    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [June 5, 2008]
    [Pages 751-755]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the United States Institute of
    Peace
    June 5, 2008

        Thank you all. Please be seated. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your kind introduction. And thank you for
    inviting me to join you to break ground for the United States Institute
    of Peace's new home. I'm really pleased to be here. I appreciate what
    you do to resolve conflict and support new democracies and to build
    peace by promoting effective diplomacy. And speaking about effective
    diplomacy, it seems like you used some to get this special piece of
    land. I congratulate you on picking a wonderful site.
        I thank Robin West, the Chairman; Dick
    Solomon, the President. Members of the
    Board of Directors, thank you for being here. I'm so pleased to be with
    the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice,
    and some of her predecessors. Thank you for being here. I appreciate
    Admiral Mullen joining us. I want to thank
    members of my administration for coming. Madam Speaker, you grace us with your presence. Thank you for coming.
    I also want to pay homage to Ted Stevens for helping to secure the funding for this important
    site, as well as Members of the United States Senate who have joined him
    here and Members of the House. I appreciate Reverend Lovett, Father Hesburgh,
    members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen.
        The Institute of Peace was founded in 1984. It was during the last
    great ideological struggle of the 20th century. This was the struggle
    against Soviet communism, a struggle that was eventually won by freedom
    because of peace through strength and because of the help of the
    Institute of Peace.
        We're in a different struggle today, but we're in an ideological
    struggle against violent extremism. The U.S. Institute of Peace is
    playing an important role, and I thank you for that. In Afghanistan,
    you're helping a young democracy establish the rule of law and
    strengthen public education and build a civil society. In Iraq, you're
    helping the nation overcome the legacy of decades of tyranny by
    strengthening government institutions and promoting peaceful engagement.
    And although the struggle against violent extremism is in its early
    years, there's no doubt in my mind, freedom will again prevail, and your
    help is going to be important.
        In this struggle, we're guided by a clear principle: Freedom is
    universal. We believe that freedom is the birthright of every man,
    woman, and child. Free societies are peaceful societies. Freedom helps
    supplant the conditions of hopelessness that extremists exploit to
    recruit terrorists and suicide bombers. People who live in liberty are
    less likely to turn to ideologies of hatred and fear. And that is why
    the United States is leading and must continue to lead the cause of
    freedom for the sake of peace.
        September the 11th, we saw how the lack of freedom in other lands
    can bring death and destruction to our own land. Our most solemn
    obligation is to protect the American people. That is why we're pursuing
    and bringing to justice terrorists. We're fighting them overseas so we
    don't have to face them here in the United States of America.
        But the effort requires more. It requires using the power of liberty
    to marginalize extremists. And the best way to do so is to use our
    national resources to strengthen the institutions of freedom. That's
    what I want to talk to you about today, briefly, you'll be pleased to
    hear.
        Institutions, of course, include a democratic system of government,
    a vibrant free

