    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [December 14, 2006]
    [Pages 2179-2180]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin
    December 14, 2006

        President Bush. It's been my honor to have a visit with the
    President of Benin. We had a very long discussion about a variety of
    subjects. My administration is committed to helping the democracies on
    the continent of Africa deal with very significant problems. The
    President and I are about to go to a summit where the United States of
    America will commit resources, time, and talent to help rid much of
    Africa of malaria.
        And, Mr. President, I'm proud to announce today that you're one of
    the countries that we'll be concentrating our help upon. We cannot
    succeed, however, unless there's an administration that is willing and
    capable to do the hard work necessary to educate people, spread nets,
    insecticides necessary to deal with a disease that can be defeated.
        We talked about the Millennium Challenge Account. It's one of the
    most innovative foreign policy initiatives ever proposed by an
    administration. It's having a positive effect around the world. And I
    want to thank you for working toward that end.
        We talked about the need for us to work together to deal with
    problems such as Darfur. The President recognized the genocide taking
    place in Darfur, as does the administration. We want to work through the
    United Nations to have a very strong

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    and capable AU force, augmented by United Nations help, to save lives.
        One thing I'm impressed with is the President's commitment to
    democracy, rule of law, decency, and education. And to the extent that
    we can help--continue to help your country, Mr. President, we will do
    so.
        Welcome, I'm glad you're here.
        President Yayi. I have come here to, first and foremost, thank Mr.
    President Bush for all the initiatives that have been taken so far to
    eradicate poverty on the continents. As you may know, among these
    initiatives, we have the agua initiative, empowerment of women, the
    fight against HIV/AIDS, and the initiative of MCA, that is, Millennium
    Challenge Account. It is very important for us in Africa because the MCA
    will help us eradicate poverty. And I would like to thank President Bush
    for that last initiative he took.
        Africa is aware of her responsibility in the roles she has to play,
    globally speaking, because we have to reach prosperity, and that
    prosperity has some conditions. We need peace. We need stability. We
    need security. And Africa--America has a leading role to play in our
    combat to restore a peaceful continent.
        Of course, we have to be together with America to build--succeed in
    all these challenges, to take up all these challenges. And
    multilaterally, it should be also a part of concern of the American
    people. We are aware of the fact that America can really play a very
    important role to continue building capacity among the institutions like
    IMF and the World Bank, and the institution of--[inaudible]--which is
    very important for us also.
        And the efforts should continue being made by the American
    Government within the G-8 group, because Africa needs a lot from this G-
    8, and international exchanges also have to be reinforced. The Doha
    negotiations need to find a solution now--try to make it easier because
    cotton is but one of our important products in Africa, and in my
    country, two people out of three live out of cotton. It's the same
    reality in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, where cotton is a
    very important product.
        So some subsidies granted to some countries like America here cause
    a kind of dysfunctioning in our country and on the continent also. So
    America should help us smooth this mechanism. I'm very happy to hear
    that America is trying to set up a parallel mechanism that would really
    help promote the production of cotton. So by the time the WTO will also
    reach an agreement, I think that this problem of Doha will be definitely
    solved.
        Let me end my speech by saying that I want to thank the American
    Government, thank President Bush, and the American people for all they
    are doing to really help us eradicate poverty on African Continent.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. President Yayi spoke in French, and his remarks were translated
    by an interpreter.