    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [June 26, 2008]
    [Pages 883-888]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives' National
    Conference
    June 26, 2008

        Thank you very much. Please be seated. Now how beautiful was that;
    from being a homeless mother of two to
    introducing the President of the United States. There has to be a higher
    power. I love being with members of the armies of compassion, foot
    soldiers in helping make America a more hopeful place. Every day, you
    mend broken hearts with love. You mend broken lives with hope, and you
    mend broken communities with countless acts of extraordinary kindness.
        Groups like yours have harnessed the power that no government
    bureaucracy can match. So when I came to Washington, my goal was to
    ensure that government made you a full partner in our efforts to serve
    those in need. And the results have been uplifting, and that's what
    we're here to talk about today. It's an opportunity to celebrate your
    achievements, to thank you for your life-changing work, and to look
    ahead to ways that you will extend your record of compassion in the
    years to come.
        I really want to thank Jay Hein and those
    who worked hard to put on this conference. It looks like it's a
    successful one from here. I'm honored that members of the administration
    have come--the Attorney General, Judge
    Michael Mukasey. Mr. General, thanks for coming. Secretary Ed
    Schafer,

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    Department of Agriculture; Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Department of Commerce; Director John Walters, Office of National Drug Control Policy--thank you all
    for taking time to be here.
        Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS
    Coordinator--Mark, thanks for coming; appreciate you being here. I'm
    going to talk about PEPFAR in a minute. But when I talk about PEPFAR,
    think about his extraordinary leadership, as I do.
        I want to thank the Ambassador from the Republic of Rwanda. Mr. Ambassador, I'm proud you're here. And I want to
    thank all of those who've come around the country who work in our Faith-
    Based and Community Initiative for your leadership and your compassion
    and your decency.
        You know, when I ran for President, like a lot of others around our
    country, I was troubled to see so many of our citizens' greatest needs
    going unmet. Too many addicts walked the rough road of recovery alone.
    Too many prisoners had the desire for reform, but no one showed them a
    way. Across the country, the hungry and the homeless, the sick and the
    suffering begged for deliverance, and too many heard only silence.
        And the tragedy that was--a lot of good folks in America--a lot of
    good men and women who had the desire to help, but didn't have the
    resources--they had the heart, but not the resources. And because many
    of them worked with small charities, they were overlooked by Washington
    as potential partners in service. And because many of them belonged to
    faith-based organizations, they were often barred from receiving support
    from the Federal Government.
        So I set about to change that, at least from the Federal
    perspective, with an approach called compassionate conservatism. This
    approach was compassionate because it was rooted in a timeless truth:
    that we ought to love our neighbors as we'd like to be loved ourselves.
    And it was conservative because it recognized the limits of government.
    Bureaucracies can put money in people's hands, but they cannot put hope
    in a person's heart.
        Putting hope in people's hearts is the mission of our Nation's
    faith-based and community groups. And today we're going to herald some
    of the results of the collective work of compassionate Americans. To me,
    it does not matter if there's a crescent on your group's wall, a rabbi
    on your group's board, or Christ in your group's name. If your
    organization puts medicine in the people's hands, food in people's
    mouths, or a roof over people's heads, then you're succeeding. And for
    the sake of our country, the Government ought to support your work.
        I was reviewing my first major policy speech as a candidate for
    President. It seems like a long time ago, July 22, 1999. Here's what I
    said, I said: ``In every instance where my administration sees a
    responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based
    organizations, charities, and community groups that have shown their
    ability to save and change lives. We will make a determined attack on
    need by promoting the compassionate acts of others.''
        As my--President, my first Executive order was to establish the
    Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the White House. And
    my next one led to the creation of faith-based and community offices at
    11 Federal agencies. These offices were tasked with the--this new
    mission: to lower the legal and institutional barriers that prevented
    government and faith-based groups from working as partners and to ensure
    that the armies of compassion played a central role in our campaign to
    make America more promising and more just.
        We've carried out this mission in two ways. First, we have helped
    level the playing field for faith-based groups and other charities,
    especially small organizations that have struggled to compete for funds
    in the past. We've educated religious groups about

