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President Bush Discusses Freedom Agenda
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 24, 2008

President Bush Discusses Freedom Agenda Ronald Reagan Building and
International Trade Center Washington, D.C.

˙ /news/releases/2008/07/20080724-6.wm.v.html ˙˙Presidential Remarks
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˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Advancing the Freedom Agenda ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Freedom
Agenda

10:26 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Henrietta, thank you for the
kind introduction. I am honored to join you all today to express America's
solidarity with those who yearn for liberty around the world.

Captive Nations Week was first observed in 1959, at a time when Soviet
Communism seemed ascendant. Few people at that first gathering could have
envisioned then what the -- that the Cold War would end the way it did --
with the triumph of the shipyard workers in Poland, a Velvet Revolution in
Prague, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the peaceful collapse of the
Soviet Union. Captive Nations Week is a chance for us to reflect on that
remarkable history, and to honor the brave dissidents and democracy
activists who helped secure freedom's victory in the great ideological
struggle of the 20th century.

Captive Nation Week is also a chance to reflect on the challenges we face
in the 21st century -- the challenge of the new ideological struggle
against violent extremism. In this struggle, we can go forward with
confidence -- free nations have faced determined enemies before and have
prevailed, and we will prevail again.

I appreciate your leadership of USAID, Henrietta; and I want to thank all
those who work for this very important Agency. I appreciate you being on
the front lines of compassion and decency and liberty.

I'm honored to be here with the Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez.
The Cuban dissidents have no better friend than Carlos Gutierrez. Think
about America -- Carlos was raised, born in Cuba. Today he sits in the
Cabinet of the President of the United States. I love what our country
represents. And Carlos, I thank you for serving.

I'm proud to be here with Ambassador John Negroponte. He's the Deputy
Secretary of the Department of State. Deputy Secretary of Defense, Gordon
England, is with us. Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.
Thanks for coming, Mark. Other members of the administration -- a lot of
members from the Diplomatic Corps. Thank you for coming. I'm proud to be in
your presence.

I believe America is the hope for the world because we are a nation that
stands strongly for freedom. We believe every man, woman, and child is
given the gift of liberty by our Creator. That's a fundamental belief of
the United States. This cherished belief has guided our leaders from
America's earliest days.

We see this belief in George Washington's assertion that freedom's cause,
as he put it, the cause is "the cause of mankind."

We see it in Lincoln's summoning of "the spirit which prizes liberty as the
heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere."

We see it in Wilson's pledge to make the world "safe for democracy" in
World War I, and FDR's determination to make America "the arsenal of
democracy" in World War II.

We see it in Kennedy's promise to "pay any price to assure the survival and
success of liberty," and Ronald Reagan's call to "move toward a world in
which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny."

Over the years, different Presidents, from different eras, and different
political parties, have acted to defend and advance the cause of liberty.
These actions included bold policies such as the Lend-Lease Act, the
Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift, the creation of NATO and the Voice of
America, support for freedom fighters in Central America, and the
liberation of Grenada and Panama. And because we were steadfast in
liberty's defense, the cause of freedom prevailed.

At the dawn of a new century, our belief in the universality of freedom is
being challenged once again. We saw the challenge on September the 11th,
2001. On that day terrorists, harbored by a tyrannical regime thousands of
miles from America, brought death and destruction to our shores. We learned
important lessons: To protect America, we must fight the enemy abroad so we
don't have to face them here at home. And to protect America, we must
defeat the ideology of hatred by spreading the hope of freedom.

Over the past seven years, this is exactly what we have done. Since 9/11,
we recognized that we're at war and we must stop new attacks before they
happen -- not wait until after they happen. So we're giving our
intelligence and law enforcement and homeland security professionals the
tools they need to stop terrorists before they strike again. We're
transforming our military to meet the threats of a new century. We're
putting pressure on the enemy. We've captured or killed thousands of
terrorists -- including most of those responsible for the September the
11th attacks. We've removed regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq that threatened
our citizens and the peace in the world. And now we're helping the people
of those two nations fight the terrorists who want to establish new safe
havens from which to launch attacks on America and our friends.

In the long run, though, the best way to defeat the terrorists is to offer
a hopeful alternative to their murderous ideology -- and that alternative
is based on human liberty. We've seen a hopeful beginning for the cause of
liberty at the start of the 21st century. Over the last seven years, we've
seen the citizens in Afghanistan and Iraq emerge from tyranny to establish
representative governments. We've seen citizens in Georgia and Ukraine
stand up for their right to free and fair elections. We've seen people in
Lebanon take to the streets to demand their independence. We've seen
strides toward democracy taken by nations such as Kuwait and Liberia,
Mauritania and Morocco, and Pakistan.

It's in our national interest to continue liberty's advance -- because we
know from history that the advance of freedom is necessary for our security
and for world peace. Just think about World War II. During that conflict
Japan and Germany were enemies of America who invaded their neighbors and
destabilized the world. And today, Japan and Germany are strong democracies
and good friends and strong allies in the cause of peace.

During the Cold War, the nations of Central and Eastern Europe were part of
the Warsaw Pact alliance that was poised to attack Western Europe. Today,
most of those nations are members of the NATO alliance, who are using their
freedom to aid the rise of other young democracies. In these experiences,
we have seen the transformative power of freedom. We've seen that free
societies don't harbor terrorists, or launch unprovoked attacks on their
neighbors. Free societies are peaceful societies. And that is why the
United States of America must continue to cause -- to lead the cause of
freedom.

