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Skriven 2007-07-17 23:31:00 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0707171) for Tue, 2007 Jul 17
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President Bush Presents Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Borlaug
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 17, 2007

President Bush Presents Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Norman Borlaug
United States Capitol

˙ /news/releases/2007/07/20070717-1.wm.v.html ˙˙Presidential Remarks
˙˙Audio ˙˙Photos

10:53 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. Madame Speaker, thank you. Madame Speaker,
Mr. Leader, members of the congressional leadership, members of the Iowa
delegation, fighting Texas A_

All around us are testaments to our republic's young and storied history.
Yet sometimes it takes a ceremony like this to remind us what a special
place America is.

Ours is a land of hope and promise and compassion. And we see that
compassion and promise in the man we honor today -- a farm boy, educated in
a one-room schoolhouse, who left the golden fields of Iowa to become known
as "The man who fed the world."

Many have highlighted Norman Borlaug's achievements in turning ordinary
staples such as wheat and rice into miracles that brought hope to millions.
I particularly appreciated the story about a former Vice President, and
fellow Iowan, named Henry Wallace, who once came to observe Norman's grain
experiments up close. The Vice President looked around, and then asked why
a good Iowa boy like Norman wasn't working on something to do with corn.
(Laughter.)

Norman Borlaug's life has taken him from laboratories in America and Mexico
to dusty villages throughout the developing world. He has consulted with
presidents and prime ministers in important countries like Pakistan and
India. He's helped inspire students at Texas A_

What that friend meant was that Norman Borlaug has lived his life with
urgency. He has long understood that one of the greatest threats to global
progress is the torment of human hunger. And we've seen that plague haunt
history many times. Famine in the mid-1800s forced hundreds of thousands of
Irish citizens to take a sad and desperate journey to America -- and turned
the Atlantic Ocean into what an Irish poet called "a bowl of bitter tears."
More than a century later, wrenching images of emaciated children in
Ethiopia rallied the world to the tragedy of famine. Hunger continues to
cast its miserable shadow across much of the developing world -- robbing
villages of children, and forcing human beings to make desperate and daily
searches for food and clean water.

Wealthy and prosperous nations have a moral obligation to help poor and
struggling people find their own paths to progress and plenty. To whom much
is given, much is required, and we've been given a lot here in America.
It's the calling of our conscience, and it's a compelling national
interest. A quote that Dr. Borlaug made reference to when he received the
Nobel Prize says it well: "You can't build peace on empty stomachs."

In the past half-century, we have seen a glimpse of the world that is yet
to come. Since the end of the World War II, the advance of trade and
technology has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. That's
really the triumph of human liberty stretching across natural boundaries.
It is a tribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. And these are the
characteristics that can be found in the very best of our citizens, such as
the man we honor today.

When Dr. Borlaug received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from one of my
predecessors, Gerald Ford, the citation noted that Norman's work "has
pushed back the shadow of hunger on this planet and given us precious time
to force its final retreat." That final retreat will come only as long as
we hold in our hearts the revolutionary spirit of men like Norman Borlaug,
whose Green Revolution brought hope to troubled corners of the world, where
grateful villagers still praise his name.

The most fitting tribute we can offer this good man is to renew ourselves
to his life's work, and lead a second Green Revolution that feeds the
world, and today we'll make a pledge to do so.

Dr. Borlaug, I thank you for your vision and dedication. I thank you for
leading a life of great purpose and achievement. I thank you for proving to
Americans that what we learned as children is true, that one human being
can change the world. May God bless you, sir. May God continue to bless our
wonderful country.

And now I ask the Speaker and Senator Reid to join me for the Gold Medal
Presentation.

(The Congressional Gold Medal is presented.) (Applause.)

END 11:00 A.M. EDT
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