    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [March 12, 2008]
    [Pages 366-367]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Kuwait-America Foundation's Stand for Africa Gala Dinner
    March 12, 2008

        Thank you all. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for the invitation. You've got a beautiful
    place here. [Laughter] Rima, thanks very much.
    I'm honored to be with you. I'm a little late because Laura had me watching ``Father of the Bride.'' [Laughter] And
    in that I didn't finish it, I'm going to make my remarks short and go
    home and watch it. It's going to be a big year for us. So the guy comes to see me, and he says, ``I want to marry your
    daughter.'' I said, ``Done deal.'' [Laughter]
        It's also a big year for us because I'm absolutely convinced the
    momentum that we have started on the continent of Africa in dealing with
    HIV/AIDS or malaria is going to continue on for a long period of time.
    And I want to thank you all very much for supporting the initiative.
        I do want to say something about our Secretary of State. I can remember early on in my administration--she
    was the National Security Adviser then--and she said, ``I presume you're
    going to pay attention to Africa.'' And I said, ``That's a good
    presumption because I believe to whom much is given, much is required.''
    And the United States of America has been given a lot. And I firmly
    believe we're required to respond to human tragedy when we see it.
        And there's nothing more tragic than a young baby dying because of a
    mosquito bite. And so I come to you optimistic about this initiative and
    thankful for the folks who are supporting Malaria No More. I too want to
    thank Ray Chambers for his leadership. I
    like it when people do well in the business world and then, rather than
    retire, decide to put something back into society. That's exactly what
    you've done, and we're very grateful for doing what you're doing.
        I see Justice Alito is here. That's
    good. Hey, Sam, good to see you.
        Youssou N'Dour--so, Youssou, I've been
    practicing my dancing recently--[laughter]--and singing. [Laughter] And
    I'm available for a few tips. [Laughter]
        I appreciate the members of my Cabinet who are here and Members of
    Congress. I too want to thank Admiral Mike Mullen for serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and his
    wife Deborah. It's amazing to be the
    Commander in Chief of a group of people that are dedicated, selfless,
    and courageous like our military. And Admiral Mullen represents the very
    best of the U.S. military. I thank the diplomatic corps who is here as
    well.
        So my friends in Texas say, ``You know, don't we have enough
    problems here at home?'' And my answer is, ``We're wealthy enough and
    we're strong enough and we're good enough to take problems--take on
    problems here at home as well as in other parts of the world.'' And then
    I remind them that we're living in a very difficult period in the
    history of the world. After all, we're witnessing an ideological
    struggle between those who kill the innocent to achieve political
    objectives and those who believe in human dignity and human rights and
    human freedom.
        And it's a tough time, and it's going to take awhile to prevail. But
    one thing is for certain, that this enemy we face cannot possibly find
    recruits based upon their vision. Their vision for life is so dark and
    so dim and so degrading that it's impossible

    [[Page 367]]

    for them to recruit unless they find hopeless situations. And there's
    nothing more hopeless for a mother to see a baby die needlessly. And
    there's nothing more hopeless than a pandemic that sweeps through a
    continent.
        And so the initiative, the Malaria No More initiative, first and
    foremost, is a part of our efforts to make sure that peace prevails in
    the long term. And it's working; it's amazing. Admiral Ziemer is here. This guy can get the job done. See, I--one
    of the things that we pride ourselves on in this administration is, we
    like to not only be talkers; we like to be doers. We like to set out an
    agenda and then see to it that the agenda is accomplished.
        And working on this malaria initiative, we can measure. You can
    measure how many nets have been purchased and distributed, how many
    pills have been distributed, how many countries have been affected. When
    we were in Tanzania, we were told that Zanzibar, which is a part of
    Tanzania, went from having their babies infected by malaria at the tune
    of 20 percent to 1 percent in 18 months. And so I am the kind of fellow
    that says, this is in our interests, and I expect the monies that we're
    spending to be spent well and to be spent wisely. And they are.
        It's also in our moral interest. Our Nation is a better nation when
    we help people save lives. The collective will of the American people to
    help somebody who suffers, who they might not ever know, lifts our
    national spirit. And so on our trip to Africa, I tried to make sure that
    the people of Africa understood this wasn't a George Bush initiative or
    a Laura Bush initiative or a Condi Rice initiative; this was an initiative of the most
    compassionate people on the face of the Earth, the American people.
        And you're helping this initiative go forward. And so I've taken a
    breather from the movie to come by--[laughter]--to thank you very much
    for standing strong with the forces of goodness and light and
    compassion. And the work you're doing is necessary, and it's important,
    and it's succeeding. And I hope you take great heart in that.
        Thanks for letting me come by to say hi, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:22 p.m. at the residence of the
    Ambassador of Kuwait to the U.S. In his remarks, he referred to Kuwait's
    Ambassador to the U.S. Salim al-Abdallah al-Jabir al-Sabah and his wife
    Rima al-Sabah; Raymond G. Chambers, founder, Malaria No More; musician
    and activist Youssou N'Dour; and Rear Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, USN
    (Ret.), U.S. Malaria Coordinator.