[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 29 (Monday, July 23, 2007)]
[Pages 969-970]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Norman E. Borlaug

July 17, 2007

    Thank you all. Madam Speaker, thank you. Madam Speaker, Mr. Leader, 
members of the congressional leadership, members of the Iowa delegation, 
fighting Texas A&M Aggies, Dr. Borlaug, and his family.
    All around us are testaments to our Republic's young and storied 
history. Yet sometimes it takes a ceremony like this to remind us what a 
special place America is.
    Ours is a land of hope and promise and compassion. And we see that 
compassion and promise in the man we honor today--a farmboy, educated in 
a one-room schoolhouse, who left the golden fields of Iowa to become 
known as ``the man who fed the world.''
    Many have highlighted Norman Borlaug's achievements in turning 
ordinary staples such as wheat and rice into miracles that brought hope 
to millions. I particularly appreciated the story about a former Vice 
President and fellow Iowan named Henry Wallace, who once came to observe 
Norman's grain experiments up close. The Vice President looked around 
and then asked why a good Iowa boy like Norman wasn't working on 
something to do with corn. [Laughter]
    Norman Borlaug's life has taken him from laboratories in America and 
Mexico to dusty villages throughout the developing world. He

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has consulted with Presidents and Prime Ministers in important countries 
like Pakistan and India. He's helped inspire students at Texas A&M, 
where an institute bearing his name is dedicated to completing his 
life's work. To this day Norman leads an active life--listen to a 
friend. He said, ``Norman spends half his year in Texas, half his year 
in Mexico, and the other half wherever else he's needed.'' [Laughter] 
That is interesting math. I was going to say that I bet some of us wish 
we could use that kind of math during the budget process here in the 
Capitol. [Laughter] I'm afraid sometimes we do.
    What that friend meant was that Norman Borlaug has lived his life 
with urgency. He has long understood that one of the greatest threats to 
global progress is the torment of human hunger, and we've seen that 
plague haunt history many times. Famine in the mid-1800s forced hundreds 
of thousands of Irish citizens to take a sad and desperate journey to 
America and turned the Atlantic Ocean into what an Irish poet called ``a 
bowl of bitter tears.'' More than a century later, wrenching images of 
emaciated children in Ethiopia rallied the world to the tragedy of 
famine. Hunger continues to cast its miserable shadow across much of the 
developing world, robbing villages of children and forcing human beings 
to make desperate and daily searches for food and clean water.
    Wealthy and prosperous nations have a moral obligation to help poor 
and struggling people find their own paths to progress and plenty. To 
whom much is given, much is required, and we've been given a lot here in 
America. It's the calling of our conscience, and it's a compelling 
national interest. A quote that Dr. Borlaug made reference to when he 
received the Nobel Prize says it well: ``You can't build peace on empty 
stomachs.''
    In the past half-century, we have seen a glimpse of the world that 
is yet to come. Since the end of the World War II, the advance of trade 
and technology has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. 
That's really the triumph of human liberty stretching across natural 
boundaries. It is a tribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. And 
these are the characteristics that can be found in the very best of our 
citizens, such as the man we honor today.
    When Dr. Borlaug received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from one 
of my predecessors, Gerald Ford, the citation noted that Norman's work 
``has pushed back the shadow of hunger on this planet and given us 
precious time to force its final retreat.'' That final retreat will come 
only as long as we hold in our hearts the revolutionary spirit of men 
like Norman Borlaug, whose Green Revolution brought hope to troubled 
corners of the world, where grateful villagers still praise his name.
    The most fitting tribute we can offer this good man is to renew 
ourselves to his life's work and lead a second Green Revolution that 
feeds the world. And today we'll make a pledge to do so.
    Dr. Borlaug, I thank you for your vision and dedication. I thank you 
for leading a life of great purpose and achievement. I thank you for 
proving to Americans that what we learned as children is still true, 
that one human being can change the world. May God bless you, sir. May 
God continue to bless our wonderful country.
    And now I ask the Speaker and Senator Reid to join me for the Gold 
Medal Presentation.

Note: The President spoke at 10:53 a.m. in the Rotunda at the U.S. 
Capitol.