Remarks at U.S. Election Night Reception

Americans, as they prepared to go to the polls, have been debating very important issues. They have done so in the media, in political gatherings, and around ordinary citizens’ kitchen tables. They are participating in a real way in the formation of their own government.

This election presents a particularly close race for the Presidency. The closest many of us can remember. The first time I stayed up all evening to learn the results of a Presidential election was 1976. In that year, Jimmy Carter was elected President. And while the results of that election also didn’t come in until early the next morning, looking back it hardly seems as close as this election.

The enthusiasm that has met this election shows, I think, that American democracy is as vibrant as ever. People really cherish this day, when they can exercise their right to vote and to choose their government.

Regardless of the outcome, we at the U.S. Embassy in Amman will continue our work to represent U.S. interests and build cooperative and friendly relations with our Jordanian hosts. We will continue to strengthen the bonds between our country and Jordan.

And regardless of the outcome, the winner in this election will continue to work for a peaceful, negotiated settlement to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict by bringing the parties together. This is because a resolution of this tragic conflict is fundamentally in the American interest. Every American President since Lyndon Johnson has staked a good part of his foreign policy on it. We will continue to try to bring the parties together and to find areas of compromise where progress towards a settlement might emerge.

Similarly, the winner of this election will continue America’s commitment to help the Iraqi people achieve stability and a greater say in their own government after decades of tyranny and repression. As we have said before, we will stay as long as this takes, and not a day longer.

I am pleased to see here tonight so many of you. I hope tonight’s events will give you a taste of how we mark the election of our President. I hope in the process you will learn more about who we are as a people. And I hope that by your views on the election and the political process, we will better understand you and your interests.

So tonight join with us as we watch the election of the President. And may the next four years be a time of continued close friendship and cooperation between our two countries.