Foreign Press Center Briefing: Outreach to the Muslim World

MODERATOR: Welcome to the Washington Foreign Press Center. We're extremely pleased to have you here today and we are extremely pleased to have Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes joining us, as well as the Acting Deputy Administrator for USAID Jim Kunder, who is joining us today.

The President just made a speech at the Washington Islamic Center. You have the speech in your kits, the text of the speech, and the Under Secretary and the Acting Deputy Administrator are here today to amplify that and talk about our outreach to the Muslim world. We have a very short schedule today. The Under Secretary will have a statement and then we'll do as much Q&A as we can. Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, good afternoon. I just returned from traveling with President Bush to the Islamic Center and I couldn't help but think as we drove over there of the last time I went to the Islamic Center with President Bush, which was the week after September 11th, 2001. And I remember it vividly because I thought that it was such an important signal to the world that America is a diverse and inclusive country that respects all faiths and that faith is an important part of life for many people here in America.

As President Bush returned today for the rededication of the Islamic Center, he was underscoring that message of respect and inclusion that he delivered after September 11th and that President Eisenhower, 50 years ago, delivered at the opening of the Islamic Center. A half-century ago, President Eisenhower offered America's hand in friendship to the Muslim countries and communities around the world. He said at the time that under the American Constitution and in American hearts, this center, this place of worship, is just as welcome as would be a similar edifice of any other religion. Indeed, President Eisenhower went on to say, America would fight with her whole strength for you to have here your own church and worship according to your own conscience.

President Bush today reaffirmed that support for the wonderful diversity of faith that enriches our country and reaffirmed our determination to stand together in pursuit of freedom and peace. He reminded of the great wisdom of the Sufi poet Rumi. We celebrate his 800th anniversary of his birth this year. I was earlier this year over at the Library of Congress to celebrate the -- UNESCO, I believe, has actually named it the year of Rumi. And he quoted Rumi saying, "The lamps are different but the light is the same."

To reinforce the importance and underscore our importance and take our engagement with the many nations of the Islamic world to a new and higher level, the President announced today that he will appoint a special envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, as a recognition of the -- a demonstration of respect for the 57 member-states and a recognition of the importance of high-level dialogue. This is the first time that a president of the United States of America has made such an appointment to the Organization of Islamic Conference. The special envoy will be named in coming weeks. And as the President defined the role, it will be to listen, to learn and to foster dialogue with -- respectful dialogue with the nations of the Islamic Conference.

The OIC is a leading voice for those nations. Under Secretary of State Nick Burns and I have both been very involved in expanding our engagement with the OIC. I spoke recently in March with an inaugural gathering of its Washington membership and the ambassadors who represent the OIC here in Washington. And I want to make sure that my fellow Americans know that the Secretary General of the OIC has been a strong voice for reason and tolerance and against violence. Under his leadership, the OIC has sponsored an international conference on interfaith dialogue in the United Kingdom, and it will host a similar conference at Georgetown University here in America this fall.

This spring the Secretary General condemned violence by terrorists who have targeted innocent civilians and made it -- restated the clear position of Islam against killing innocent people. I've found through my own travels as I've traveled across the world and to Muslim communities and nations across our world that the vast majority of Muslims and the vast majority of all people in our world want to live in peace. But obviously there are many misperceptions that cause divisions and can divide our countries and our citizens.

One of my challenges is to try to find ways to bridge those differences. And I believe that the appointment of a special envoy to the OIC will be a wonderful way to take our dialogue with the countries of the Islamic world to a new and higher level.

We also must work very hard to address the misperception that the West is somehow in conflict with Islam, because it simply isn't true. Islam is a part of America. As an American Government official, I represent several million American Muslims who live and work and worship very freely in our country. And one of the things that I've worked hard to do during my almost two years now as Under Secretary is to empower their voices and to demonstrate respect for Muslim culture and contributions across our world. America is not perfect, but it is a place where diverse people and many devout people of different faith have learned to live in respect for each other and to celebrate the richness that comes about as a result of our diversity.

