    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [April 25, 2008]
    [Pages 580-583]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Malaria Awareness Day in Hartford
    April 25, 2008

        Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you for the kind
    introduction, Roxanne. She wrote it--read
    it just like I wrote it. [Laughter] It's good to be with you. I
    appreciate the--being here at the Boys & Girls Club here in Hartford. I
    really enjoyed being with the boys and girls of the Boys & Girls Club.
    Thank you for greeting us.
        I--we do have something in common--at least I do--with the Boys &
    Girls Club. As Roxanne noted, the Boys &
    Girls Club were born in Connecticut. Well, so was I, just a little
    different date, you know. [Laughter] The Boys & Girls Clubs are 102.
    My daughters think I
    act like I'm 102 at times. [Laughter] But I really thank you all for
    greeting me.
        I want to thank the members of this club for your compassionate work
    in the fight against malaria. And that's what I want to spend some time
    talking about today. I appreciate being joined by Melinda
    Doolittle of ``American Idol.'' I've
    gotten to know Melinda because Melinda is not only a great talent,
    Melinda has got a huge heart. And it's interesting, isn't it, that she
    has garnered all this publicity and acclaim, all to channel it into
    helping other people. And I love your example, and I thank you for your
    leadership.
        And I'm also honored to be up here with Tamika Raymond, as well as Charlie Villanueva. They know something about the State of Connecticut
    because they were stars on their respective University of Connecticut
    Husky basketball teams. They are professional athletes, one with the
    Milwaukee Bucks and the other with the Connecticut Sun. But more
    importantly, they're using their presence on the court to be able to
    advance important issues. And in my judgment, a great issue to advance
    is saving people's lives. And that's what we're here to celebrate today.
        Sorry my wife isn't with me. She is a huge
    supporter of the malaria initiative. She cares a lot, like the people on
    this stage care a lot, about the human condition here in America and
    elsewhere. She's getting ready to be the mother of the bride--[laughter]--which I guess that means I'm getting
    ready to be the father of the bride.
        I want to thank Admiral Tim Ziemer. He
    is the Coordinator for the U.S. Malaria Initiative. You notice I said
    ``admiral.'' He's--when it comes to picking people to get a job done,
    you want somebody who can go from point A to point Z and plow ahead
    through the obstacles. You know, I'm really not interested in policies
    that are long on rhetoric and short on results. I think the taxpayers,
    as well as the people we're trying to help, need to know our strategy is
    well defined, with clear goals, and we hold people accountable. And the
    great thing about Admiral Ziemer is, he's willing to hold people to
    account and willing to be held to account himself. And you're about to
    hear some of the progress we've made, and a lot of it has to do with his
    leadership. And I'm proud you're here. Thanks for coming.
        I also thank Sam Gray--[applause]--
    not just your family members who are cheering; that's good. [Laughter]
        So I've come to herald the Boys & Girls Clubs all across America,
    and they do fine work. And Roxanne is
    right: They're saving lives. And I want to thank you for the--

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    for those of you who support the Boys & Girls Clubs here in Hartford and
    around the country.
        But today also marks the second annual Malaria Awareness Day in the
    United States. And here to help celebrate that day with us is the
    Congressman from Connecticut,
    Christopher Shays. Thank you for coming.
        On this day, we remember those who've died from malaria. In other
    words, an awareness day is one in which you recognize the consequences,
    in this case, of this disease. And so we mourn the loss of life,
    especially and including the children who have needlessly died on the
    continent of Africa and elsewhere. They died because of a mosquito bite.
    Also, this is a day of hope, however, as well. And the reason it is,
    because nations once trapped in fear because of malaria are now tackling
    malaria head on. And they're doing so with our help.
        It is a day of hope because more Americans are recognizing the
    timeless truth: To whom much is given, much is required. It should be
    the corner--and is--the cornerstone of American foreign policy. Some
    people say, ``Well, what about our own people?'' And my answer is, we're
    plenty rich to help our own and to help others. We've been a blessed
    nation, and it's in our interest to share our blessings with other. It's
    a day of hope because compassionate souls are acting on the truth and
    helping to wipe out malaria in Africa and beyond.
        A few moments ago, I presented three Dragonfly Awards. So, like, you
    say, ``Why call some--an award a Dragonfly Award?'' Well, the award is
    named for the natural predator of the mosquito. And each one of this
    year's winners has shown great determination in working hard and in
    creative ways to eradicate the disease.
        The first Dragonfly Award winner went to Roxanne, who accepted on behalf of the Boys & Girls Club of
    America. A year and a half ago, Roxanne attended a White House summit on
    malaria hosted by Laura and me, and she was
    touched by the suffering that malaria inflicts on African children. And
    so she pledged to rally American children to help. And she acted on the
    pledge. Sometimes in life, you get the pledgers and not doers; in this
    case, it was the pledger and the doer.
        More than 150 Boys & Girls Clubs have joined the campaign to raise
    funds and spread awareness. Local clubs have held events ranging from
    car washes to bake sales to walkathons. All together, Boys & Girls Clubs
    have raised some $25,000, more than enough to buy 2,500 bed nets for
    families in Africa.
        I know the boys and girls will probably never meet any of the lives
    who are being saved. I had the honor of traveling to Africa, and I can
    assure all who've been helping, the people of Africa are most grateful
    to the American citizens for their help.
        The second Dragonfly Award winner is Zachary Ellenthal, who happens to be from Connecticut. When Zach
    celebrated his bar mitzvah last October, he asked family and friends not
    to give him money. Instead, he wrote a letter with facts about malaria
    in sub-Sahara Africa and asked his guests to consider donating to
    Malaria No More. He even set up a web page so they could make donations
    online. As a result of this man's compassion and decency, he raised more
    than $11,000 to purchase bed nets. And Zachary--[applause].
        The final Dragonfly Award winner is Allyson Brown from Florida. Allyson came up with an innovative way
    to combine two of her passions: one, fighting malaria in Africa, and
    school dances. She put together a fundraising dance with the theme
    Stayin' Alive and came away with more than $1,600 in donations. Then she
    built upon her success by working with Malaria No More to start a
    nationwide Stayin' Alive campaign. So far, more than 100 schools in 30
    States have joined. Together, they've raised more than $30,000 to
    purchase bed nets. Allyson will be graduating from high

