[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
[[Page 1035]]
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.