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On behalf of President Bush and the American people, I would like to welcome all of you to the Department of Education.

I hope you will join me in welcoming our distinguished guests from Mexico. I have visited Mexico as secretary of education three times, including a visit last month. Each time I have been greeted with hospitality, friendship and courtesy. I want to thank my colleagues from Mexico for showing such warmth and kindness to me. ¡Muchas gracias!

We have much to learn from the Mexican educational experience. Mexico is a land of great history, with lasting contributions to world culture and science. Mexico has given us the beautiful verses of Octavio Paz, the remarkable prose of Carlos Fuentes, the memorable art of Diego Rivera, and the contributions to education by Manuel Ponce. It has also been a world leader in the use of applied technology in the classroom.

I also want to warmly welcome a student from Mexico, Violeta Hernandez Martinez, and her mother, Mrs. Magdalena Lopez. Violeta is an outstanding student, an enthusiastic scholar. I know Mrs. Lopez is very proud of her. And I know my colleagues from Mexico are proud. Any educational system would be pleased to have a student with such a love of learning. She is an inspiring example of the emancipation of education. Violeta exemplifies the promise of education; its ability to help each of us to discover the world of knowledge, to find opportunity and to experience personal growth.

Violeta reminds us of the very human outcome of education. Technology can expand the mind, but education must also expand the heart. We must use technology to bring people together. We must use education to construct community in scholarship.

That's why today's event is so important. There are new possibilities in education, thanks to the power of technology. Just as the invention of the printing press revolutionized education, the creative power of the computer and the availability of information on the Internet have expanded our horizons. We are still witnessing the rapid, unfolding possibilities--the applications seem infinite, only limited by our own imagination.

Mexico is providing leadership in the use of educational technology and distance learning. While visiting a classroom there, I saw the use of "smart boards." They are white classroom blackboards that transfer what you write to computer monitors. I visited cutting-edge language laboratories. I watched the use of radar technology for in-class physics lessons. And the widespread use of computers themselves indicated that Mexican students were "wired" at an early age.

And I witnessed the use of new technology in Mexico from right here in Washington. Last year, in a classroom here in the District of Columbia, I participated in a videoconference linkup to help students interact in four countries: the United States, Egypt, South Africa and Mexico. Our classrooms literally have the world at a student's fingertips.

So we have much to learn, and much to share. I am proud of the work by Susan Patrick and others in the United States to enable classrooms to fully utilize technology. We have developed sound partnerships with corporate and nonprofit organizations to rapidly put technology in the hands of our teachers and students.

You will see technology in action today. In Mexico, the EDUSAT program is a notable advancement in distance learning. The "Enciclomedia" technology takes multimedia learning to a new level of imaginative use.

This is what I mean about sharing--our own students would benefit from use of this technology in American classrooms.

So I am pleased that we have this opportunity to learn more about the wonderful work underway in Mexico. Again, I welcome our colleagues from Mexico, and a special welcome to Violeta and her mother, Magdalena. I want to thank all of you for coming.

Violeta, would you come forward. We would love to hear from you.

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