For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 15, 2001
Statement by the Press Secretary
President Bush announced today that the United States has agreed to the
transfer of additional $20 million from the Polish American Enterprise
Fund (PAEF) to the Polish-American Freedom Foundation
(PAFF). With this grant, the President has re-affirmed our
commitment to supporting the Foundation ints programs that advance
democratic and market reforms in Poland and the region. This
private sector support will take the form of grants to private
institutions and individuals working in the areas of economic reform,
leadership development, civil society, local government, small
businesses and legal reform.
The Polish-American Freedom Foundation was created as a result of the
successful completion of the Polish-American Enterprise Fund, which was
itself an early initiative launched by former President Bush in
1989. In 1989, the Support for East European Democracy
(SEED) Act authorized $240 million to establish and maintain the
Enterprise Fund. By 1996, the Fund had completed its mission
of stimulating Poland's private sector sufficiently to start
liquidating its assets. Instead of returning all the funds
to the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Government agreed to deposit the
proceeds from the sale of PAEF assets worth at least $150 million to
endow the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. In announcing
this grant, the President welcomed the Foundation's continuing
achievements in promoting democratic and free market developments in
Poland and the region.
Fact Sheet
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