During the two years -- now almost -- that I've served as Under Secretary we've dramatically expanded our engagement with Muslim communities. We created, in response to American Muslim -- meetings that I had with American Muslims as well as Muslim communities overseas who called for greater dialogue, we created a new program called Citizen Dialogue where we send out American citizens who are themselves Muslims to engage in dialogue with communities around the world. That's led to a lot of great town hall meetings and media interviews.

In Malaysia, as a result of appearance on a TV station there -- the Malaysian TV station is now sending a camera crew to the United States this fall to do a big series on Islam in America. We've engaged 20,000 young people in 44 Muslim-majority countries in English language programs to try to teach them English to give them opportunities.

I remember meeting with a young man in Morocco. I asked him, I said what difference does it make that you've learned to speak English. And he said, "I have a job and none of my friends do." And that's a young man who has hope and he came from the same neighborhood that produced the Casablanca suicide bombers, but that young man has a future and a hope. And so we've worked to really expand our English language programs. We've found that they're something that young people desire because it gives them a skill that improves their opportunities in life and also that it's something that opens the window to a wider world of knowledge that helps improve their lives.

We've had 1,500 in recent years, young people from countries with significant Muslim populations who have come and lived for a year -- high school students with American families -- to get to know us better. We're training teachers from Afghanistan. We have a program, a new program with Egypt, where we're bringing a thousand young Egyptians here to attend community colleges and engage in vocational training that will help them to have better employment opportunities.

I find myself increasingly -- I'm going to be quiet so I can get to your questions. But I want to just tell you I find myself increasingly focusing on three major areas in my role. The first is our education and exchange programs, including those English language programs. And I'm convinced that our exchange programs have been our single most effective public diplomacy tool over the last 50 years and we're really trying to expand them. When I started, the year before I started we had 27,000 participants in our exchange programs. This year we'll have almost 40,000 participants and we're working -- hoping through the budget process -- to virtually -- to almost double to more than 50,000 the number of participants in these vital programs. And we're working to reach out to key influencers, to journalists, to bring journalists here to learn more about America, to bring clerics here, to bring women leaders here.

We're also working on modernizing our communications effort and getting our ambassadors and spokespeople at embassies around the world to engage more with your counterparts, with media around the world. Many of you are probably familiar with our new hub operation where Michael Pelletier and Adam Ereli and others, those people get on the air and engage in Arabic with particularly the Arabic media outlets. So we're trying to improve our communications efforts.

And the final area that I'm focused on is what I call our diplomacy of deeds, and that is the concrete ways in which we are partnering with people around the world to help them improve their lives, particularly in the areas of education and health and economic opportunity. Because moms and dads and young men and young women across the world mostly want the same things. They want an opportunity to have a productive job. They want healthcare for their families and they want educational opportunities for themselves and others.

Here to talk a little bit more about our diplomacy of deeds just briefly is Jim Kunder, who is our Acting Deputy Administrator of the USAID. And they are very involved and we are partnering with USAID in many countries around the world, particularly significant -- countries with significant Muslim populations to engage in this diplomacy of deeds.

So, Jim, did you want to say just a few things?

MR. KUNDER: Hi. The USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, manages approximately $10 billion U.S. foreign assistance program abroad. And just -- I'll just speak for a minute about how the President's theme this morning of inclusiveness is very much reflected in that foreign assistance program. We do not target U.S. foreign assistance dollars based on religious affiliation; however, because I know the demographics of the countries in which we operate, I know that in excess of 50 percent of total U.S. foreign assistance abroad goes to countries with Muslim majority populations. Over 50 percent of total U.S. foreign assistance managed by USAID goes to countries with Muslim majority populations.

Also, in terms of how that assistance is delivered, how does it actually reach people who need healthcare or who need their schools improved, this President and this Administration has recognized the role of faith-based organizations in reaching the poorest, most disadvantaged segments of our society. And again, while we do not select religious affiliation, we are honored to work in many cases through Muslim-affiliated charitable organizations around the world. When I last visited Indonesia, for example, we were distributing computers to primary schools and we were distributing those computers equally to the public schools of Indonesia and also to schools sponsored by Islamic organizations.

