive to all our citizens' dreams of a better life might have existed in the past, but not the opportunity and ability to actually bring it about. What I heard were ten pragmatic leaders who didn't see cooperation as zero-sum, and believed deeply, to paraphrase President Obama in Mexico City, that we are all rooting for the success of the others, as it means our success, too."

In an interview with AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano highlighted the importance of the immigration reform bill being examined by Congress. “We’re at the beginning of a long road. The Gang of Eight bill, I think, is very consistent with the principles the president has enunciated,” she said. “It allows you to focus on who’s trying to come to the country illegally and why. We can focus more on the drug traffickers and the human traffickers and the like who are trying to exploit the border. It is a good security bill, and overall I think accomplishes what it needs to with respect to overhauling the nation’s immigration law,” said the secretary.

Americas Society/Council of the Americas Chairman John Negroponte delivered COA’s Chairman’s Award for Leadership in the Americas to Senator John McCain for his commitment to the promotion of crucial hemispheric affairs such as comprehensive immigration reform and regional economic cooperation.

Said Senator McCain after receiving the Award: “The task of building a fully secure, free, and prosperous hemisphere is not finished. All of us know this. But I would submit to you today that with each passing year—as democracy, peace, and prosperity touch more and more of the people of our hemisphere—the main goal for all of us is how we increasingly lift our common sights and focus our common efforts beyond our hemisphere.”

The Chairman’s Award for Leadership in the Americas was established in 2004 to honor democratically elected leaders throughout the Americas who have had a positive and lasting impact on hemispheric relations. It is the top award of the Council of the Americas, and a richly deserved award for those who receive it.

Other speakers at the 43rd Washington Conference on the Americas included Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Anthony Kennedy; Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley; Managing Director of the World Bank Sri Mulyani Indrawati; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Richard Adkerson.

• For more information, please contact Adriana La Rotta at alarotta@as-coa.org or (212) 277-8384.
• To get conference materials, summaries, multimedia, and more, visit: www.as-coa.org/wc2013

Council of the Americas (COA) is the premier international business organization whose members share a common commitment to economic and social development, open markets, the rule of law, and democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere. The Council's membership consists of leading international companies representing a broad spectrum of sectors, including banking and finance, consulting services, consumer products, energy and mining, manufacturing, media, technology, and transportation.