[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20179]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            CULTURAL BRIDGES

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, next week 54 high school students from 
the Islamic and Arab world will arrive in the United States for a year 
of study under a new exchange program to help bridge the cultural 
divide between America and the Islamic and Arab nations of the world. 
Secretary Powell will welcome the students at a ceremony at the State 
Department on Wednesday, August 5.
  An initial $10 million for the Cultural Bridges Program was approved 
last year by Congress for the coming academic year. I commend the State 
Department for moving so quickly to organize the program and bring the 
first group of high school students to the United States. By the end of 
the summer as the new academic year begins, 135 high school students 
will be here for a year of study in high schools in 23 States under the 
program.
  The students are coming from many nations throughout the Islamic 
world--Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, 
Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen, and from the West Bank and the Gaza 
strip as well. Each student will live with an American host family, 
attend a local high school, learn first hand about our society and 
values, and enable our students to learn about them.
  Officials in the State Department are already preparing their 
recruitment and outreach efforts for the 2004-2005 academic year, when 
they hope to double the size of the program. If all goes well, that 
number will double again in the following year.
  The terrorist attacks on September 11 and the war in Iraq have 
brought into sharp focus the many negative images and perceptions of 
our Nation abroad. Many Muslims believe our country is at war with 
Islam, not terrorism. With nearly 1.5 billion people living in the 
Islamic world today, we ignore these pervasive anti-American sentiments 
at our peril.
  If the United States is to win a genuine victory in the war against 
terrorism, we must respond on many levels. We must ensure that our 
defenses are strong, our intelligence is accurate, and our borders are 
secure. But we must also do all we can to dispel the disturbing trend 
of anti-American rhetoric and beliefs. An effective way to do so is to 
engage Islamic peoples in the realm of values and ideas.
  In a May 3, 2002 speech to the World Affairs Council in California, 
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz spoke of the need to 
strengthen voices of moderation in the Islamic world and to bridge the 
``dangerous gap'' between that world and the West. There is ``no time 
for delay,'' he said.
  As we have seen in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East, some 
individuals and factions and even governments have supported terrorist 
organizations, while others have condemned terrorism and pledged to 
help the United States in combating it. By reaching out in friendship 
to those who oppose terrorism we can reduce the breeding grounds for 
terrorism and begin to eliminate the sentiments that terrorist 
recruiters exploit.
  One of the most effective ways to engage the Islamic world is through 
educational exchange programs, which promote people-to-people contacts 
between Americans and other peoples.
  Exchange programs help to build strong personal relationships and 
combat the misperceptions about the United States that threaten our 
security. Unfortunately, exchanges between the Islamic world and the 
United States are very limited today. Of the more than 500,000 foreign 
students in the United States, less than 5 percent are from the Arab 
Middle East.
  There are many benefits in reaching out to students while they are 
young and open-minded. Today's high school students are tomorrow's 
leaders. Working with them now can improve their attitudes about our 
country and build future relationships based on trust and 
understanding. As Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his August 
2001 statement on International Education Week: ``I can think of no 
more valuable asset to our country than the friendship of future world 
leaders who have been educated here.''
  What makes the Cultural Bridges Program unique is that it enables 
high school students from other lands to obtain firsthand knowledge of 
our country, our way of life, and our people. Our Government sponsors 
many exchange programs for professionals, educators, journalists and 
academics, but, until now, there has been no Federal program to bring 
high school students from the Islamic world to the United States.
  After September 11, many Muslim countries condemned the terrorist 
attacks and pledged to help the United States fight terrorism. But in 
the wake of the war in Iraq, anti-American sentiment is on the rise 
again.
  A June 2003 poll by the Pew Charitable Trust found strong public 
support for Osama bin Laden's views in Arab countries whose governments 
are friendly to the United States. According to the poll, 55 percent of 
those in Jordan, 58 percent of those in Indonesia, 45 percent of those 
in Pakistan, and 49 percent of those in Morocco said they had 
confidence in Osama bin Laden to ``do the right thing regarding world 
affairs,'' and so did 71 percent of those in the areas controlled by 
the Palestinian Authority.
  Our military action in Iraq has led to widespread fears throughout 
the region that we will launch other aggressive action. Majorities of 
those interviewed in Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon, and 
Jordan worried that their country might be attacked by the United 
States. Even in Kuwait--where the public has a generally favorable view 
of the United States--53 percent expressed concern that the United 
States could someday pose a threat.
  Especially disturbing is the finding of little support in the Islamic 
world for the war against terrorism--23 percent in Indonesia, 16 
percent in Pakistan, 22 percent in Turkey, and 2 percent in Jordan and 
the Palestinian Authority. In Morocco, only one in 10 back the effort, 
while in Lebanon, 30 percent support the war. Only in Kuwait and 
Nigeria do majorities of the population now support the war against 
terrorism.
  Clearly, we need to redouble our efforts to win the hearts and minds 
of peoples in the Arab and Muslim world, and change their negative 
perceptions about our country and values.
  There are no better ambassadors for America than Americans 
themselves, and this new high school exchange program is an important 
way to begin reaching out more effectively to the next generation of 
leaders in that world.
  Jordan's King Abdullah is an excellent example of what can be 
achieved. He is a friend of the United States, a partner in the war 
against terrorism, and a voice of tolerance and moderation in the 
Muslim world.
  In 1977, as a young Jordanian, he enrolled in a high school in 
Massachusetts and later came to Washington to study at a university. He 
is living proof of the value of building bridges of understanding and 
tolerance with other cultures.
  We need to create as many opportunities as possible for young people 
throughout the Islamic world to spend time in the United States and 
with our citizens, and we should begin to do so now. I have been 
delighted to work with Senators Lugar, Leahy, Chafee, Dodd, Hagel, 
Smith, Cochran, Brownback, Jeffords, Durbin, and Feingold on the 
Cultural Bridges Program, and I am hopeful that it marks a new 
beginning in our efforts to build forward lasting relationships with 
the future leaders in the Muslim world.

                          ____________________