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Skriven 2007-07-09 23:30:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0707095) for Mon, 2007 Jul 9
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Mrs. Bush's Remarks at a White House Conference on the Americas
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For Immediate Release Office of the First Lady July 9, 2007

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at a White House Conference on the Americas Hyatt
Regency Crystal City Arlington, Virginia



1:55 P.M. EDT

MRS. BUSH: Thank you all very much. Thanks so much. I'm so happy to be with
you today at this very important summit. I want to recognize Carlos
Gutierrez, the Secretary of the United States -- U.S. Commerce, who is
here, Department of Commerce; Dr. Tom Shannon, the Assistant Secretary of
State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who also has joined us.

Members of the diplomatic corps, welcome. Civic, religious and business
leaders, distinguished guests -- bienvenidos. And thank you for coming to
the White House Conference on the Americas. This conference has brought
together people of many nationalities and backgrounds, united by one goal:
improving opportunities, and lives, throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Advancing this goal is the shared responsibility of every American nation.
The Western Hemisphere is home to 35 countries, but we're one regional
community. Our people are joined by ties of commerce, family, and faith
that borders cannot contain. And our citizens are united by the same
dreams: to provide for themselves and their families, to see their children
grow up educated and healthy, and to have the freedom to make the most of
their talents -- regardless of race, status, or income.

Today, the United States has joined with nations throughout the Western
Hemisphere to help people fulfill these shared ambitions. Through the
Millennium Challenge Corporation, we've partnered with Latin American
nations that invest in their people, foster economic freedom, and work to
become transparent.

The United States has signed $850 million worth of MCC compacts with El
Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Our Millennium Challenge Compact grants
support these nations' development with their strategies -- strategies that
will invest in farming, strengthen rural communities, improve education and
infrastructure, and help eliminate poverty.

Through our government and the compassion of private citizens, the United
States is working to build civic institutions, which offer individuals in
Latin America greater independence and self-reliance. And we're especially
proud to partner with nations of the Western Hemisphere on two goals
required for strong societies: good education, and good health.

Throughout Latin America, nearly a quarter of school-aged children are not
enrolled in school. Of those children who do enter school, many fail to
graduate. Across the region, more than 40 million adults cannot read. Many
indigenous and rural populations lack access to formal education.

Since 2002, the U.S. government has provided more than $200 million to
strengthen education in the Americas. Through initiatives like the Centers
of Excellence for Teacher Training, our government has helped train
thousands of teachers -- and helped turn nearly half a million children
into better readers.

Through USAID, children who live beyond the reach of formal education can
benefit from programs like EDUCATODOS, in Honduras. Through EDUCATODOS,
community volunteers use interactive radio programs to teach children in
the 1st through the 9th grades, educating more than 100,000 rural students
a year.

The United States supports person-to-person exchanges that improve
education in all American nations. Our colleges and universities cooperate
on study-abroad programs. Through scholarships provided by the State
Department, more than 5,000 young people from rural areas of Latin America
have come to study in the United States.

Every year, the U.S. sends more than 400 of its brightest minds to Latin
America through the Fulbright program. While they study, research, and
teach, compassionate Fulbrighters are engaged in the cultures of their host
countries. They coach youth baseball teams in Argentina; they teach
photography in Brazil; they counsel young people in Jamaica; they serve
organizations that provide micro-loans to citizens of Ecuador; and they
strengthen education for students across the Western Hemisphere.

The United States is working with people throughout Latin America to
improve literacy. In March, I visited Brazil's AlfaSol program, which
mobilizes entire communities to take responsibility for citizens' education
-- and has taught more than 5 million Brazilians how to read. AlfaSol was
one of the programs that participated in the White House Conference on
Global Literacy, which I hosted in New York last September.

At that conference, we also heard from Gonzalo Fiorilo, head of Bolivia's
ALFALIT program. In Bolivia, more than 700,000 people are illiterate, many
of them concentrated in rural indigenous communities. Supported by USAID,
and with help from local churches and NGOs, ALFALIT instructors teach
people to read, write, and count in both Spanish and their native language.

At the White House Conference on Global Literacy, Gonzalo told the story of
Emiliana, a woman living in a small Bolivian town. At three in the morning,
Emiliana's two-year-old son started convulsing and lost consciousness.
Emiliana rushed him to the hospital, but she couldn't find anyone to help
her. With the literacy skills she developed through ALFALIT, Emiliana
followed signs until she found the emergency room -- and the doctor on
duty.

Later, Emiliana was able to read instructions the doctor had written for
her, until her little boy recovered completely. Emiliana says, "I never
imagined that knowing how to read would save my son's life."

The United States is helping to save lives throughout the Americas by
keeping people in good health. Our country stands with people everywhere
who feed the hungry, comfort the ailing, and heal the sick. Since 2001, the
U.S. government has provided more than $1 billion to improve health care in
the Western Hemisphere.

I've seen the impact of these resources firsthand, at the Camino Seguro
program in Guatemala. Founded by an American volunteer, and supported by
USAID, Camino Seguro serves children whose parents earn a living picking
through trash at the Guatemala City Dump.

Camino Seguro supports the children's education, and runs a medical clinic
and nutrition program. Children receive healthy meals of vegetables, beans,
rice, and meat. Little children also receive two daily cups of milk, and
vitamins. For many of the children, Camino Seguro volunteers supply their
only meal of the day.

Individual citizens, too, are answering the call to help in our hemisphere.
Through "Operation Walk," U.S. doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists serve
alongside Panamanian doctors to heal low-income patients. "Operation Smile"
sends medical volunteers to repair cleft lips and palates of children in
Bolivia.

