merican patriots used gunpowder from Bermuda to fight the British during the Revolutionary War. Without Bermuda, the United States and its allies would have lost far more battles with Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic in the Second World War. Fortunately for both sides, this partnership has grown and matured with age.

Bermuda?s central North Atlantic location, just 800 or so miles off the East Coast of the United States, and its status as a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom ? the US? closest ally ? has led to a strong, 230-year-old partnership between the two countries. It has been a partnership of give and take.

Bermuda relies on the United States for the bulk of its imports, tourists and economic capital, while Bermuda?s major insurance companies have already provided the US with more than $20 billion in insurance claims payments to help rebuild coastal areas destroyed by the terrible hurricanes of 2004 and 2005.

Approximately 80 percent of Bermuda?s imports derive from its neighbour to the west, the United States ? nearly $766 million in goods in 2004. The value of US exports to Bermuda is 27 times that of the United Kingdom. And the US sends 10 times more tourists to Bermuda than the UK. In fact, US tourists contributed hundreds of millions to Bermuda?s economy in 2004. US citizens make up 75 percent of the island?s tourists, with some 204,000 American airline passengers in 2005 and even more cruise ship visitors.

The alliance is evident elsewhere as well. The US government maintains a pre-clearance facility at Bermuda?s airport which, incidentally, was constructed by Americans in the 1940?s. Bermudians are thus able to clear US Customs and Border Protection in Bermuda, prior to travelling to the United States.

American ships and planes call at Bermudian ports of entry every day, and the US Coast Guard Cutter is an annual visitor to these shores. The US also provides search and rescue services for vessels in distress and donated the former Drug Enforcement Agency vessel to Bermuda for use by the Bermuda Marine Police.

Education is another area where our countries have teamed together for success. The Bermuda College, under my American friend Dr. Charles Green, has established programmes with US colleges whereby Bermudian students can earn their associates degree on the island before completing their tertiary education in the States. The new nursing curriculum is just one such example, but there are others. In addition, many young Bermudians attend US boarding schools.

In 2005 the US Consulate kicked off a new State Department initiative called the Voluntary Visitor Programme, sending a five-member team of Bermudians to the US to meet with their counterparts in the youth development field. The visit was a huge success, paving the way for the Consulate to send another team to the US this year ? all expenses paid ? to learn about programmes that focus on building healthy families and children.

ut this important partnership is very much a two-way street. While shipping goods and sending tourists to Bermuda, America has become the major beneficiary of Bermuda?s thriving international insurance industry. After a record-breaking 2005 hurricane season, Bermuda-based insurers and reinsurers expect to pay nearly 26 percent of the insured losses arising from the devastation caused by hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma. In fact, Bermuda carriers will pay to their US clients at least $13 billion ? as much if not more than their better-known European counterparts. And all of this money is going to assist the rebuilding of the devastated US Gulf and Florida coasts.

This is not the first time Bermuda?s insurers and reinsurers have contributed substantial funds to US reconstruction. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Bermuda-based insurers and reinsurers paid over $2 billion in total insured losses. And in 2002 nine new Bermuda reinsurers were created to provide coverage to US commercial interests needing insurance coverage to build or rebuild in the wake of September 11.

Providing that coverage has not been cheap for Bermuda-based insurers: over the past few years, Bermuda?s insurers and reinsurers have poured more than $20 billion for catastrophic loss payments into the reconstruction of the US economy.

erhaps most importantly, Bermuda and the United States share a strong commitment to democracy, the rule of law and free markets. Racial reconciliation is a priority for both countries which share a difficult history of racial segregation and exclusion. The importance of family and a respect for the dignity of every human being is deeply woven into the cultures of both societies. In fact, the ties between us are so deep that an estimated 12 percent of Bermuda?s citizens also possess American citizenship ? and most Bermudians seem to have family or close friends in the States. There is even a Bermudian in the United States Congress: Congressman G.K. Butterfield?s father immigrated to the US from Bermuda. And over two dozen Bermudians now serve in the US Armed Forces, a number of whom are now stationed in Iraq.

For all of these reasons, we are honoured to be participating this week in the first-ever bilateral official visit by the Premier of Bermuda and two members of his Cabinet to the most senior members of the US Congress and the Administration. Close ties between our countries have benefited our citizens ? and helped defend democracy ? for hundreds of years. We celebrate our partnership of the last 230 years and look forward to the future?s promise ? together.

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