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Skriven 2007-06-29 23:30:52 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070629e) for Fri, 2007 Jun 29
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Statement by Mrs. Bush After Courtesy Call with President and Mrs. Touré of
Mali
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For Immediate Release Office of the First Lady June 29, 2007

Statement by Mrs. Bush After Courtesy Call with President and Mrs. Touré of
Mali Presidency Bamako, Mali



12:50 P.M. (Local)

MRS. BUSH:˙ Well, I would like to thank President Touré and Mrs. Touré for
hosting me on this visit.˙ I want to commend the President for his
leadership of Mali.

As a former teacher and librarian, I especially appreciate President and
Mrs. Touré's commitment to the education of all the citizens of Mali.˙ And
I'm proud that the United States can stand with Mali as we work to make
sure citizens are educated through our Africa Education Initiative that
President Bush started in a way to make sure girls are educated and that
textbooks and teacher training take place in countries that need textbooks
and teachers.

Last fall at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, I hosted a
White House Conference on Global Literacy.˙ And this fall, Mrs. Touré will
host an all-Africa regional summit on Literacy.˙ Both of these conferences
are in conjunction with UNESCO and their goal of Literacy for All.

This afternoon we'll visit a school and we'll see some teacher training
done via radio -- teacher training via radio, that's supported by the
American people through the African Education Initiative.

And then we'll be briefed on the Millennium Challenge Compact that Mali --
between Mali and the United States, and on the infrastructure building that
will be a part of that Millennium Challenge Compact.

And, finally, I'm glad that the President's Malaria Initiative will now be
active in Mali.˙ I think it's very, very important for all of us to work
together, people around the world, to do what we can to eradicate the
suffering that's caused by malaria.˙ Our country's -- my country's
development initiatives are working here in Mali because of the strength of
the Malian government.˙ And so I want to thank President and Mrs. Touré for
having me here in Mali, hosting me.˙ And I also want to thank them for the
strong friendship between the United States and Mali.

End 12:55 P.M. (Local)

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