[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 39 (Monday, September 27, 2004)]
[Pages 2048-2049]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

September 18, 2004

    Good morning. Three years after the attacks of September the 11th, 
our Nation continues to confront the threats to our security. We're 
acting to protect the homeland, to track and disrupt terror networks 
across the world, and to hold to account the sponsors of terror. We're 
staying on the offensive, striking the terrorists abroad so we do not 
have to face them here at home.
    Americans also know that our long-term security requires a broader 
commitment. Our country is determined to spread hope and economic 
progress and freedom as the alternatives to hatreds, resentments, and 
terrorist violence. In hopeful societies, men and women are far less 
likely to embrace murderous ideologies. And free governments will fight 
terrorists in their midst, instead of harboring them. We know that to 
create a safer world, we must build a better world, and we are acting.
    This week, I will speak in New York to the United Nations General 
Assembly, and I will talk about the great possibilities of our time to 
improve health, expand prosperity, and extend freedom in our world. 
America and many nations are taking a bold stand in the fight against 
HIV/AIDS. My Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief will provide an 
unprecedented $15 billion over 5 years to support the fight against the 
AIDS pandemic throughout the world, with the focus on the most afflicted 
countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. These funds are already at 
work helping to prevent new infections, provide treatment and care for 
millions of victims.
    We've also joined with other nations to create the Global Fund to 
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. In 3 years, the fund has raised 
$5.6 billion in pledges and provided funding for projects in more than 
90 countries. And we will persist in the effort until these diseases are 
defeated.
    America and many other nations are also determined to turn the tide 
against global poverty by taking a new approach to economic development. 
It is now our policy to increase foreign aid to those governments that 
are serious about fighting corruption and improving education, health 
care, and economic opportunity for their people. Modern history teaches 
that honest governments that invest in their people and promote economic 
freedom can lift millions out of poverty and despair. And governments 
that truly serve their people deserve our help.
    The health and well-being of developing nations also depend on the 
defeat of hunger and illiteracy. We have launched an Initiative to End 
Hunger in Africa by teaching modern farming techniques and providing 
drought-resistant crops to farmers on that continent. And through our 
Africa Education Initiative, we're training teachers, distributing 
textbooks, and encouraging more school enrollment.
    America and many nations are also building a better world by 
standing with the liberated peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan as they move 
toward democracy. More than 10 million Afghan citizens have now 
registered to vote in next month's election. Iraq is approaching free 
elections in January. Terrorist enemies are trying to stop the progress 
of both those countries, and their violent and merciless attacks may 
increase as elections draw near. But all the world can be certain: 
America and our allies will keep our commitments to the Afghan and Iraqi 
people. Our long-term security--the safety of our children and 
grandchildren--will be served when the broader Middle East is home to 
stable, democratic governments that fight terror.
    At the United Nations this week, I will make some additional 
proposals to expand prosperity and accelerate the march of freedom in 
our world. Never in the history of the United Nations have we faced so 
many

[[Page 2049]]

opportunities to create a safer world by building a better world. For 
the sake of our common security and for the sake of our common values, 
the international community must rise to this historic moment. And the 
United States is prepared to lead.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:30 a.m. on September 17 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September 
18. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on September 17 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.