For Immediate Release
September 18, 2004
President's Radio Address
Charlotte, North Carolina
Audio
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Three years after the attacks of
September the 11th, our nation continues to confront the threats to our
security. We're acting to protect the homeland, to track and disrupt
terror networks across the world, and to hold to account the sponsors
of terror. We're staying on the offensive, striking the terrorists
abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.
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Americans also know that our long-term security requires a broader
commitment. Our country is determined to spread hope and economic
progress and freedom as the alternatives to hatreds, resentments, and
terrorist violence. In hopeful societies men and women are far less
likely to embrace murderous ideologies. And free governments will
fight terrorists in their midst, instead of harboring them. We know
that to create a safer world, we must build a better world. And we are
acting.
This week, I will speak in New York to the United Nations General
Assembly, and I will talk about the great possibilities of our time to
improve health, expand prosperity and extend freedom in our world.
America and many nations are taking a bold stand in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. My emergency plan for AIDS relief will provide an
unprecedented $15 billion over five years to support the fight against
the AIDS pandemic throughout the world, with the focus on the most
afflicted countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. These funds
are already at work, helping to prevent new infections, provide
treatment and care for millions of victims.
We've also joined with other nations to create the Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In three years, the fund has
raised $5.6 billion in pledges and provided funding for projects in
more than 90 countries. And we will persist in the effort until these
diseases are defeated.
America and many other nations are also determined to turn the tide
against global poverty by taking a new approach to economic
development. It is now our policy to increase foreign aid to those
governments that are serious about fighting corruption and improving
education, health care, and economic opportunity for their people.
Modern history teaches that honest governments that invest in their
people and promote economic freedom can lift millions out of poverty
and despair. And governments that truly serve their people deserve our
help.
The health and well-being of developing nations also depend on the
defeat of hunger and illiteracy. We have launched an Initiative to end
hunger in Africa, by teaching modern farming techniques and providing
drought-resistant crops to farmers on that continent. And through our
Africa Education Initiative, we're training teachers, distributing
textbooks, and encouraging more school enrollment.
America and many nations are also building a better world by
standing with the liberated peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan, as they
move toward democracy. More than 10 million Afghan citizens have now
registered to vote in next month's election. Iraq is approaching free
elections in January. Terrorist enemies are trying to stop the
progress of both those countries, and their violent and merciless
attacks may increase as elections draw near. But all the world can be
certain: America and our allies will keep our commitments to the
Afghan and Iraqi people. Our long-term security -- the safety of our
children and grandchildren -- will be served when the broader Middle
East is home to stable, democratic governments that fight terror.
At the United Nations this week, I will make some additional
proposals to expand prosperity and accelerate the march of freedom in
our world. Never in the history of the United Nations have we faced so
many opportunities to create a safer world by building a better world.
For the sake of our common security, and for the sake of our common
values, the international community must rise to this historic moment.
And the United States is prepared to lead.
Thank you for listening.
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