Brown: seize the moment; Historic Congress address.GORDON Brown yesterday rounded off his two-day visit to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. with an address to Congress in which he called on America to take a lead in the world's battle against recession and climate change. The Prime Minister urged the US political elite to "seize the moment" by joining Britain and the rest of the world in international co-operation to tackle the economic crisis and "build tomorrow today". He delivered a tough warning against protectionism protectionism Policy of protecting domestic industries against foreign competition by means of tariffs, subsidies, import quotas, or other handicaps placed on imports. , warning that erecting trade barriers would "protect no-one", while the revival of free trade could end the recession and lead to a doubling in the size of the world economy over the coming two decades. And he said America's inventiveness and "faith in the future" should be turned to the problem of halting global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. , telling Congressmen: "The nation that had the vision to put a man on the moon is also the nation with the vision to protect and preserve our planet Earth." Mr Brown's message received a mixed response. His 35-minute address was interrupted on 16 occasions by standing ovations and he was applauded for almost two minutes as he left the chamber of the House of Representatives, shaking hands and signing copies of the speech. Watched by wife Sarah, dressed in a blue and green plaid dress and pearls in the public gallery, the Prime Minister told Congressmen that countries in Europe and across the world were more ready than ever to work together with America. And he told them that now more than ever, the problems faced by the US are global in nature and can only be dealt with by co-ordinated international action. "Let me say to you that you now have the most pro-American European leadership in living memory," he said. "A leadership that wants to co-operate more closely together, in order to co-operate more closely with you. "There is no old Europe This article is about the term in contemporary politics. For the archaeological meaning, see Old European culture. In January 2003 the term Old Europe surfaced after former U.S. , no new Europe New Europe is a rhetorical term used by conservative political analysts in the United States to describe European post-Communist era countries. "New European" countries were originally distinguished by their governments' support of the 2003 war in Iraq, as opposed to an "Old , there is only your friend Europe. So once again I say we should seize the moment - because never before have I seen a world more willing to come together." CAPTION(S): Prime Minister Gordon Brown addresses a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington |
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