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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 26, 2008

President's Radio Address

˙˙President's Radio Address
˙˙Audio ˙˙En Espa¤ol

˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Freedom Agenda

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Congress voted to expand a vital
program that is saving lives across the developing world -- the Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR. I thank members of Congress
from both sides of the aisle for working with my Administration to pass
this important bill, and I will be honored to sign it into law next week.

PEPFAR is the largest international health initiative dedicated to fighting
a single disease in history. And it is a testament to the extraordinary
compassion and generosity of the American people. When we first launched
this program five-and-a-half years ago, the scourge of HIV/AIDS had cast a
shadow over the continent of Africa. Only 50,000 people with AIDS in
sub-Sahara Africa were receiving antiretroviral treatment. Today, PEPFAR is
supporting treatment for nearly 1.7 million people in the region. PEPFAR
has allowed nearly 200,000 African babies to be born HIV free. And this
program is bringing hope to a continent in desperate need.

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˙ The new legislation that I will sign next week will build on this
progress. We will expand access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs. We will
help prevent millions of new HIV infections from occurring. And we will
also bolster our efforts to help developing nations combat other
devastating diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.

Fighting disease is one part of America's larger commitment to help
struggling nations build more hopeful futures of freedom. Over the past
seven years, we've learned how advancing the cause of freedom requires
combating hopelessness. This is because the only way that the enemies of
freedom can attract new recruits to their dark ideology is to exploit
distress and despair. So as we help struggling nations achieve freedom from
disease through programs like PEPFAR, we must also help them achieve
freedom from corruption, freedom from poverty, freedom from hunger, and
freedom from tyranny. And that is exactly what we're doing.

America is using our foreign assistance to promote democracy and good
government. We have more than doubled the federal budget for democracy and
governance and human rights programs. And through the Millennium Challenge
Account, we have transformed the way we deliver aid, so we can support
developing nations that make important political and economic reforms.

America is promoting free trade and open investment. Over the long term, we
know that trade and investment are the best ways to fight poverty, and
build strong and prosperous societies. So we have expanded the African
Growth and Opportunity Act to increase trade between America and Africa. We
have put eleven new free trade agreements into effect since 2001. And we're
striving to make this the year that the world completes an ambitious Doha
Round agreement, so we can tear down barriers to trade and investment
around the world.

America is leading the fight against global hunger. This year, the United
States has provided more than $1.8 billion in new funds to bolster global
food security. We are the world's largest provider of food aid, and we have
proposed legislation that would transform the way we deliver this aid to
promote greater self-reliance in developing nations.

America is leading the cause of human rights. Over the past seven years,
we've spoken out against human rights abuses by tyrannical regimes like
those in Iran and Syria, Cuba, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. We've spoken candidly
about human rights with nations with whom America has good relations, such
as Egypt and Saudi Arabia and China. And to ensure that our Nation
continues to speak out for those who have no other voice, I recently issued
a directive instructing all senior U.S. officials serving in undemocratic
countries to maintain regular contact with political dissidents and
democracy activists.

With all these steps, we're helping defeat the forces of violent extremism
by offering a more hopeful vision of freedom. And as this vision takes hold
in more nations around the world, America will be safer here at home.

Thank you for listening.

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