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Embassy of the United States Tokyo, JapanEMBASSY NEWS

1Senator McCain Speaks with Japanese Students on Looking to the Future
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to participants in the 65th Japan-America Student
ConferenceTokyo American Center
August 21, 2013

SENATOR McCAIN: Thank you very much, andthank you for not mentioning that I ran for president
and lost. I appreciate that very much. I often saythat after I lost running for president, I slept like ababy – sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep twohours, wake up and cry.
I want to thank the Tokyo American Center for
hosting this special event. And I want to thank all ofyou - young leaders from the Japan American
Student Conference - for being here.
It is a pleasure to be back in Japan. It's my first stop on a week-long trip to Northeast
Asia. I have just come from excellent meetings with the Prime Minister and his team. But
before I depart tomorrow, I just wanted to speak with you - the future leaders of our two
countries and the future stewards of our historic alliance - which is an alliance not only
between our governments, but also between our peoples.
Looking out on this young audience is a painful reminder that I have been in the Senatelonger than most of you have been alive. But one of the few benefits of old age is theperspective it can provide.
I have been a close friend of Japan and intimately involved with our alliance for nearly myentire life. My father and grandfather were both Navy admirals who served in the Pacificfor many years. I myself spent time here in Japan as a young Navy officer, when ouralliance was itself young and untested. I have made frequent visits here as a member ofCongress. And there is even a ship named after my father and grandfather that is homeported in Yokosuka.
Over these many decades, I have seen the vital features of our alliance that have neverchanged, and never will.
The U.S.-Japan alliance continues to be indispensable to the security and economic
success of both our nations, to the maintenance of a favorable balance of power in theAsia-Pacific region, and to the unprecedented peace and spectacular growth that has
made possible.

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The United States has always remained - and must always remain - fully committed to thesecurity of Japan. That means, in the case of the Senkaku islands, that the U.S. will
oppose any unilateral actions to change the status quo by force. This is a matter ofprinciple that the U.S. Congress addressed very clearly in last year's defense legislation.
What also endures about our alliance are a shared set of values that binds our two
countries together. These are the values of freedom and democracy, innovation andeconomic openness - as well as our support for these values in the region and the world.
This is the deeper source of our friendship, and it is why we are always there for eachother, especially when times are most trying - just as Japan was there for America after
the attacks of September 11th, and just as America was there for Japan after the tragedyof March 11th.
There is something else that our two countries have in common, and that is how it has
been fashionable at times to count us out. Certainly for the last few years, there havebeen many people, including some here in this country, who fell into the habit of writing
off Japan and doubting its capacity for renewal.
So let me speak directly to the Japanese people, especially the young Japanese here
today: Your friends in America not only refuse to count you out. We are absolutely
counting on you.
We are counting on you to realize the full promise of what the Prime Minister calls the"three arrows" of his economic agenda, to increase the competitiveness and openness ofJapan's economy, and to work with us to make the Trans-Pacific Partnership into a sourceof economic dynamism and renewal for both of our countries, as well as for our friends
across this region.
We are counting on you to achieve your own goals of modernizing Japan's Self-Defense
Forces and national security institutions - to expand our defense cooperation - and towork with us to ensure a sustainable and effective U.S. force posture in Japan and theregion.
We are counting on you to continue strengthening Japan's relationships with other Pacificpowers that share our mutual strategic interests, especially those that also share ourdemocratic values, such as the Republic of Korea.
And we are counting on you to make the tough political choices and compromises toachieve all of these goals, and more.
In short, we are counting on Japan to look forward and to move forward - because astrong, confident, future-oriented, and economically revitalizing Japan, with growing
comprehensive national power, is fundamentally good in itself for the United States andfor the future of this region. Your friends in America are confident that Japan's future cancontinue to be a rising path, and we trust that this is the right path for a mature
democracy such as Japan.
While Japan's friends in America are counting on you, we realize that some of our friends
in Japan and the region are questioning whether they can still count on America. And I
understand why.
America these days has its share of challenges - from an unsustainable fiscal situation andweak economic growth, to the negative impact that sequestration is having on ourmilitary, to political gridlock that makes all of our hard problems even harder to solve.
Indeed, a recent poll found that only 11 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of

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Congress, and I still haven't met anyone in that 11 percent. We are down to paid staff andblood relatives. That same poll found that Americans like Congress even less than headlice and a colonoscopy. If you're too young to know what this means, trust me, it's bad.
I don't want to downplay America's challenges, but here too, old age offers someperspective. America has faced far more profound problems in my lifetime than anything
we confront today, and we not only made it through these earlier challenges; we came outstronger and better off. We have consistently arisen to new and brighter mornings in
America. In short, no one has ever made money betting against the United States, and I
don't think now is a good time to start.
I am an optimist about America's future, just as I am about Japan's. I am confident in
America because our economy remains the most dynamic driver of global growth, and its
capacity for reinvention and innovation is virtually limitless.
I am confident in America because new technologies are unlocking vast sources of energy
in our country, and in just a matter of years, the United States will become a net exporterof oil and gas.
I am confident in America because our institutions of higher education are the envy of theworld, because our society continues to reward risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit,and because we continue to attract the best and the brightest talent from across the globe
and integrate it into our diverse society.
I am confident in America because the U.S. military remains the most effective andcombat-proven force in the world.
And though we Americans will always have plenty of spirited debates, I am confident in
America because our political system still has the capacity to do big important things thatare vital to America's future, such as the Senate's overwhelming passage in June ofcomprehensive immigration reform. Similarly, on perhaps the most important priority forU.S. foreign policy - the re-balance of our efforts toward the Asia-Pacific region - there isbroad consensus and support. Our political debates are not about whether to place greater
emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, but rather how best to do so.
For all of these reasons and more, I believe Japan and the rest of the region can haveconfidence in America and our ability to sustain our historic role as a Pacific power long
into the future. You have good reason to count on us, just as we have good reason tocount on you.
It is true that democracies such as ours have a tendency to be self-critical and to dwell on
our own challenges and weaknesses. But this should not cause either of us to lose sight ofour many opportunities and strengths. Nor should it cause us to forget that most countries
in the world, including many here in Asia, face far more daunting problems that theywould happily trade for the challenges we face in Japan and the United States.
Furthermore, it is precisely because Japan and the United States are mature democracies
that we are best positioned for success. It is democracy that gives us the flexibility andresponsiveness to embrace a future of reform, renewal, and revitalization.
All that remains is for us to choose this future. And that's where young leaders like youcome in. You are the future of our countries. You are the future of our alliance. And you
will inherit the supreme honor of leading two of the greatest democracies on earth andone of the greatest alliances in history. But with that honor comes an awesome
responsibility - the responsibility to ensure that the best days for Japan and the UnitedStates, and for our alliance, will remain in front of us, not behind us.

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That is my charge to you: Look forward. Take us forward. Have confidence in yourselves
and in your countries. Have confidence in our alliance. Have confidence in our future.
Always know that there is nothing Japan and the United States cannot do when we work
together. And always, always remember that nothing is more fulfilling in life than serving
a just cause that is greater than your own self-interest.
Thank you very much.

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