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    school this year, and she's on her way to Florida State University.
        The interesting thing is, there are countless stories like this
    across America. From major corporations, to the NBA and WNBA, to small-
    town faith-based groups, the American people are rallying to stop a
    preventable and treatable disease. I try to explain to people that the
    great compassion of America is defined by the thousands of acts of
    kindness that take place on a daily basis.
        The Federal Government is doing our part; we have a role to play. In
    2005, I launched what we've called the President's Malaria Initiative,
    which is a 5-year, $1.2 billion initiative to cut the number of malaria-
    related deaths in 15 African nations by half. In other words, we're
    focusing our attempt with a clear goal. It's an ambitious goal, but the
    program is off to a very strong start. In just 2 years, the initiative
    has helped provide bed nets and antimalaria medicine, insecticide
    sprays, and prenatal drugs to an estimated 25 million people in sub-
    Sahara Africa.
        Behind these numbers are whole communities looking to the future
    with renewed hope. Laura and I saw this. As I've
    mentioned, we went to Africa in February. It was such a touching moment
    to hold babies in our arms who might have died without the support of
    our fellow citizens. We visited children your age who can go to school
    because they're free of malaria. And the good news is, we listened to
    determined African leaders described how life is being transformed for
    their people and how they want to help, how they thank the American
    people for their great compassion, but understand it's their
    responsibility to put strategies in place and to see that they're
    followed through.
        I want to tell you an amazing statistic, and this is what's going to
    happen all across Africa where we're focusing our efforts. In Tanzania,
    the percentage of infants in Zanzibar infected with malaria has dropped
    from about 20 percent to less than 1 percent in 2 years. There are
    thousands more children who can grow up healthy, who will be able to
    contribute to their society and reach their potential. Here's--one man
    said, when he summed up America's efforts to fight malaria, he called it
    ``a godsend.''
        America is proud to lead the way, and we are urging other nations to
    join us. Last summer, we had a meeting, what's called the G-8, and I
    called upon them to join the United States and match our commitment to
    cut malaria deaths in half in an additional 15 countries. So we're
    willing to take the lead on 15 countries where we're needed--where help
    is needed the most, but we expect you as well, as nations to whom much
    is given, to be joining us. And they made their pledges; they made their
    promises. And we're going to have a meeting in July, another G-8 meeting
    in July, and they need to make sure that they meet their pledges. There
    are babies dying needlessly on the continent of Africa, and if they have
    made a pledge to support the efforts to fight malaria, they need to
    write the checks. And I, of course, will be reminding them of that in a
    very gentle way--[laughter]--diplomatic fashion.
        Our efforts to fight malaria means that we're answering a moral
    imperative. It's in our Nation's moral interests to do this. We're a
    better nation, collectively a better nation, that when we help people,
    when we save lives--but it's also a strategy that advances our security
    interests as well. From experience, we understand that the terrorists
    and extremists can only find fertile recruiting grounds where they find
    hopelessness. Their ideology is so backwards, so distorted, so hateful,
    nobody really wants to follow it unless you're so hopeless that it
    becomes appealing. And so the best way to defeat this ideology of hate
    is with acts of compassion and love. The best way to defeat an ideology
    of darkness is to spread the light of hope.
        And that's exactly what we're doing. So to my fellow citizens, I not
    only say it's in our moral interests to help, it's in our

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    strategic interest to help defeat these ideologues who murder the
    innocent to achieve their political objectives.
        America is fully committed to this mission of mercy. The United
    States of America is doing the right thing, and your Government and the
    people of this country are showing their kindness and compassion and
    decency. Any American who wants to become involved in this mission can
    go to fightingmalaria.gov. It's pretty easy. All you got to do is type
    in fightingmalaria.gov, and you can find out how you can help a worthy
    and noble and necessary cause.
        I thank you for coming and giving me a chance to explain our
    initiative. God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:44 a.m. at the Northwest Boys & Girls
    Club. In his remarks, he referred to Roxanne Spillett, president and
    chief executive officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of America; entertainer
    Melinda Doolittle; and Samuel S. Gray, Jr., president and chief
    executive officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, Inc. The Malaria
    Awareness Day proclamation is listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.