Over the past seven years, we've learned that leading the cause of freedom
requires combating hopelessness in struggling nations. Combating
hopelessness is in America's security interests, because the only way our
enemies can recruit people to their dark ideology is to exploit distress
and despair. Combating hopelessness is in our moral interests -- Americans
believe that to whom much is given, much is required. So the challenge for
America in the years ahead is to continue to help people in struggling
nations achieve freedom from corruption, freedom from disease, freedom from
poverty, freedom from hunger and freedom from tyranny.

In the years ahead America must continue to use our foreign assistance to
promote democracy and good government. Increased aid alone will not help
nations overcome institutional challenges that hold entire societies back.
To be effective, our aid must be targeted to encourage the development of
free and accountable institutions.

In the past seven years we've more than doubled the federal budget for
democracy and governance and human rights programs. We've increased the
budget for the National Endowment of Democracy by more than 150 percent
since 2001. We've transformed the way we deliver aid by creating the
Millennium Challenge Account, which is a new approach to foreign
assistance, which offers support to developing nations that fight
corruption, and govern justly, and open their economies, and invest in the
health and education of their people. The challenge for future presidents
and future Congresses will be to ensure that America's generosity remains
tied to the promotion of transparency and accountability and prosperity.

In the years ahead, America must continue to promote free trade and open
investment. Over the long term, trade and investment are the best ways to
fight poverty and build strong and prosperous societies. Over the past
seven years, we expanded the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which is
spreading prosperity by dramatically increasing trade between the United
States and Africa; implemented free trade agreements with 11 countries,
creating hope and opportunity for both our citizens and the citizens of
these nations. We're striving to make this the year that the world
completes an ambitious Doha trade agreement -- will open up new markets for
Americans' goods and services and help alleviate poverty around the world.
The challenge for future presidents and future Congresses is to reject the
false temptation of protectionism and keep the world open for trade.

In the years ahead, America must continue to fight against disease. Nations
afflicted with debilitating public health crises cannot build strong and
prosperous societies for their citizens. America is helping these nations
replace disease and despair with healing and hope. We're working in 15
African nations to cut the number of malaria-related deaths in half. Our
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, is supporting the
treatment of more than 1.7 million people. And Congress will soon pass
legislation to significantly expand this vital initiative. We're expanding
our efforts to train health workers for the poorest countries, to treat key
neglected tropical diseases such as river blindness and hookworm. The
challenge for future presidents and future Congresses will be to continue
this commitment, so that we can lift the shadow of malaria and HIV/AIDS and
other diseases once and for all.

In the years ahead, America must continue to lead the fight against global
hunger. Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug once said: "You can't build peace
on empty stomachs." Americans are answering the call to feed the hungry.
This year, the United States has provided more than $1.8 billion in new
funds to bolster global food security. We're the world's largest provider
of food aid. I strongly believe we must transform the way that our food aid
is delivered. One innovative proposal is to purchase up to 25 percent of
our food assistance directly from farmers in developing world. This would
help build up local agriculture; it will help break the cycle of famine.
And I ask the United States Congress to approve this measure as soon as
possible. The challenge for future presidents and future Congresses will be
to find still other innovative ways to alleviate hunger while promoting
greater self-reliance in developing nations.

In the years ahead, America must continue to lead the cause of human
rights. The Soviet dissident Andrei Amalrik once compared a tyrannical
state to a soldier who holds a rifle on his enemy, until his arms finally
tire and the prisoner escapes. It's important we never strengthen the arms.
The role of free nations like ours is to put pressure on the arms of the
world's tyrants and strengthen the prisoners who are striving for their
liberty.

Over the past seven years, we've spoken out against human rights abuses by
tyrannical regimes like those in Iran, Sudan, and Syria and Zimbabwe. We've
spoken candidly about human rights with nations with whom we've got good
relations, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia and China. In keeping with this
commitment, today I renew my call for the release of all prisoners of
conscience around the world -- including Ayman Nour of Egypt, Aung San Suu
Kyi of Burma, Oscar Biscet of Cuba, Riad Seif of Syria.

To ensure our government 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. The challenge for future
presidents and future Congresses is to ensure that America always stands
with those seeking freedom -- and never hesitates to shine the light of
conscience on abuses of human rights across the world.

As Henrietta mentioned, with us today are individuals who suffered terribly
in the cause of freedom, and whose stories inspire our country, and their
examples of resilience and resolve should give us courage. I'm not going to
mention all the ones I met, but I'd like to make -- mention some.

First, we stand with Blanca Gonzalez. Her son, Normando Hernandez Gonzalez,
remains in Castro's gulag for speaking the truth about the Cuban regime.
Bienvenidos. (Applause.)

We stand with Olga Kozulina. Her father, Alexander Kozulin, remains in
prison in Belarus for the "crime" of running for President. Welcome.
(Applause.)

We stand with Manouchehr Mohammedi. Both he and his brother were viciously
tortured by the Iranian authorities. He was the only one who survived and
escaped. Welcome to America. (Applause.)

We stand with Cho Jin Hae, who witnessed several of her family members
starve to death in North Korea. She herself was tortured by the communist
authorities. (Applause.)

Thank you all for coming. I thank the others who took time out of their day
to meet me, as well. I appreciate your testament to the universal desire
for freedom.

This morning, I have a message for all those throughout the world who
languish in tyranny: I know there are moments when it feels like you're
alone in your struggle. And you're not alone. America hears you. Millions
of our citizens stand with you, and hope still lives -- even in bleak
places and in dark moments.

Even now, change is stirring in places like Havana and Damascus and Tehran.
The people of these nations dream of a free future, hope for a free future,
and believe that a free future will come. And it will. May God be with them
in their struggle. America always will be.

Thank you for letting me come by, and may God bless you all. (Applause.)

END 10:44 A.M. EDT
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