[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 30 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Pages 1077-1078]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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The President's Radio Address

July 21, 2001

    Good morning. As you hear this, I am in Genoa, Italy, at an 
important meeting of the world's most industrialized nations and Russia. 
Our focus this year is on the poor and struggling nations of the world 
and what prosperous democracies can do to help them build a better 
future. This cause is the priority of the United States' foreign policy.
    We're a wealthy nation with responsibilities to help others. It is 
also in our best interest to do so, because we benefit when we have 
strong and stable partners around the world who trade with us and help 
keep the peace.
    Our discussions here in Europe are centered on some great goals. We 
want to spread the benefits of free trade as far and as wide as 
possible. Free trade is the only proven path out of poverty for 
developing nations. And when nations are shut off from the world, their 
people pay a steep price.
    Despite trade's proven track record for lifting the lives of the 
poor, some still oppose it. They seek to deny the poor and developing 
countries their best hope for escaping poverty. Legitimate concerns 
about labor standards, economic dislocation, and the environment should 
be addressed and will be. But the developing countries have no need for 
protectionist policies that would condemn them to permanent poverty.
    Yet, trade alone is not enough. Wealthy nations must also work in 
true partnership with developing countries to help them overcome 
obstacles to their development, such as illiteracy, disease, and 
unsustainable debt. This is compassionate conservatism at an 
international level, and it is the responsibility that comes with 
freedom and prosperity.
    To advance literacy in the developing world, I proposed that the 
United States increase funding for our international education 
assistance programs by nearly 20 percent. And we will lead a new effort 
to improve basic education and teacher training in Africa. We've 
proposed that the World Bank and other development banks increase the 
share of their funding devoted to education and to tie this support more 
directly to clear measurable results. And we have proposed that up to 
half of all the funds provided by development banks to the poorest 
countries be provided as grants rather than loans for education, health, 
and human needs.
    Today, many poor nations are benefiting from efforts to relieve them 
of the crippling burden of massive debt. But debt relief is ultimately a 
short-term fix. My proposal doesn't merely drop the debt; it helps stop 
the debt.
    A final item of business at our Genoa summit is to launch a new 
global fund to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. The U.S. 
contributes nearly a billion dollars a year annually to international 
efforts to combat AIDS and infectious diseases, and we stand ready to 
contribute more to the global fund as it demonstrates its success.
    This is a time of great opportunity. What some call globalization is 
in fact the triumph of human liberty across national borders. We have 
today the chance to prove that freedom can work, not just in the new 
world or old world but in the whole world. Our great challenge is to 
include all the world's poor in an expanding circle of development 
throughout all the Americas and all of Asia and all of Africa. Such a 
world will enjoy greater freedom and prosperity and is far more likely 
to be at peace.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1:55 p.m. on July 17 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 21. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 20 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.

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