I would like to make just one other brief comment, and that is that this aid is given in large part on a humanitarian basis. Even in those situations where we have selected to not to work through a government structure, as for example in the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza now, in the last several years the United States Government has remained the largest single bilateral donor of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people. So this aid has continued to reach Palestinians, Muslims and Christians, regardless of the fact that we were not dealing through the Hamas government.

So the message I have, and I thank Karen for inviting me to speak for a few minutes, is that the President's theme of inclusiveness is very much reflected in the U.S. foreign assistance program operating in 84 countries around the developing world. Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: I do have one final point, and that is that, of course, government aid is vitally important, but it's a small part of actually the overall aid that goes from American and American organizations and private Americans across the world. And in my own office, through partnerships with the private sector, we have leveraged nearly $800 million in support for public diplomacy programs, including a trip that I led to Pakistan in the aftermath of the earthquake with American business leaders helping the people of Pakistan and our efforts in Lebanon to foster economic development in Lebanon.

So with that, I'll be glad to take your questions.

MODERATOR: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for a few questions. Please state your name and your media organization, and wait for the microphone please. Yes.

QUESTION: My name is Munir Mawari. I represent Asharqalawsat daily newspaper. As Mr. Kunder said, 50 percent of the U.S. aid goes to Muslim majority countries, but some people in the Muslim countries say that existence of Guantanamo destroy all these efforts, maybe destroy your effort in the public diplomacy. Is there any dialogue between the State Department and the Defense Department to solve this problem, and what is your personal opinion about the closure of Guantanamo prison?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, my personal opinion is an opinion that's shared by President Bush, and that is that we would like to close Guantanamo and that we are working to close Guantanamo. As the President has said, he would like to be able to do that.

It's a very, very difficult issue. Yes, it's something that we -- I like to say that when I left the White House in 2002, it was something that we were debating; and when I returned to the State Department in 2005, it was something that was still being debated because it's a very, very difficult challenge. We have people who threaten our country, who were picked up on battlefields fighting against our troops, and in many cases we are trying to return them to their home countries and those home countries don't want to take them, or we are unable to get assurances that they will not be subject to torture if we return them to other countries. And so it's a very, very difficult challenge. It's something that I would say probably is discussed almost every day in some aspects of the U.S. Government and it's something that I would very much like and President Bush would very much like to see Guantanamo be able to be closed because we recognize that it has become a negative symbol.

QUESTION: Mounzer Sleiman with Al Wasat newspaper from Kuwait and Almustaqbalalarabi from Lebanon. I agree with you about educational impact programs. In the past two years, I had about eight interns from the PLUS (ph) programs.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Oh, great.

QUESTION: And I hope that it will be expanded to the less fortunate also, not only the affluent among --

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: We are working to try to do that. In fact, this summer -- I have a summer program that is designed to reach younger people, and one of our efforts is to try to reach out to disadvantaged communities, people who have not had the opportunity to participate in programs in the past.

QUESTION: My question is reaching out to the Islamic -- to the Muslim world start at home, frankly --

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Right.

QUESTION: -- in the final analysis. And the culture of exclusion and marginalization of the Muslims in America has a history even before September 11th. I watched the President speaking. I was trying to watch him and I could not find him being carried live on any of the networks today. So you said it's a symbolic gesture even when he went one week after September 11th, but if the media is not interested even the President sending that message to the population, even the Commission for September 11 did not have probably from the hundred focuses maybe one or two from the Muslim. So reaching out to Muslims start here, and I think there is a culture of exclusion despite the intention of inclusion. How can really the Administration take some steps to make that inclusion more than symbolic?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, I think it's unfortunate if our journalists here and our television stations here did not choose to cover that event because I think it is a message that's important for our fellow Americans to hear. I know that Al Hurra, our Arabic language television station, did cover the event and so that's somewhat ironic that maybe it was broadcast by Americans into the region but not here in America.

And I certainly would hope that there would be coverage of the event on tonight's news and in tomorrow's newspaper because I agree, and I've made it one of my priorities as Under Secretary to reach out and include Muslim Americans and to meet with them regularly -- I just met yesterday with a group and the day before, and to send them out as representatives of our country.

