Contact: White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 202-456-2580

 

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1  /Christian Newswire/ -- The following text is of remarks by President Bush and the First Lady at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health:

 

[Continued from part 1]

 

PASTOR WARREN:  Wow.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  And so my only point is, is that there's a lot of people --

 

MRS. WARREN:  There are.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  -- whose lives are being touched by the program.

 

MRS. WARREN:  I remember that particular church, and just -- I remember glancing up at just one point and seeing you and Jenna at that exact moment when some girls in little torn dresses climbed up in your laps.  And, you know, on one level, as a mom, I was looking at that thinking, oh, how cool that is to be traveling with your daughter and experiencing all that you were experiencing together at that moment.  And at the same time, I was just, as an American citizen, I was really humbled and touched to know that -- because I know how much you and the President care about people with HIV.  And you were demonstrating it actively, and it was very meaningful.

 

But you weren't just in Rwanda.  You've traveled, as the video said, all across Africa.  So what -- and you've seen some things that most people would never see.  So what are some of the other things that you've seen and learned in --

 

MRS. BUSH:  Well, I've seen so many really terrific things -- a lot of great programs started by Americans.  One is the Mothers2Mothers program that Dr. Mitch Besser in California and Robin Smalley started, and that's a program where mothers who are HIV-positive mentor -- who deliver babies who are HIV-free, because they go on antiretrovirals while they're pregnant, and then they mentor new pregnant -- newly pregnant women to make sure those women are tested so they can deliver babies who are HIV-free.

 

One of the things they do is they encourage these new mothers or newly pregnant women to admit to their families that they are HIV-positive.  And it's a way to fight the stigma.  And one story I heard was one mother went -- or expecting mother went to her family and called all of her brothers and sisters and her mother together to tell them.  And when she admitted that she was HIV-positive, so did all her brothers and sisters.

 

But there -- I read today an article in the newspaper, sort of a discouraging article, about a lot of people are concerned that we're spending so much money on HIV, only one disease, and ignoring other diseases.  But what in fact happens, is the money that goes to PEPFAR or PMI ends up setting up a health infrastructure for many of these countries, so that every disease is treated, not just HIV.

 

PASTOR WARREN: That's a big, big point.

 

MRS. BUSH:  And this ribbon that I'm wearing that's made out of beads was made by one of these mothers in the Mothers2Mothers program.  So it ends up that there is microfinance.  These mothers end up with jobs.  They end up with being able to make things that can be sold.  They deliver HIV-free babies.  A lot of them have been employed to be the mentors of the next group of mothers.  So there is a really very far-reaching effect from what -- one program that is supported in part by PEPFAR.  But the money ends up really having a great cascading effect on the lives of all these mothers.  And not just -- today in the article they mentioned pneumonia, a leading cause of death among babies in Africa -- but these babies are also getting health care.

 

PASTOR WARREN:  It's all tied in together.  I want to go back, Mr. President, to one of the things that Mrs. Bush said about there is a whole group of people who say, well, should we be spending this money on developments; particularly say the economy is bad right now.  Should we be spending on -- how does that -- how do you justify spending that with the principle of to whom much is given, much is required, as you -- as a foundation of your --

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Because we're a rich nation, and we can do both.  And the worst thing would be for our government to make promises to people n the continent of Africa that we're here to help you and to be partners with you, and then all of a sudden turn our back on them.  I couldn't think of anything --

 

PASTOR WARREN:  And let them die.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that, too.  Yes, I mean that would be terrible.

 

You know, it's interesting that you were asking about stories.  Remember when we went to the school in Rwanda?  So these were children whose parents had died because of AIDS.  And I just happened to walk by and said, "God is good."  And without hesitation, they said, "All the time."  (Laughter.)

 

MRS. BUSH:  And that was so sweet.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  And it was a very powerful, very sweet message.

 

MRS. WARREN:  President and Mrs. Bush, caring for the least of these is obviously something that's very important in your family.  I mean, not only are the two of you very involved, but your daughters have been involved, and both have spent extended time volunteering, caring for people with HIV.  So obviously you did something right with them.  And what -- how did you -- how did you teach your daughters to this life of self-sacrifice?

