Thank you, Ambassador Hills, for that kind introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I am pleased to share this time with you Ambassador Yang, Ambassador Wang, Ambassador Liu, Ambassador Cong, Ambassador Randt, Vice Minister Zhao, Minister-Counselor Liu, Madame Zhang.

I thank the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations for this gracious opportunity and for tonight's award. I also thank Ambassador Pickering and Bill Rhodes for chairing this event.

I congratulate tonight's honorees, The Freeman Foundation and Citigroup. The contribution of private citizens—and private organizations—is vital as we expand America's intellectual ties beyond the levels of government. The U.S. Department of Education has a long-standing relationship with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.

I also want to recognize National Committee President John Holden and his colleagues for their leadership and vision.

COOPERATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM

I agree with much said by Vice Minister Zhao. Education is the great bridge between our two countries. It is a unifying force. Education is our single best avenue for mutual understanding and cooperation.

We have been honored to welcome Chinese educators and policy-makers to our department on six occasions now. We have shared insights together and found many avenues for mutual cooperation. I believe that the past is but prelude to an even more successful and promising partnership in the future.

We need our partnership more and more in this increasingly dangerous world. Today, I am especially mindful of the threats we face, returning to this great city of New York. Tomorrow, as we all know, is the second anniversary of the attacks of September 11th. We salute the heroes and mourn those lost.

On that terrible day, this nation and the world united through the heroism of ordinary Americans to reaffirm our values of freedom and respect for human life.

The President asked our nation's friends to aid us in this effort, and China answered the call. We are deeply grateful for your friendship, and for your help in our sad time of need.

Since September 11th, understandably, much attention has been focused on the fight against freedom's enemies. However, even while directing those battles, President Bush has also been steadfastly advancing his mission to provide all children an education worthy of our nation. He never forgot about education because quality education is the cornerstone of all great nations and the source of a nation's strength.

EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations has long demonstrated its understanding of the value of quality education. I share your commitment. There is much to be done in both countries to make our educational systems even better.

We can learn so much from one another in this pursuit. Often, I have heard scholars comment on the strong sense of collective responsibility in Chinese instruction. There is a greater awareness of the power of students and teachers working together in the Chinese educational enterprise.

We must secure a quality education for every student. It is an ethical imperative for our own society. That is why I have fought for the Reading First Initiative, for more Federal funding for teachers, and for more funding for language acquisition. I have also supported our international initiatives, including those with China. Our students must have the tools to be prepared for a global education in the future global economy.

In this country, we have also initiated landmark legislation to guarantee quality education for all of our children: the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

This law has ignited a revolution in public education in this country. It has created a framework for change through accountability for results, options for parents, flexibility and local control, and sound, research-based instruction that work.

And President Bush has continued to propose historic levels of funding to support these efforts. It is a guarantee that no child will be ignored, disregarded, or cast aside. It is a commitment to each and every child—a promise of a quality education.

President Bush and I understand our responsibility to prepare the next generation of leaders in an increasingly complex global society. If our students are not fully prepared for the global challenge, then they will sit on the sidelines while other students take advantage of future opportunities.

The world is now our neighborhood. And for our children to be prepared to take their place in that world and rise to those challenges, they must first have the educational tools to understand it.

EDUCATION AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE

Students learn about the world in books, on computers, and in classrooms, but also learn by experience and interaction. At some point, the world itself must become their classroom. International educational programs are one of the most important opportunities available to students and faculty.

One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through educational exchange.

Our two nations have a long and meaningful history of this type of exchange, starting in 1854, when Yung Wing, the first Chinese student at an American university, graduated from Yale and returned to China. In 1872, he headed an educational mission from the Chinese government that brought 120 Chinese students to Hartford, Connecticut.

These initial exchanges were more the exception than the rule for the U.S. Government until the 1958 passage of the National Defense Education Act, which emphasized international education.

During its first year, this Act allowed the Department to support 19 centers for international studies in higher education. Today, Department support has increased 6-fold to 120 centers. Sixteen of these centers focus solely on East Asia and its languages, including the languages spoken in China.