I saw a recent survey that shows that the vast majority of Muslims in America do feel included in society. That doesn't mean we can't always improve. For example, it was a Pew survey that showed that Muslim Americans feel that they're integrated and that they have non -- many non-Muslim friends. I myself have Muslim friends and friends who are Christian and Jewish, and I think that's true if you talk with Americans across our country.

But I do think that efforts to engage on an interfaith basis and to encourage interfaith dialogue are very important. I know in the aftermath of September 11th a lot of Americans took it upon themselves to try to learn more about Islam. And I remember that a -- being very touched that a Muslim woman came to my church and seeing stories that -- was told a story by a young man yesterday about Christians and Jewish colleagues who came to his mosque. And so I think here in America --you know, one of those things I worry about around the world is that people take the diversity of faith in America to mean that Americans are not people of faith and, in fact, many Americans are people of very devout faith. But we are a diverse nation and I think efforts to learn more and to respect each other and to respect the tenets of each other's faith only enrich us as a nation. And so I agree with you that efforts begin at home.

I've tried to involve -- I've met, for example, many of you know that I come from an Administration that is -- the President is a member of the Republican Party. We have a Muslim American congressman, Congressman Ellison who is a representative of the Democratic Party. I've met with him on many occasions. I want to work with him. I've offered to visit his district, to reach out to his constituents, because I think it is very important that we work to continue to build a more inclusive society here at home and that we then share that with the rest of the world.

MODERATOR: Last question, please.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: We can take a couple more. I think.

QUESTION: You have to (inaudible).

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Yeah, but I want to be fair.

QUESTION: How are you, Madame Secretary?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Good.

QUESTION: Dmitry Sidorov of Kommersant, Russia Business and Political Daily. I have a question in regard to the web-based media in Iraq. And I wonder how would you describe your efforts, whether they're successful or not for this particular segment of the market -- I mean, segment of the media in Iraq, the web-based media and do you have enough budget to work in that?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, probably -- I think the answer for anyone you ask about do we have enough budget will probably always say no. But we have for the first time -- let me say broadly, we have for the first time have people now engaging on the blogs in Arabic. And we -- I have a couple of employees of mine at the State Department whose job it is to get on the blogs and to look for misinformation or things that are not true or rumor and to respond officially on behalf of the U.S. Government. And so we are now engaging on blogging.

QUESTION: I'm sorry. How many people do you have?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: We have, I believe, two full-time people whose job it is -- they're supervised by a Foreign Service officer, but there are two Arabic speakers whose full-time job it is to get on the blogs and engage. We also have in my office -- and we have more coming as well. We're expanding that operation. We have a Rapid Response Unit that we have set up that did not exist when I arrived at the State Department, but it now exists and it monitors media from around the world every day in native languages and it produces a daily report that does a couple of things. It really helps inform U.S. policymakers about what is driving news and what the impression of American news and policy is around the world. And so I think it helps to shape -- it's important for the American Secretary of Energy to understand the way someone in the region is viewing an American policy or for the members of our cabinet to understand that. So I would say that we've improved our capability.

We've got very popular websites in Arabic, in Farsi, in Chinese, in I think six languages. We've improved our ability to engage. We can always improve more. And you know, government is not necessarily as fast-paced as the private sector, so it's sometimes hard to keep up with technology that is changing as dramatically and as rapidly as it is in today's world. But I think we are improving our ability to communicate.

QUESTION: Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Hi. Hilary Krieger from the Jerusalem Post, Israel:

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Hi, Hilary.

QUESTION: Hi. I want to know if you can expand a little bit on what the nature of the special envoy's work will entail and whether you see this as primarily a public diplomacy role in terms of improving America's image or if there are going to be other policy oriented diplomatic objectives as well?

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: I see it as a diplomatic and policy role that builds on and expands Under Secretary Nick Burns' engagement with the Organization of Islamic Conference and my engagement with their representatives. And the President chose to make this a special envoy to show that this is a new level of engagement, that it will be a high level engagement. He said -- I think he defined the parameters today when he said that it was to listen, to learn, to be present at the debate and then to share America's policies and America's values.

