    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [June 20, 2002]
    [Pages 1033-1036]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Leon H. Sullivan Summit Dinner
    June 20, 2002

        Well, thank you all very much. The kindest gift anyone can give a
    President and his family is prayer, and I appreciate the prayers.
        I'm so honored to be with you all to pay tribute to an exceptional
    man and to further a great cause. Leon Sullivan understood an important
    principle: If we want to live in a world that is free, we must work for
    a world that is just. The free people of America have a duty to advance
    the cause of freedom in Africa. American interests and American morality
    lead in the same direction. We will work in partnership with African
    nations and leaders for an African continent that lives in liberty and
    grows in prosperity.
        I want to thank Andrew Young for his
    service to our great country. I appreciate his friendship. I also want
    to welcome my friend the President of the Federal Republic of
    Nigeria on the stage, and I want to
    congratulate him on receiving the prestigious Leon H. Sullivan Summit
    Award. You have picked a good man. I want to thank Jack Kemp for supporting this organization. I appreciate his--
    [applause].
        It has been my honor tonight to meet the Sullivan family, headed by
    a fantastic lady, Grace Sullivan, who has
    raised beautiful children, people who are willing to follow the example
    of their dad. We were--Hope and I were
    talking about that we had a lot in common. You know, we both have got
    famous fathers and strong mothers. [Laughter] I appreciate very much
    Julie and Howard
    and meeting the grandkids. It's a thrill to be here. Your dad and your
    grandfather was a great American. That's the only way to call it.
        I appreciate so very much members of my Cabinet and my inner circle
    being here, of course, the great Secretary of State, Colin
    Powell; Secretary of Treasury Paul
    O'Neill; the National Security Adviser,
    Condoleezza Rice. I see the Deputy Director
    of HUD, my friend Alphonso Jackson.
        I also appreciate Members of Congress who are here tonight, members
    of the diplomatic corps. It's good to see the Ambassadors from the
    African nations, many of whom I've had a chance to spend some quality
    time with. It's great to see Coretta Scott King here as well.
        Thank you all for coming and supporting this important dinner. Thank
    you for giving me the chance to talk about my administration's plans for
    the continent of Africa.
        I'm really grateful, though, that the Secretary of State and Treasury are here.
    See, it was last May that Secretary Powell became the first member of my
    Cabinet to travel to Africa. And this May, Secretary O'Neill was the
    latest member of my Cabinet to travel to Africa. He and
    Bono were quickly dubbed ``The Odd Couple.'' [Laughter]
    But they soon found out that the rock star could hold his own in debates
    on real growth rates and that the Secretary of Treasury is second to
    none in compassion. I knew the trip had had an effect on our Secretary
    when he showed up in the Oval Office wearing blue sunglasses. [Laughter]
        Here's what we believe. Africa is a continent where promise and
    progress are important, and we recognize they sit alongside disease,
    war, and desperate poverty, sometimes even in the same village. Africa
    is a place where a few nations are havens for terrorism and where many
    more--many more--are reaching to claim their democratic future. Africa
    is a place of great beauty and resources and a place of great
    opportunity. So tonight I announce that in order to continue to build
    America's partnership with Africa, I'll be going to the continent next
    year.
        Can I come to your place? I think the President has in mind a particular stop.

    [[Page 1034]]

    [Laughter] Put me on the spot here, right with all these cameras.
    [Laughter]
        I look forward to the trip. I really do. It's going to be a great
    trip, and I look forward to focusing on the challenges that we must face
    together.
        Everyone in this room is joined by a common vision of an Africa
    where people are healthy and people are literate, a vision that builds
    prosperity through trade and markets, a vision free from the horrors of
    war and terror. America will not build this new Africa; Africans will.
    But we will stand with the African countries that are putting in place
    the policies for success through important new efforts such as the
    Millennium Challenge Fund. And we will take Africa's side in confronting
    the obstacles to hope and development on the African continent.
        One of the greatest obstacles to Africa's development is HIV/AIDS,
    which clouds the future of entire nations. The world must do more to
    fight the spread of this disease and must do more to treat and care for
    those it afflicts. And this country will lead the effort.
        My administration plans to dedicate an additional $500 million to
    prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. And as we do so, we will
    work to improve health care delivery in Africa and in the Caribbean.
    This will allow us to treat one million women annually and to reduce the
    mother-to-child transmission by 40 percent within 5 years or less in the
    countries we target.
        Every year--it's important for my fellow Americans to understand
    this statistic--every year, approximately 2 million HIV-infected women
    give birth. More than one in 3 will pass the virus on to her baby,
    meaning that on the continent of Africa there are close to 2,000 more
    infected infants every day.
        We will begin to save many of these young lives by focusing our
    efforts on countries where the problem is most severe and where our help
    can have the greatest impact. We will pursue proven and effective
    medical strategies that we know will make a difference. And when the
    lives of babies and mothers are at stake, the only measure of compassion
    is real results.
        In places with stronger health care systems, we'll provide voluntary
    testing, prevention, counseling, and a comprehensive therapy that we
    know is highly effective in reducing virus transmission from mother to
    child. We know it works. In places with weaker health care systems,
    we'll provide testing and counseling and support one-time treatment
    programs that reduce the chances of infection by nearly 50 percent.
        Most importantly, we will make a major commitment to improve health
    care delivery systems in these countries. We will pair hospitals in
    Africa with hospitals in America. We will deploy volunteer medical
    professionals to assist and train their African counterparts, and we
    will recruit and pay African medical and graduate students to provide
    testing and treatment and care. As health care delivery systems improve
    in these nations, even more progress will be possible. And as we see
    what works, as we're confident that our money will be well spent and
    results will matter, we will make more funding available.
        I want to thank the Members of Congress who have supported this
    initiative. I particularly want to thank Senators Helms and Frist and Congressman Jim
    Kolbe of Arizona. I'm also pleased that
    organizations exercising on--exercising leadership on this issue will
    join our efforts, particularly the Pediatric AIDS Foundation headed by
    Elizabeth Glaser. And I will call upon other industrialized nations and
    international organizations to join as well, so that we can bring hope
    of life to hundreds of thousands of African children.
        This $500 million commitment is the largest initiative to prevent
    mother-to-child transmission of HIV by any government in history. It's
    important for you to know that this funding will complement the nearly
    $1 billion we already contribute to international efforts to combat HIV/
    AIDS. The