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    their civil rights. We've made the Federal grant application process
    more accessible and transparent. We've trained thousands of Federal
    employees to ensure that government does not discriminate against faith-
    based organizations. We've ensured that these groups do not have to give
    up their religious character to receive taxpayer money.
        With these steps, we followed a principle rooted both in our
    Constitution and the best traditions of our Nation. Government should
    never fund the teaching of faith, but it should support the good works
    of the faithful.
        Second, my administration has advanced policies that yield greater
    support for faith-based and community groups. In other words, it's one
    thing to talk it, it's another thing to act. So we worked with Congress,
    and we've had a lot of help in the Congress.
        By the way, this wasn't an easy idea for some to swallow in the
    Congress, and yet we did have good help. We amended the Tax Code to
    provide greater incentives for charitable donations, and we established
    what's called the Compassion Capital Fund to help faith-based and
    community groups operate more efficiently and secure additional funding
    from the private sector. This year, we launched what's called the Pro
    Bono Challenge, a 3-year campaign to encourage corporate professionals
    like accountants and lawyers to share their time and expertise with
    groups such as yours.
        In all these ways, the administration has upheld its promise to
    treat community and faith-based organizations as trusted partners. We've
    held your organizations to high standard and insisted on clear results.
    And your organizations have delivered on those results. You've helped
    revolutionize the way government addresses the greatest challenges
    facing our society. I truly believe the faith-based initiative is one of
    the most important initiatives of this administration.
        I would like to share with you some of your record. Faith-based and
    community groups have revolutionized the way our government shelters the
    homeless. Together, we've worked to reduce the number of Americans who
    go to sleep each night vulnerable and exposed, unsure of where they'll
    sleep tomorrow. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban
    Development has partnered with faith-based and community groups to find
    homeless Americans safe places to stay. And according to the most recent
    data, this program has helped reduce the number of chronically ill
    homeless by nearly 12 percent, getting more than 20,000 Americans off
    the street.
        Faith-based and community groups have revolutionized the way we help
    Americans break the chains of addiction. Through our Access to Recovery
    program, we provide addicts with vouchers that they can redeem at
    treatment centers of their choice. So far, Access to Recovery has helped
    approximately 200,000 addicts along the path to clean lives. And many
    have been inspired to call upon a higher power to help them break the
    chains of addiction.
        One person who's turned her life around through this program is
    Ramie Siler. You don't know Ramie yet, but
    you're about to. Ramie was once lost to substance abuse and depression.
    Even when she tried to get clean for her daughter's high school
    graduation, Ramie could not break free from her addiction. And then she
    found a faith-based group, a group of decent citizens reaching out to
    people like Ramie. It was called the Next Door.
        At the Next Door, Ramie met people who stood
    by her during the difficult times of recovery. They gave Ramie a second
    chance to become a productive citizen and a good mother. Today, she's
    reunited with her daughter Dawn. She helps other
    women as a Next Door case manager. And I'd like to tell you what she
    said. She used the words of Saint Paul: ``Old things have passed away;
    behold, all things are becoming new.''
        Ramie is with us today with a Vanderbilt
    sophomore, her daughter Dawn. Ramie,

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    where are you? Oh, there they are. [Applause] So you applaud for Ramie,
    but you're also applauding for those compassionate souls at the Next
    Door. Faith-based community is--[applause]--our faith community is doing
    a fantastic job of saving lives.
        Faith-based and community groups have revolutionized the way our
    government helps the children of prisoners. It's hard to imagine what
    it's like for a child to have to enter a prison gate just to get a hug
    from a mom or a dad. Government can't hug these kids, but it can support
    caring mentors who do. Through our Mentoring Children of Prisoners
    program, we've joined with faith-based and community groups to match
    nearly 90,000 children of prisoners with adults who offer love and
    guidance and a positive example.
        Faith and community groups have revolutionized the way our
    government gives prisoners across America a second chance. In the past,
    government frequently ignored groups like yours in its efforts to help
    former prisoners become productive citizens. Like, it just didn't enter
    people's minds that the faith-based and community groups could actually
    help change lives. Yet through the prisoner reentry initiative that we
    created in 2004, we've enlisted faith-based and community groups to help
    provide services like job placement and mentoring programs for thousands
    of former inmates. Really, what we did is help them find love.
        And the work has made a huge difference. Nationwide, 44 percent of
    prisoners are rearrested within a year of their release. Yet among
    prisoners that have been helped by people, like people in this room, the
    number is three times lower, just 15 percent.
        Faith-based and community groups have helped a lot in America, and
    they've helped revolutionize the way our government alleviates suffering
    and disease around the world. I'm about to describe some of our
    programs. But oftentimes, I'm asked, why? Why do you care what happens
    outside of America? I believe to whom much is given, much is required.
    And I believe we got plenty of capacity to help people at home and
    abroad. And I believe it is in the moral interests of the United States
    to help when it comes to defeating malaria, for example.
        Malaria is a disease which kills one African child every 30 seconds.
    And it is something we can do something about. The U.S. Government
    launched a 5-year, $1.2 billion initiative in 2005 to cut the number of
    malaria-related deaths in 15 African nations by half. With strong
    support from groups like yours, our malaria initiative is producing
    results, tangible results. In just over 2 years, it's reached more than
    25 million people.
        The island of Zanzibar, which is affiliated with Tanzania, the
    infection rate has gone from 20 percent of babies born to less than 1
    percent of babies born in 16 months.
        The organizations about which I'm talking today are vital to the
    Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. We got to give
    everything initials in Washington. [Laughter] We launched this program
    in 2003--this is a program that Ambassador Dybul runs so effectively. We launched this program in 2003.
    When we launched it there was about 50,000 people in sub-Sahara Africa
    that were receiving antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. As a result
    of a focused campaign, I'm pleased to announced that today we support
    treatment for nearly 1.7 million people. Think about that.
        And one of the beautiful things about this initiative is that we're
    saving babies. To date, PEPFAR has allowed nearly 200,000 African babies
    to be born HIV-free.
        These new numbers show the program is a huge success. And it would
    not have been a--nearly the success it's been without the partners who
    carry out the work, without the faith-based community that is on the
    frontline of saving lives, not only here at home but in places like
    Africa.