 

MRS. BUSH:  Well, I think we both were very fortunate to have parents who modeled that behavior for us through our whole childhood, and I think we've done that with Barbara and Jenna, as well.  But one of the really, really interesting things and sweet parts of the work the President has done with PEPFAR and PMI is that our girls have been so engaged in it.  Barbara worked for nine months in a hospital in South Africa, a children's hospital in South Africa.  Jenna worked with UNICEF in Central America and South America, and then came home and wrote a book about a girl that she met there who is an AIDS orphan who had a baby, became pregnant as a single young girl, a 17-year old, and was able to deliver an HIV-free baby.

 

And one of the sweet things that happened when Jenna and I were together -- I think we were in Zambia, but I may be wrong -- and two young women were telling us their stories, and everyone around was really surprised that they told us this story in front of other people, because it was really a secret.  But both of them had contracted AIDS because of sexual abuse.  And so Jenna went over after -- they wept while they told the stories, and so of course we did, too -- but after it was finished, Jenna went over just to speak to them by herself.  And she said, you know, this happens to girls all over the world; it's not just you.  And she said, I wrote a book about a girl I met in Central America that has your same story.  And they said, oh, would you write a book about us?

 

THE PRESIDENT:  I think first of all, there's nothing that makes a parent more proud when their child becomes a contributor.

 

I suspect that if people got to see what our girls got to see, they would want to help save lives, too.  And so one of the real challenges is to make sure that America's conscience is raised, that people understand the plight of their fellow citizen.

 

And your church has done a great job of this.  Others need to be involved, as well.  And there's a lot of groups that are looking for a way to fulfill, you know, the calling.  And it's helpful challenge their compassion.

 

PASTOR WARREN:  When you become private citizens again in January, how are you going to continue this work?  How will that change?

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we're going to build a policy center/freedom institute at Southern Methodist University, where Laura went to college.  And the whole purpose of this institute is to promote freedom at home and freedom abroad, based upon universal principles.

 

And so I -- even though I haven't had much time to think about it, since I've been interested in the free market system -- (laughter) -- by taking non-free market action to save the free market system -- (laughter) -- but when we get out of here will be to -- this whole discussion we've had here is -- will be a part of the institute.  And I just can envision programs coming out of this place that will encourage young people to go to -- to volunteer their time or to encourage -- one interesting initiative that you ought to think about and I ought to think about is to say to baby boomers, retirement isn't a golf course; retirement -- fulfilling retirement is to use your time and talent --

 

MRS. WARREN:  That's not retirement, that's hell.  (Laughter.)

 

THE PRESIDENT:  That's right, yes.

 

MRS. BUSH:  The golf course?

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Exactly.  Particularly if you're a lousy golfer.  (Laughter.

 

MRS. WARREN:  Which we are.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  You must be.  (Laughter.)

 

MRS. WARREN:  Do you see any intersection -- you also have a passion for literacy -- do you see an intersection between your passion for literacy and for HIV/AIDS and this institute that you're --

 

MRS. BUSH:  Sure, and one of the other great initiatives that the President has started is the Africa Education Initiative.  And we've supported countries to design their own textbooks, and they worked with mainly minority-serving universities in the U.S. to write textbooks for K-8.  But a lot of those, and especially for adult literacy -- illiteracy programs, where people -- adults are learning to read, a lot of those early primers, those reading primers, are based on health education.

 

And so were a lot of these textbooks that the AEI program helped each country develop, because if children know that you get malaria from a mosquito, they can go home and tell their parents.  And if they know -- they just learned in their little reader how to use a mosquito net or whatever, they can also educate their parents.

 

And so there's a real combination between health and literacy -- health education.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  And there's a real combination between freedom and literacy.

 

MRS. BUSH:  That's right.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Literacy is freedom.  If you're a literate person, you become a better citizen, and you ask tough questions for governments that may not listen to the needs of the citizens.  Illiteracy locks people into, you know, a status quo that is unacceptable.

 

And so absolutely there's a big connection between literacy and what Laura described, and literacy and just the whole notion of freeing people to be able to realize their dreams.

 

MRS. WARREN:  I have one last question, and then you probably had one, as well.

 

PASTOR WARREN:  Go ahead.

