I know Laura talked about our initiative on the continent of Africa. It
is a
firm, real, dedicated commitment to helping folks become literate. We
share
-- we have that same sense of commitment in more places than Africa.
For
example, in our own neighborhood, we are deeply concerned about
illiteracy,
and we believe it's in our national interest to help folks become
literate
in Central and South America.

One of the most, I guess, heartwarming literacy initiatives that I
have
witnessed as President was the Women's Teacher Training Institute in
Kabul.
I know there's some people from Afghanistan here, and I want to thank
you
for your courage and your bravery. I don't know if you know what the
institute has been doing, but think back to the days prior to
liberation
when women really weren't let out of the house. Young girls couldn't go
to
school. There was an underground teacher movement because of the great
passion teachers feel for -- feel for their students. And so after the
liberation of the country, we have worked with that institute to teach
trainers -- teach teachers how to teach, in the knowledge that when
they
leave the institute, they'll then go to the village.

It's kind of this cascading movement of skill so that people can
fulfill
their compassion, fulfill their dreams about a more literate
Afghanistan.
This young democracy will survive. And one of the reasons it will
survive
is because of the committed effort by a lot of folks, not just the
United
States, but by people around the world to help the brave educational
entrepreneurs that recognize hope and peace come about as a result of
education.

We -- a lot of times you hear a lot of words -- people are pretty good
talkers in this society of ours. People step up and make promises and
kind
of flowery statements. I want it to be said that our government is
doing
more than just talking, that our government is willing to act. We've
doubled the development assistance since I've been the President. We
have
set forth what's called the Millennium Challenge Account. We said we
were
going to help people, particularly those who fight corruption, those
who
believe in markets, but equally importantly, those who invest in the
education and health of their citizens.

We believe strongly that this world must confront the pandemic of
HIV/AIDS,
and believe that to whom much is given, much is required in order to
solve
disease and poverty -- a lot of it brought about because -- a lot of
that
poverty brought about because of illiteracy.

And so one thing I'd like to take away from today is, one, we're
committed.
We believe that the United States of America must not isolate
ourselves
from the problems of the world. We believe we have an opportunity to
help
you solve problems of the world.

There is nothing more hopeful, there's no greater gift than to teach a
person to read. When I was the governor of Texas, I remember an
African
American woman walking up to me, and we were talking about the
importance
of teaching every child to read -- not just a few, but every child to
read.
We believe in America that reading shouldn't be the right of just a
few
people, it ought to be -- it's universal, as well. And the woman walked
up
to me, and she said, "Mr. Governor," she said, "I want you to
understand
how people in my community feel." She said, "Reading is the new civil
right." I feel the same way about global literacy. Reading will yield
the
peace we want.

So thanks for coming. God bless. (Applause.)

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