And so I think it is a sign of a higher level engagement and I think it's important. I noted this morning at the Islamic Center that the imam talked about the need for greater communication and I think that's exactly what this is. This is another avenue for communication and for expanded diplomatic engagement.

MODERATOR: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service. Some Arab reporters have complained about the -- how the State Department is interfering with local governments, especially with the state-owned newspaper to banish, basically, reporters and columnists who are critical of the U.S. There are numerous instances where stories or analysis pieces critical of the U.S. are actually banned. I come from Egypt and I know that for a fact.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: By whom?

QUESTION: By the local editors who are government affiliated and the understanding that it's partly because of U.S. pressure. And some of them came after a tour that you yourself took to the region and you met with publishers and members of the royal families around the region. And based on your meetings with them, some stories have been actually censored in the local press.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, I can assure you I did not engage in any discussion of any that and I've not heard any of that. So I guess I'll have to refer you to our press office at the State Department. But I was not involved in any efforts -- I'm a former journalist myself. I believe in the free flow of information. I believe in accurate reporting and --

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Last question, all right. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Mohammed Alami of Al Jazeera. Ma'am, I'm sure you know about this. In the Middle East -- both in Arab and Muslim worlds the problem is policy not envoys. To which extent a diplomatic additional envoy will help you with our problem? And two, you mentioned a survey about Muslim Americans. There was a study issued in Chicago yesterday saying that American Muslim remain largely outside U.S. mainstream and they face isolation, radical threats. How concerned are you about the state of affairs in Muslim American community? Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Well, as I said, I cited earlier, I think I've seen polling that shows that the vast majority of Muslims in America feel very integrated in American society. I saw a poll that 73 percent of Muslims in America feel they have not ever been discriminated against. Now what that means is that there are some who do feel that they have been and obviously, we're not a perfect society. We need to continue to improve.

But we have institutions and laws which help us to address instances of prejudice or discrimination and I think that the vast majority of Muslims in our country feel very much equally Muslim and Americans and feel very much a part of our society. Now what that study in Chicago -- I met with the authors -- pointed out was the need to increase Muslim engagement in civic society and civil society in America and I agree with that.

And that's why I've tried to reach out to Muslim Americans and to involve them in our State Department programs and to send them abroad representing America. And that's a whole new program that we've created during my time at the State Department. That's why I've offered to visit Congressman Ellison's district to reach out to his constituents. And so I believe that that is important and I think that that study offers some good recommendations to get Muslim voices more engaged.

And one of the things it says, that you all and the news media can help with -- and that is that it recommends that mainstream Muslim voices -- they don't have access to the media in many cases. And I think that's one of the reasons that I hear from my fellow Americans, sometimes, complaints that why don't more Muslim voices speak out against terrorism. Well, they do. But sometimes, what gets covered are the more strident voices, not the mainstream voices. And so I think the media has a role to play in this as well in making sure that the voices of reason, the voices of nonviolence, the voices of respect and understanding get covered as well as the most strident voices.

Now as to the issue of policy, I understand there are disagreements. And the way to handle disagreements are to -- is to engage in dialogue, to listen, to understand one another, to hear each other's point of view. You talk about policy; I believe that in many parts of the region and in Muslim communities across the world, the number-one policy issue that usually is brought up to me is the Palestinian-Israeli issue. And you heard the President say today America's policy is that we want a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. I think most people agree with that policy.

Now they may complain that we're -- you know, they may think we need to engage more and we're working on that. And with today's announcement, I think, of the Quartet announcement of Tony Blair, I think that's a very hopeful sign and an important sign of a very high-level commitment. And so -- you know, I think you can look at that in some different ways as well.

MODERATOR: Thank -- no, I'm sorry, thank you very much.

UNDER SECRETARY HUGHES: Unfortunately, I've got to run and do some interviews and I've got to present my budget for next year and make the case for all these programs to our deputies, so I want to get funding for all this. So thank you all very much. I'll come back.

# # #