    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 23, 2008]
    [Pages 1232-1233]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Lunch With Human Rights Activists in New York City
    September 23, 2008

        The President. Laura and I and Secretary
    Rice and members of my administration have
    just had a wonderful lunch with democracy leaders, human rights
    activists, courageous men and women who have stood strong for freedom. I
    assured them that this Government--or my Government believes in the
    universality of freedom. We believe there's an Almighty, and a gift of
    that Almighty to every man, woman, and child is freedom.
        They inspire us. Here in America, we have an obligation to help
    others realize the blessings of liberty. They have been on the
    frontlines of securing liberty. And so we want to thank you very much
    for your courage. We thank you for your set of beliefs that remain
    strong. Thank you for taking time to be with us today. And you might
    want to say something.

    [At this point, First Lady Laura Bush made brief remarks, concluding
    with the introduction of human rights activist, U Kovida.]

        U Kovida. Thank you very much for
    inviting me here. This is really a nice day and my friends--discussion
    with many people. In Burma, many hundred people, a lot. We all need
    human rights, all the world's people, because we are all human. So if--
    when people--there's no human rights, there's no people, and there's no
    human. So I hope so--I hope that we all--international community need--
    help the

    [[Page 1233]]

    Burmese people, and I hope to get help to others--international
    community and the U.S. and the European, every country. And I hope we
    can change the Government some without weapon in Burma and Tibet and
    other--Zimbabwe--other countries, so around the world, we all need peace
    for--need a change without weapon. Thank you very much.
        The President. Thank you all. Thanks.
        The First Lady. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:32 p.m. at Governors Island. The Office
    of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of
    these remarks. The transcript released by the Office of the Press
    Secretary also included the remarks of the First Lady.