Since 1961, more than 58,000 Americans have volunteered in Latin America
and the Caribbean through the Peace Corps. Later today, I'll meet with the
new volunteers bound for Honduras, the Peace Corps' second-largest country
of operation. Energetic volunteers will board buses to remote Honduran
villages. Many will work alone, far from home. Peace Corps members will
join with people in rural communities to safeguard the environment, to
improve access to clean water, and to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

This morning, President Bush mentioned the many U.S. citizens who volunteer
in the Western Hemisphere, and he said that he hoped there was a website so
that others who are interested can find out how they can make a difference.
Well, I have good news. There is a website -- (laughter) -- that highlights
international service opportunities. Run by USAID and USA Freedom Corps,
www.volunteersforprosperity.gov introduces people to the ways they can help
around the world, including in Latin America. Once again, that's
www.volunteersforprosperity.gov -- g-o-v, that is. Many Volunteers for
Prosperity partners are working to improve health care in the Western
Hemisphere.

HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest humanitarian crises of all time, and an
urgent threat in our hemisphere. Here in the United States, more than a
million people are infected. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly
2 million more people are living with HIV and AIDS. AIDS claims tens of
thousands of lives every year.

The United States has partnered with other governments to defeat this
epidemic through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Two PEPFAR
focus countries are here in the Western Hemisphere: Guyana and Haiti. In
these countries, PEPFAR supports antiretroviral treatment for more than
12,000 people, they care for thousands of orphans, and they support
medicines that help HIV-positive pregnant women deliver babies who are HIV
free.

The United States is proud to partner with our neighbors to improve women's
health. And one of the greatest threats to women's health in countries
around the world is breast cancer. In the United States, we've made great
progress in the fight against this disease. Twenty-five years ago, women
were embarrassed to even talk about breast cancer, and they weren't aware
of what they could do to take charge of their own health. Today, however,
women do talk about breast cancer. They join races for the cure, and they
go on group outings to get mammograms. Women benefit from early detection
-- which is the closest thing we have to a cure.

Much of this progress is due to the work of the Susan G. Komen Foundation,
which was established by my friend, Nancy Brinker, in honor of her sister,
Susan, who died of breast cancer. Nancy, I think, is out here in the
audience. There's Nancy -- Ambassador Nancy Brinker. (Applause.)

Now, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is working to save lives around the world
-- including in Latin America.

For many countries in the Western Hemisphere, breast cancer is an urgent
health challenge. In Mexico, for example, 40 percent of breast cancer cases
result in death. In Costa Rica, that number is 44 percent. Many women are
diagnosed too late, at clinical stages II and III. A recent study by the
National Institutes of Health surveyed Latin American women over the age of
60, to determine how many had received a mammogram within the last two
years. The results are discouraging: In SÆo Paolo, only 34 percent of the
women reported a mammogram screening in the last two years.

Our countries can address the challenge of breast cancer together, through
a new initiative that's being launched today: The Partnership for Breast
Cancer Awareness and Research of the Americas. This program unites the
medical expertise of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
with the unparalleled grassroots network and education resources of Susan
G. Komen for the Cure, the strong commitment of the United States
Department of State and the International Institute of Education, and
experts from the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

These partners will work with private-sector institutions, NGOs, and
governments to increase research, training, and community outreach. They'll
help women build the knowledge and the confidence they need to take charge
of their own health. And by confronting the challenges of breast cancer
together, we'll help build lasting friendships between our countries.

These friendships are improving education and health across the Americas.
And throughout the Western Hemisphere, these friendships are allowing
people who've lived on society's margins to thrive in society's center --
people like Elisangelo Souza dos Santos.

I met Elisangelo in March, when I visited Aprendiz, a Brazilian NGO
supported by several businesses in the United States. Elisangelo was born
to poor, illiterate parents who had no access to health care. When his
mother was pregnant with him, she contracted rubella -- and her son was
born with a severe illness that gradually claimed his eyesight. Because
Elisangelo couldn't see, he fell behind in school, and eventually dropped
out. By the age of 14, Elisangelo was completely blind. He happened to go
to a local clinic for care, though, and he was referred there to Aprendiz.

Established by a Brazilian journalist -- Gilberto Dimenstein, who's here
with us today -- Aprendiz brings together schools, businesses, NGOs,
shelters, and government agencies to improve job opportunities for at-risk
youth. One of the Aprendiz's community partnerships is with a SÆo Paolo
radio station. Through his radio internship, Elisangelo developed technical
skills for a career in communications. He built confidence and he learned
how to express himself. Elisangelo spent his next year with the radio
program teaching other young people.

Today, he's using the professional skills he developed through the radio
program in his job at a pharmaceutical company. He's studying for
university entrance exams, and he plans to become a teacher.

Elisangelo says his universe was once limited to low-income housing units
on the outskirts of SÆo Paolo. Now, Elisangelo has been integrated into the
life of SÆo Paolo. His broadcasts have been heard across the city, and the
people he's met through the radio business -- government officials,
athletes, artists -- have given him a sense of belonging, and the
confidence that he can work with anyone, and succeed at anything. His
experience at Aprendiz, Elisangelo explains, "opened doors to the world."

Through community programs like Aprendiz, alliances like the Breast Cancer
Partnership, and the work of civic groups like yours, we can help people
throughout the Americas open doors to better opportunities, improved
health, and renewed hope. Thanks to each of you for supporting these
efforts. May God bless you, and may God bless your important work.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

END 2:12 P.M. EDT

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