 

MRS. WARREN:  And it's, what -- I mean, we've been talking a lot about PEPFAR and that's all -- that's people in other parts of our world, but we're here in the United States today on World AIDS Day, and there are people in this audience who are HIV-positive.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

 

MRS. WARREN:  And, you know, what message do you -- you know, the two of you or as individual, what do you want to say to people in this audience who are positive?

 

THE PRESIDENT:  That PEPFAR is a part of a comprehensive strategy to deal both with AIDS both at home and abroad, and that the intention of PEPFAR was never to pirate money away from a domestic program.  The intention for PEPFAR is to build on what we've learned here at home.

 

And so the first question that people ought to ask is, what's the funding been like?  In other words, funding equals commitment; sometimes it equals, you know, effective programming, but it -- at least the funding levels will give you a sense of how committed the country is.  And as I mentioned, we're spending -- we spent about $99 billion at home, which was a 40 percent increase from 2001 to today, which is positive.

 

You know, it's -- it turns out that -- and in my State of the Union, by the way, I talked, you know, I think a couple of times about, you know, HIV in neighborhoods that weren't used to HIV -- inner-city America, for example.  And this is a issue that's going to require constant vigilance here at home, and that people that may think that they're safe, you know, have got to be reminded that, you know, care and -- you know, and education is important.

 

So, yes, but people in America should not think that PEPFAR is -- means that we don't care about them, because we do.  This nation has -- is dedicated to, you know, helping people whose lives have been severely affected by HIV/AIDS.

 

PASTOR WARREN:  I tried to introduce Dr. Mark Dybul, our Global AIDS Coordinator earlier, but he was with you coming in.  But I see you sitting here next to Barbara.  So Mark, would you stand up and let us recognize the guy who's done all the work?  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.

 

THE PRESIDENT:  So like, Mark doesn't like you to do that to him.  (Laughter.)  He would rather be anonymous -- wouldn't you, Mark?  (Laughter.)

 

PASTOR WARREN:  Well, and I know you don't like us to do this to you, but in the pre-show before we went on the air with a number of the networks, we -- I had written to -- or called up eight different world leaders and I asked them what they'd like to say about PEPFAR, and every one of them wanted to give a video tribute, and we showed those in the pre-session.

 

And I wanted to read you the list of -- former President Clinton; President-elect Obama; Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; Prime Minister Tony Blair; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, representing all of the African presidents saying thank you to you; all of the PEPFAR countries wanted to say thanks; Bill and Melinda Gates; Director Michael Kazatchkine; and a friend I met out on the street named Bono.  (Laughter.)

 

We've played seven of these video tributes to you in our preliminary program, but I wanted you to hear just a short -- kind of a -- about a minute synopsis of some of these.  And so let's watch this for just a second.

 

(The video is shown.)  (Applause.)

 

PASTOR WARREN:  Mr. President, we talked earlier about how all of these problems are connected:  literacy, poverty, disease, education.  And that's what the PEACE plan is all about.  PEACE stands for promote, reconciliation, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

 

And this year, the PEACE coalition of churches -- over 400,000 churches in 162 countries and businesses and individuals -- part of the PEACE coalition decided that we wanted to begin a tradition of presenting an award called the International Medal of PEACE for the most outstanding contribution in attacking what we call the five global goliaths:  spiritual emptiness, corruption, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and illiteracy.

 

And the consensus was unanimous that the first International Medal of PEACE would be presented to President George Bush on the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.  And it is with great honor, and great humility and respect, that we give you this award on the behalf of all of those in the PEACE coalition, representing 162 countries.  And we thank you, sir, for your commitment.  (Applause.)

 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)

 

PASTOR WARREN:  A lot has been done, but a lot still needs to be done.  And I have talked several times privately with President-elect Obama, and I asked him to bring a greeting to you and about his commitment to dealing with AIDS, both here in America and around the world, and his commitment to continue PEPFAR.  In fact, many of you who watched the Saddleback Civil Forum in August, when I interviewed President-elect Obama and John McCain for an hour each, that he publicly stated that he was supporting PEPFAR, would renew his commitment and his dedication to being a part of this.  And I asked him to bring a greeting about where we need to go in the future.  And so I want you to watch this from President-elect Obama.

 

(The video is played.)

 

END   11:28 A.M. EST