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    money will complement the $2.5 billion we plan to spend on research and
    development of new drugs and treatments, and it will complement the $500
    million we've committed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and other
    infectious disease.
        Lack of education is the second great barrier to progress in Africa.
    Tonight I announce that my administration plans to double, to $200
    million over 5 years, the funding devoted to an initiative I put forward
    last year to improve basic education and teacher training in Africa.
        Here's what we believe we can achieve. With that money we will train
    more than 420,000 teachers, provide more than 250,000 scholarships for
    African girls, and partner with historically Black colleges and
    universities in America to provide 4.5 million more textbooks for
    children in Africa. As we do so, we'll make sure the school system is
    more open and more transparent, so African moms and dads can demand
    needed reform.
        Education is the foundation of development and democracy in every
    culture, on every continent. And we'll work to give Africa's children
    the advantages of literacy and learning so they can build Africa's
    future.
        The third great obstacle to Africa's development is the trade
    barriers in rich nations and in Africa, itself, that impede the sale of
    Africa's products.
        The African Growth and Opportunity Act is a tremendous success. My
    administration strongly supports efforts in Congress to enhance AGOA.
    And to encourage more U.S. companies to see Africa's opportunities
    firsthand, I propose holding the next AGOA Forum in Africa to coincide
    with my visit.
        We will continue to explore a regional free trade agreement with the
    Southern African Customs Union.
        Africa also stands--also stands to gain even greater benefits from
    trade if and when we lower trade barriers worldwide. And so I'm
    committed to working in partnership with all the developing countries to
    make the global trade negotiations launched in Doha a success. And we
    look forward to advancing all of our development priorities with African
    countries at the upcoming World Summit in Johannesburg.
        Expanding global trade in products and technologies and ideals is a
    defining characteristic of our age, capable of lifting whole nations out
    of the cycle of dependency and want. In this country we will work to
    ensure that all Africa--all of Africa--is fully part of the world
    trading system and fully part of the progress of our times. It is
    important for my fellow citizens to know we will build trade with Africa
    because it is good for America's prosperity, trade is good for building
    prosperity in Africa, and it is good for building the momentum of
    economic and political liberty across that important continent.
        And finally, for Africans to realize their dream of a more hopeful
    and prosperous future, Africa must be free from war and free from
    terror. Many African nations are making real contributions to the global
    war on terror, particularly my friend President Obasanjo. I can remember his phone call right after September
    the 11th, and Mr. President, I want to thank you for your condolences
    and your support. I've asked Congress this year to provide an additional
    $55 million in funds to help African nations on the frontlines of our
    mutual war to defend freedom.
        The United States is committed to helping African nations put an end
    to regional wars that take tens of thousands of lives each year. We will
    help African nations organize and develop their ability to respond to
    crises in places such as Burundi. We'll work closely with responsible
    leaders and our allies in Europe to support regional peace initiatives
    in places such as the Congo.
        And we will also continue our search for peace in Sudan. My policy
    towards Sudan seeks to end Sudan's sponsorship of terror and to promote
    human rights and the foundations of a just peace within Sudan, itself.

    [[Page 1036]]

    My envoy for peace in Sudan, former Senator John Danforth, has made progress toward a cease-fire and improved
    delivery of humanitarian aid to such places as the Nuba Mountain region
    of Sudan.
        Since September the 11th, there's no question the Government of
    Sudan has made some useful contributions in cracking down on terror, but
    Sudan can and must do more. And Sudan's Government must understand that
    ending its sponsorship of terror outside Sudan is no substitute for
    efforts to stop war inside Sudan. Sudan's Government cannot continue to
    talk peace but make war, must not continue to block and manipulate U.N.
    food deliveries, and must not allow slavery to persist.
        America stands united with responsible African governments across
    the continent--and we will not permit the forces of aggression and chaos
    to take away our common future. We jointly fight for our liberty. We
    chase down coldblooded killers one at a time, and we do so for the
    common good of all people.
        Leon Sullivan wrote and spoke of a vibrant partnership between
    America and Africa that, in his words, would help mold Africa into a new
    greatness, glorious to see. Tonight his vision must be our mission.
    Together, we can chart a new course for America's partnership with
    Africa and bring life and hope and freedom to a continent that is
    meeting the challenges of a new century with courage and confidence.
        May God bless the people of Africa, and may God continue to bless
    America. Thank you for having me.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:35 p.m. in the Marriott Ballroom at the
    Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Andrew
    Young, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; President Olusegun
    Obasanjo of Nigeria; former Representative Jack Kemp; Coretta Scott
    King, widow of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and musician and activist Bono.