[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Pages 2157-2158]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin

December 14, 2006

    President Bush. It's been my honor to have a visit with the 
President of Benin. We had a very long discussion about a variety of 
subjects. My administration is committed to helping the democracies on 
the continent of Africa deal with very significant problems. The 
President and I are about to go to a summit where the United States of 
America will commit resources, time, and talent to help rid much of 
Africa of malaria.
    And, Mr. President, I'm proud to announce today that you're one of 
the countries that we'll be concentrating our help upon. We cannot 
succeed, however, unless there's an administration that is willing and 
capable to do the hard work necessary to educate people, spread nets, 
insecticides necessary to deal with a disease that can be defeated.
    We talked about the Millennium Challenge Account. It's one of the 
most innovative foreign policy initiatives ever proposed by an 
administration. It's having a positive effect around the world. And I 
want to thank you for working toward that end.
    We talked about the need for us to work together to deal with 
problems such as Darfur. The President recognized the genocide taking 
place in Darfur, as does the administration. We want to work through the 
United Nations to have a very strong and capable AU force, augmented by 
United Nations help, to save lives.
    One thing I'm impressed with is the President's commitment to 
democracy, rule of law, decency, and education. And to the extent that 
we can help--continue to help your country, Mr. President, we will do 
so.
    Welcome, I'm glad you're here.
    President Yayi. I have come here to, first and foremost, thank Mr. 
President Bush for all the initiatives that have been taken so far to 
eradicate poverty on the continents. As you may know, among these 
initiatives, we have the agua initiative, empowerment of women, the 
fight against HIV/AIDS, and the initiative of MCA--that is Millennium 
Challenge Account. It is very important for us in Africa because the MCA 
will help us eradicate poverty. And I would like to thank President Bush 
for that last initiative he took.
    Africa is aware of her responsibility in the roles she has to play, 
globally speaking, because we have to reach prosperity, and that 
prosperity has some conditions. We need peace. We need stability. We 
need security. And Africa--America has a leading role to play in our 
combat to restore a peaceful continent.
    Of course, we have to be together with America to build--succeed in 
all these challenges, to take up all these challenges. And 
multilaterally, it should be also a part of concern of the American 
people. We are aware of the fact that America can really play a very 
important role to continue building capacity among the institutions like 
IMF and the World Bank, and the institution of--[inaudible]--which is 
very important for us also.
    And the efforts should continue being made by the American 
Government within the G-8 group, because Africa needs a lot from this G-
8, and international exchanges also have to be reenforced. The Doha 
negotiations need to find a solution now--try to make it easier because 
cotton is but one of our important products in Africa, and in my 
country, two people out of three live out of cotton. It's the same 
reality in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, where cotton is a 
very important product.
    So some subsidies granted to some countries like America here cause 
a kind of disfunctioning in our country and on the continent also. So 
America should help us smooth this mechanism. I'm very happy to hear 
that America is trying to set up a parallel mechanism that would really 
help promote

[[Page 2158]]

the production of cotton. So by the time the WTO will also reach an 
agreement, I think that this problem of Doha will be definitely solved.
    Let me end my speech by saying that I want to thank the American 
Government, thank President Bush, and the American people for all they 
are doing to really help us eradicate poverty on African continent.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir.

Note: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. President Yayi spoke in French, and his remarks were translated 
by an interpreter.