Today's Date:

Speech given by Ambassador of France to the United States, Jean-David Levitte at the Bastille Day reception.

My dear compatriots and dear friends,

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Even today, the friendship between George Washington and Lafayette remains the most eloquent symbol of the French-American friendship and of our alliance, and it wasn’t by chance that long ago the United States Congress decided to hang two portraits, and only two, in its most solemn space, the chamber of the House of Representative: those of George Washington and Lafayette. And let us not forget, on this 14 th of July, that Lafayette gave George Washington the key to the Bastille, which we can still view and admire today at Mount Vernon.

Today, dear friends, after being tested for years, the French-American friendship has regained all the vigor and strength it had during the Revolutionary War. It is a forward-looking friendship, turned toward action: toward the fight against terrorism that we are carrying out together, the war in Afghanistan that we are conducting side by side, the struggles for peace and security that we are leading hand in hand—from Iran to Darfur, from Lebanon to Kosovo. During his previous visits, then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed his friendship for the United States loud and clear. Now he is President of the Republic, and his views have not changed. You may therefore contemplate the future of our relationship with confidence. We have much to do together to make this a better, safer world, and we will do it. We will not always agree, of course, but any future disagreements will always be handled in a spirit of respect and friendship.

Dear friends, a new President also means a new staff. Nicolas Sarkozy did me the great honor of summoning me to his side as diplomatic adviser. I therefore joined him at the Elysée two months ago, but I was eager to return to Washington for this last Bastille Day so that my wife Marie-Cécile and I could say goodbye and thank you. Thank you for your friendship, thank you for your support in difficult times, and thank you for the fantastic image that all of you present of our country: that of a dynamic France, an enterprising France, an enthusiastic France. Please accept our warmest wishes and our deep gratitude.

Vive la République, et vive la France.