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        You know, it's been amazing to watch this experience. People who
    report back to Mark and myself talk about
    what's called the Lazarus effect, where communities were once given up
    for dead have now found new life and new hope.
        I traveled to--you know, we had a fantastic trip to Africa;
    Laura and I went. And the outpouring of love for
    the American citizens is great. I mean, this--it is such an honor to
    represent our country and to see the hard work of the American citizens
    and the generosity of the American citizens paying off in the smiling
    faces that line the road.
        When we were in Tanzania, we went to visit a clinic where a 9-year-
    old girl was HIV-positive, and she'd lost both her parents to AIDS. And
    for the last year, Catholic Relief Services had been helping the girl.
    And her grandmother said this: ``As a Muslim, I never imagined that a
    Catholic group would help me like that.'' And she went on to say, ``I'm
    so grateful to the American people.''
        The United States Senate must follow the lead of the United States
    House and reauthorize this vital program.
        I really am grateful for those who are here and those around the
    country who serve in the armies of compassion. It didn't require a
    government law to get you to sign up. You chose to do so out of the
    goodness of your heart. We've made great strides in fulfilling the goal,
    and I am confident that the progress that you have made over the last 8
    years will continue.
        I'm confident because the movement is bigger than politics or any
    political party. This is not a political convention. This is a
    compassion convention. This is, ``we don't care about politic''
    convention. We care about saving lives.
        You realize that 35 Governors have faith-based offices, 19 of them
    Democrats, 16 of them Republicans. Seventy mayors of both parties have
    similar programs at the municipal level.
        I'm confident that this initiative has built a powerful grassroots
    network. We've trained over 100,000 social entrepreneurs. Isn't that
    amazing? In this brief period of time, 100,000 people have been trained.
    Last year, we provided more than 19,000 competitive grants to community
    and faith-based organizations. Why? Because we want to change America
    for the better. We want people to be able to be empowered to do their
    work of love and compassion and bringing dignity to every human life.
    We've laid the foundation for an effort that will continue transforming
    lives long after I've been back to Texas.
        I am confident about the power of this program because the
    initiative has tapped into the compassionate spirit of America. Over the
    past 7 years, more of our fellow citizens have discovered that the
    pursuit of happiness leads by following the path of service. It's
    amazing what happens when you love somebody like you like to be loved
    yourself; your own soul is enriched. More citizens are understanding
    that by serving, you serve yourself. Americans have volunteered in
    record numbers. Sixty million people have volunteered in America this
    year, nearly a third of them through faith-based groups. It's an amazing
    statistic, isn't it? It really speaks to the great beauty of our
    country.
        I'm confident because I know how easily the compassionate spirit can
    spread. There's an interesting story that I want to share with you about
    Ugandan women who help--have been helped by PEPFAR. These were good
    souls who worked in a mine. They crushed rocks into gravel by hand. And
    it is tough work, really hard work. Then they heard about Katrina, and
    somehow they scraped together $1,000, and they gave it to the U.S.
    Embassy for the storm's victim. And one woman said with pride, ``We are
    now donors.''
        And I'm confident above all because I know the character of the men
    and women gathered in this hall. In your countless quiet acts of grace,
    you serve the highest

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    ideals of our Nation. These are the ideals that preserve America as the
    beacon of hope, the great light of freedom.
        A few years ago, I met a young guy named Elijah Anyieth. Elijah was a little boy, and his village was bombed
    during Sudan's civil war. He lost both his parents, and he spent years
    wandering from one refugee camp to another. Eventually, he resettled in
    Virginia, thanks to a partnership between a faith-based group and the
    State Department.
        Once Elijah arrived, a local Catholic
    charity found him a place to call home. He came to a foreign soil after
    wandering in refugee camps, and he found some love. He enrolled in high
    school. Just last month, he graduated from college. He's landed his
    dream job. The boy who grew up without electricity or running water is
    now a mechanical engineer. Elijah, where are you? There he is, right
    there. [Applause] You applaud for a good man named Elijah, but also for
    those kind souls who share in the great story of this good man.
        It's only in a place like America--think about it; think about our
    country for a second--could a life nearly extinguished by hate be
    restored by love and compassion.
        So I've been proud to stand by you as you have worked these miracles
    across our country. You probably don't even realize some of the acts of
    kindness are miracles. I'm telling you, they are. And you can find it in
    the hopeful expressions on the people you've helped. And so I thank you
    for your efforts. I thank you for your life-changing work. And I thank
    you for your record of compassion that I'm confident you will build on
    in the years to come.
        May God bless you, and may God continue to bless our country. Thank
    you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:59 p.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. In
    his remarks, he referred to Edith Espinoza, administrative assistant,
    Chicano Federation of San Diego County, Inc., who introduced the
    President; Jay F. Hein, Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community
    Initiatives; and Rwanda's Ambassador to the U.S. James Kimonyo.