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    press, independent judiciary, a free enterprise system, places of
    worship where people are free to practice their faith. These
    institutions include an education system that provides citizens a link
    to the world, health infrastructure that combats plagues like HIV/AIDS
    and malaria, and women's organizations that help societies take
    advantage of the skills and talents of half their population.
        We're helping nations across the world build these institutions, and
    we face three challenges as we do so. First of all, there are developing
    nations, many on the continent of Africa, that are facing extreme
    poverty and health epidemics and humanitarian catastrophes and are
    therefore vulnerable to extremists who take advantage of chaos and
    instability.
        Secondly, there are nations like Colombia and Lebanon and Pakistan
    that are facing transnational threats from drug cartels or terrorist
    networks that seek safe haven on their territory and threaten to
    overwhelm their institutions.
        And thirdly, there are nations like Afghanistan and Iraq, where we
    removed dangerous regimes that threatened our people and now have a
    special obligation to help them build free societies that their--that
    become allies in the fight against these extremists.
        It's in America's vital interest to help all these nations combat
    ideologies of hate. It's in our security interest to eliminate safe
    havens for terrorists and extremists. It's in our national interest to
    develop institutions that allow them to govern their territories
    effectively and improve their lives.
        We've been making transformations over the last 8 years to make
    these capabilities more real and more effective. We're transforming the
    United States military so we can deliver justice to the terrorists in a
    more effective way. We're transforming America's capabilities to help
    poor and struggling societies become healthy and prosperous.
        And we've seen those effective transformations through the Emergency
    Plan for AIDS or malaria initiative or the Millennium Challenge Account.
    The Millennium Challenge Account represents a different approach to
    development. It rewards nations that govern responsibly and fight
    corruption and invest in the health and education of their people and
    use the power of free markets and free trade to lift the people out of
    poverty.
        One thing in common for all these programs is, we insist upon
    results, and we measure. And the results are coming in, and millions of
    people are benefiting from this foreign policy initiative. And they
    deserve to be fully supported by the United States Congress.
        We're also transforming America's capabilities to helping
    emergency--emerging democracies build free institutions while under fire
    from terrorists and under pressure from state sponsors of terror. And
    this is a new challenge that we face at the start of the 21st century.
    And as we've adopted to meet these new circumstances, there have been
    successes and setbacks, and we've learned some lessons.
        One lesson is that before nations under fire from terrorists can
    make political and economic progress, their populations need basic
    security. Sometimes local security institutions, with training and
    equipment and support from the outside, can handle the task. Take, for
    example, Colombia. Colombia and America launched an ambitious program
    that helped rescue that country from the brink of becoming a failed
    state. Plan Colombia, which started under my predecessor, made it clear that the United States would help
    the Colombian Government modernize its military and fight the FARC
    terrorists, expand education opportunity, provide Colombians with
    alternatives to a life of terror and narcotrafficking. Congress has an
    opportunity to strengthen these efforts, and I strongly urge them to
    send a clear and sound message to the people of Colombia and the region
    that we

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    stand with them by passing the Colombia free trade agreement.
        In other situations, America is training international peacekeepers
    so they can deploy to provide security in troubled regions. We've
    started what's called the Global Peace Operations Initiative. The whole
    idea is to work to train international peacekeeping forces so they can
    do the work necessary to provide stability and security, so institutions
    can advance. So far, we've trained more than 40,000 peacekeepers, and
    the plan is to train 75,000 additional.
        These instances where America has removed regimes that threaten us,
    American troops may need to play a direct role in providing security. In
    Iraq, 2006, the country was descending into sectarian chaos. So we
    launched the surge, 30,000 additional troops to work with Iraqi forces
    to protect the Iraqi people from terrorists, insurgents, and illegal
    militias. Today, because we acted, violence in Iraq is down to its
    lowest point since late March of 2004. Civilian deaths are down.
    Sectarian killings are down. Security has improved, as well as the
    economy. Political reconciliation is taking place at the grassroots and
    Federal level. And as the Iraqi security forces are becoming more
    capable, our troops are beginning to come home under a policy of return
    on success.
        A lesson we've learned is that civilian expertise is vital to
    strengthening the institutions of freedom. In Iraq and Afghanistan,
    we've developed an important tool to tap into civilian expertise called
    Provincial Reconstruction Teams. PRTs bring together civilian,
    diplomatic, and military personnel. They move into communities that our
    military has cleared of terrorists. They help ensure that security gains
    are followed with real improvements in daily life by helping local
    leaders create jobs and deliver basic services and build up local
    economies.
        PRTs are uniquely suited to situations like Afghanistan and Iraq. In
    the future, civilian expertise will be needed in other countries where
    we do not have ongoing military operations. At the moment, we lack the
    capability to rapidly deploy civilian experts with the right skills to
    trouble spots around the world. We launched what's called a Civilian
    Stabilization Initiative, which is being run out of the State Department
    in the Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization.
        One element of the new office is an Active Response Corps, made up
    of civilian experts from many Government agencies who deploy full time
    to at-risk countries. This corps will eventually include 250 personnel
    from the Departments of State and Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, AID,
    and other civilian agencies with relevant expertise.
        Another element is the Standby Reserve [Response] * Corps, which is
    a reserve force of current and former Government employees who volunteer
    to be an on-call supplemental force that can deploy for reconstruction
    and stabilization missions on short notice.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        * White House correction.
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        And finally, this initiative will include a new Civilian Reserve
    Corps that will function much like our military reserve. It will be made
    up of American citizens with critical skills, such as police officers
    and judges and prosecutors and engineers and doctors and public
    administrators. The corps will give people across America who do not
    wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.
        Legislation authorizing the Civilian Reserve Corps has passed the
    House of Representatives. It's awaiting action in the Senate. And I
    strongly urge Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation as soon as
    possible.
        Another lesson is, is that in aiding the rise of strong and stable
    democracies requires that--the efforts of much more than Washington, DC.
    It requires the efforts of other governments and nonorganizational--
    nongovernmental organizations and people around the world.

