[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 10 (Monday, March 17, 2008)]
[Pages 372-373]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Kuwait-America Foundation's Stand for Africa Gala Dinner

March 12, 2008

    Thank you all. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for the invitation. You've 
got a beautiful place here. [Laughter] Rima, thanks very much. I'm 
honored to be with you. I'm a little late because Laura had me watching 
``Father of the Bride.'' [Laughter] And in that I didn't finish it, I'm 
going to make my remarks short and go home and watch it. It's going to 
be a big year for us. So the guy comes to see me, and he says, ``I want 
to marry your daughter.'' I said, ``Done deal.'' [Laughter]
    It's also a big year for us because I'm absolutely convinced the 
momentum that we have started on the continent of Africa in dealing with 
HIV/AIDS or malaria is going to continue on for a long period of time. 
And I want to thank you all very much for supporting the initiative.
    I do want to say something about our Secretary of State. I can 
remember early on in my administration--she was the National Security 
Adviser then--and she said, ``I presume you're going to pay attention to 
Africa.'' And I said, ``That's a good presumption because I believe to 
whom much is given, much is required.'' And the United States of America 
has been given a lot. And I firmly believe we're required to respond to 
human tragedy when we see it.
    And there's nothing more tragic than a young baby dying because of a 
mosquito bite. And so I come to you optimistic about this initiative and 
thankful for the folks who are supporting Malaria No More. I too want to 
thank Ray Chambers for his leadership. I like it when people do well in 
the business world and then, rather than retire, decide to put something 
back into society. That's exactly what you've done, and we're very 
grateful for doing what you're doing.
    I see Justice Alito is here. That's good. Hey, Sam, good to see you.
    Youssou N'Dour--so, Youssou, I've been practicing my dancing 
recently--[laughter]--and singing. [Laughter] And I'm available for a 
few tips. [Laughter]
    I appreciate the members of my Cabinet who are here and Members of 
Congress. I

[[Page 373]]

too want to thank Admiral Mike Mullen for serving as the Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs, and his wife, Deborah. It's amazing to be the Commander in 
Chief of a group of people that are dedicated, selfless, and courageous 
like our military. And Admiral Mullen represents the very best of the 
U.S. military. I thank the diplomatic corps who is here as well.
    So my friends in Texas say, ``You know, don't we have enough 
problems here at home?'' And my answer is, ``We're wealthy enough and 
we're strong enough and we're good enough to take problems--take on 
problems here at home as well as in other parts of the world.'' And then 
I remind them that we're living in a very difficult period in the 
history of the world. After all, we're witnessing an ideological 
struggle between those who kill the innocent to achieve political 
objectives and those who believe in human dignity and human rights and 
human freedom.
    And it's a tough time, and it's going to take awhile to prevail. But 
one thing is for certain, that this enemy we face cannot possibly find 
recruits based upon their vision. Their vision for life is so dark and 
so dim and so degrading that it's impossible for them to recruit unless 
they find hopeless situations. And there's nothing more hopeless for a 
mother to see a baby die needlessly. And there's nothing more hopeless 
than a pandemic that sweeps through a continent.
    And so the initiative, the Malaria No More initiative, first and 
foremost, is a part of our efforts to make sure that peace prevails in 
the long term. And it's working; it's amazing. Admiral Ziemer is here. 
This guy can get the job done. See, I--one of the things that we pride 
ourselves on in this administration is, we like to not only be talkers; 
we like to be doers. We like to set out an agenda and then see to it 
that the agenda is accomplished.
    And working on this malaria initiative, we can measure. You can 
measure how many nets have been purchased and distributed, how many 
pills have been distributed, how many countries have been affected. When 
we were in Tanzania, we were told that Zanzibar, which is a part of 
Tanzania, went from having their babies infected by malaria at the tune 
of 20 percent to 1 percent in 18 months. And so I am the kind of fellow 
that says, this is in our interests, and I expect the monies that we're 
spending to be spent well and to be spent wisely. And they are.
    It's also in our moral interest. Our Nation is a better nation when 
we help people save lives. The collective will of the American people to 
help somebody who suffers, who they might not ever know, lifts our 
national spirit. And so on our trip to Africa, I tried to make sure that 
the people of Africa understood this wasn't a George Bush initiative or 
a Laura Bush initiative or a Condi Rice initiative; this was an 
initiative of the most compassionate people on the face of the Earth, 
the American people.
    And you're helping this initiative go forward. And so I've taken a 
breather from the movie to come by--[laughter]--to thank you very much 
for standing strong with the forces of goodness and light and 
compassion. And the work you're doing is necessary, and it's important, 
and it's succeeding. And I hope you take great heart in that.
    Thanks for letting me come by to say hi, and God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 7:22 p.m. at the residence of the 
Ambassador of Kuwait to the U.S. In his remarks, he referred to Kuwait's 
Ambassador to the U.S. Salim al-Abdallah al-Jabir al-Sabah and his wife, 
Rima al-Sabah; Raymond G. Chambers, founder, Malaria No More; musician 
and activist Youssou N'Dour; and Rear Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, USN 
(Ret.), U.S. Malaria Coordinator.