Under another program the Department has supported, Fulbright-Hays, over 2,200 Americans have participated in training and research programs in China since 1964. China is the single most studied country among all of our grantees—and for good reason.

We have worked to be a full partner in international education. And I fully appreciate the good work of this organization. Since its founding in 1966, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations has implemented programs designed to strengthen both educational and cultural relations between the U.S. and China.

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations' contribution to our relationship with China, even in the most difficult times, has been invaluable, a profound achievement in educational opportunity and closer international studies.

Over the past several decades, tens of thousands of Chinese and U.S. students and faculty have benefited from our educational exchange programs. By working together, we have helped hundreds of American teachers and faculty members share their knowledge of China with their students, other faculty, and all of our citizens.

In our country, we have been honored to host thousands of outstanding Chinese students. Your students come here well prepared for the challenges of study in a different country, and their skills are especially strong in the sciences and mathematics. They have been outstanding ambassadors of Chinese culture, art and literature.

Their presence enriches our educational institutions and brings our two countries closer together. This two-way exchange provides a bridge between our worlds. As we learn more about each other, and share our future together, we will build a solid bond of friendship in our search for peace, security, and prosperity.

I know all of you are pleased that China has been chosen to host both the 2007 Special Olympics World Games and the Games of the Olympiad in 2008, thus giving the world important new opportunities to admire the accomplishments of the world's most populous nation and its crown jewel cities of Shanghai and Beijing.

The Olympics will help people around the world learn more about Chinese sports, art, history, and culture. Through sporting events, we find common ground and greater understanding. This is education in action.

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP

I am excited by the potential for increased partnership in the future. Closer understanding benefits both countries. President Bush has made clear that he seeks a relationship with China that is candid, constructive, and cooperative. There are many areas of cooperation and agreement. And now is the time for our two nations to build on these opportunities.

I know we can count on the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. John Holden has indicated that the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations will identify and address the cutting-edge, and sometimes complex, issues in the relationship between the United States and China.

As part of that cutting-edge effort, the Department recently entered into an agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Education to jointly build an innovative E-Language Learning System. This agreement represents the most extensive governmental education cooperation between our two nations in nearly a quarter of a century.

This research and development initiative will provide language training for students in both countries through the Internet. These students will have the valuable—and sometimes rare—opportunity to use voice recognition technology to improve their speech. Indeed, this relatively new technology will allow students to bridge tens of thousands of miles in a matter of seconds. Marco Polo would be astonished.

These students will learn so much more than a new language. Even more importantly, American and Chinese students will learn about one another and their respective culture and values.

Dr. Susan Sclafani, my friend and colleague, who is my Counselor as well as our new acting assistant secretary for vocation education, is here tonight. Susan just returned from China last month—her 3rd official trip. She has developed a deep respect for the Chinese educational system and has shared her detailed impressions with me. I would like to thank her—as well as her colleagues in China—for laying the foundation for this project.

Imagine the potential for a world where everyone speaks more than one language. And with the E-Language Project, we are ramping up our efforts right here and now.

Earlier today, I visited Shuang Wen School in Manhattan. I met with parents, teachers, and students. And I watched these students as they spent their afternoon learning to speak Mandarin. Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, students who are Asian, African American, White, and Hispanic are now bilingual—in fact, many are now tri-lingual.

That is the world of the future: multi-lingual, cosmopolitan, global, and cooperative. In the forward to John King Fairbank's seminal volume, The United States and China, Edwin Reischauer wrote, "The relations between these two great nations, their understanding or misconceptions about each other, their cooperation or friction will play a large part in determining the future of humanity."

Indeed. That is why the educational enterprise is vitally important. In the Twentieth Century our world became smaller. Advances in telecommunications and science enhanced our awareness of each other. But awareness isn't the same thing as wisdom.

In this new century, we must find our humanity to preserve it. We need knowledge and wisdom, courage and strength, and respect and compassion. We need well-trained students who are thoughtful, productive, skilled, and imaginative. They must communicate to each other and work together for the good of all people.

As our world grows even more complex and intertwined, education must become the vehicle for cooperation and friendship. We must encourage East to meet West, and West to meet East. Looking around this room, I believe I see that future.

Thank you.

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