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        The work of democratic development is the work of all free nations.
    This is precisely the message that Secretary Rice and I have been carrying around the world. We're
    rallying other nations to train peacekeepers to support Afghanistan and
    Iraq and to act boldly to alleviate hunger and poverty.
        I'm going to the G-8 in Japan in the month of July. The last G-8,
    our partners stood up and made strong commitments to help Africa deal
    with malaria and HIV/AIDS. They have yet to make good on their
    commitments. And I will remind them, it's one thing to make a promise;
    it's another thing to write the check. And the American Government
    expects our partners to live up to their obligations.
        The work of democratic development sometimes requires young
    democracies under siege to band together with partnerships to deal with
    common threats. And this is the approach we're taking in Central
    America. We've encouraged nations threatened by narcotraffickers to
    cooperate in protecting their people. The supplemental that's being
    debated in the Congress will help further this effort by linking Mexico
    and Central America with U.S. to have a joint strategy: protecting our
    hemisphere from narcotraffickers and the terrorists that they ultimately
    yield. I asked Congress to approve the request quickly in the
    supplemental without putting unreasonable conditions on the vital aid.
        One thing is for certain: that if we expect democracies to prevail,
    to marginalize the extremists, countries--it requires countries to have
    good, strong democratic leaders. And the best way to encourage that is
    to have them come to our colleges and universities. We've made good
    progress about changing the student visa regime after
    9/11. We've increased the number of students coming here. And it's in
    our interest that we continue to increase the number of students coming
    to study in the United States.
        And finally, the work of democratic development is the work of
    nongovernmental organizations, like the U.S. Institute of Peace.
    Obviously, these organizations can go into countries where it's harder
    for governments to operate. So it's very important for this Government
    and future Governments to always be a strong and steady partner to
    nongovernmental organizations and groups like the U.S. Institute of
    Peace.
        The work of democratic development is the great cause of our time,
    and we shouldn't shy away from it. And we must be confident in our
    ability to help others realize the blessings of freedom. My big concern
    is that the United States becomes isolationist and nervous; we don't
    support those values that have stood the test of time. The Institute of
    Peace, I hope, will make sure that never happens.
        Our fellow citizens can help in many ways. They can join an
    organization like this one. They can join the civilian reserve. They can
    become--like thousands of other compassionate citizens--become soldiers
    in the armies of compassion by helping HIV/AIDS victims or help educate
    people around the world. Or they can make the noble choice that has
    sustained freedom for generations and join the United States military.
    However they choose to serve, advancing the cause of liberty is
    necessary to advance the cause of peace.
        I'm honored to be with you today. Looking forward to coming back
    someday to see this building when it's built. Thanks for your efforts.
    Thanks for your mission. May God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:49 a.m. at Navy Hill. In his remarks, he
    referred to former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who introduced
    the President, and Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, cochairs, Building for
    Peace Campaign, U.S. Institute of Peace; J. Robinson West, Chairman of
    the Board of Directors, Richard H. Solomon, President, and Rev. Sidney
    Lovett (Ret.), former member of the Board of Directors, U.S. Institute

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    of Peace; and Adm. Michael G. Mullen, USN, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of
    Staff. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.